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August2014

Team Canada Finishes Second in Group A at ISF Women’s World Softball Championship

August 21, 2014

Haarlem, Netherlands

August 21st, 2014
 

Team Canada Finishes Second in Group A at
ISF Women’s World Softball Championship


(Haarlem, Netherlands) The Canadian Senior Women’s National Team finished second place in Group A at the ISF XIV Women’s World Championship with a 7-0 win over Cuba to conclude its preliminary round schedule. The Canadian pitching duo of Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, BC) and Karissa Hovinga (Edmonton, AB) limited Cuba to only three hits, while the Canadian offence put constant pressure to produce runs in each of the first, fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
 
Team Canada jumped on the scoreboard with two runs in the top of the first. Joey Lye (Toronto, ON) led off with a single to left field, Megan Timpf (Port Dover, ON) was hit by a pitch and Jen Yee (North Delta, BC) singled as the three first batters reached to load the bases with no outs. Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, ON) then hit a sacrifice fly ball to center to score Lye, followed by a groundout to shortstop by Caitlin Lever (Buffalo, NY) to send Timpf in to score from third. In the bottom of the inning, Groenewegen retired the leadoff batter on strikes and then allowed a single, but the next batter lined a pitch to Carey-Leigh Thomas (Ohsweken, ON) at first base for an unassisted double play.
 
After Canada went down in order in the top of the second, Maritza Toledo led off with a single for Cuba in the bottom of the inning and advanced to second on a groundout, but Groenewegen stuck out the next batter and forced a groundout to second to end the inning. The red and white then got a two-out double by Yee in the third, but the next batter flew out. In the bottom half of the third, Cuba got a leadoff walk followed by a single to put runners on the corners, but Groenewegen was able to get out of it unscathed as the next batter was retired on a sacrifice bunt, followed by a strikeout and Rafter picked off the runner at third for the third out.
 
Building off that momentum, Lever and Jenny Gilbert (Saskatoon, SK) started the top of the fourth with back-to-back singles and were sacrificed to second and third by Thomas. Lever scored on a wild pitch, and Gilbert went on to score on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Erika Polidori (Brantford, ON) to increase Canada’s lead to 4-0. Hovinga came in to relieve Groenewegen to start the bottom of the fourth and sat Cuba down in order, and Canada added another run in the top of the fifth as Rafter hit a one-out single to right and scored all the way from first on a double past a diving left fielder by Lever. Hovinga retired Cuba in order again in the bottom half of the fifth.
 
In the top of the sixth, Canada got a leadoff walk and a single by Lye but was unable to add to its lead, and Cuba could not get anything going as Hovinga struck out the side in the bottom of the frame. The following inning, Lever and Gilbert hit back-to-back singles with one out and both later scored on a triple by Polidori, as Canada took a 7-0 lead. Cuba got a two-out runner on an error in the bottom of the seventh, but the next batter grounded out to end the game.
 
Box Score: Canada 7 vs. Cuba 0
 
Groenewegen allowed three hits and a walk with three strikeouts in three innings in the pitcher’s circle for Canada, while Hovinga threw four hitless innings and struck out six batters. Lever led the way offensively with a double, two singles, two runs batted in and two runs scored, while Polidori had a triple and drove in three runs. Lye, Yee and Gilbert each collected two hits, with other hits going to Rafter and Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, BC).
 
In other early games on Thursday at the ISF Women’s World Championship, Australia blanked the Dominican Republic 7-0 in six innings, the United States shut out Italy 7-0 in five innings, and China defeated Russia 8-1 in six innings.
 
With the win, Team Canada (6-1) finished second place in Group A, and will face the United States (7-0) who finished first in Group B to begin the playoff round on Friday. Another playoff game will see Japan (7-0) – first place in Group A – take on Australia (6-1), who finished second in Group B. Other playoff matchups and game times will only be announced at the end of the day on Thursday once the preliminary round is complete. Live scoring will be available on the event website at http://www.wcsoftball2014.com/en/home, with webstreaming available for purchase through http://isf.sportzcast.net/.

The event can also be followed on Facebook (World Championship Softball 2014) and Twitter (@WCSoftball2014).
 
How to Follow Team Canada
Softball Canada Website: http://www.softball.ca
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SoftballCanada
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SoftballCanadaNSO

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For more information, please contact:

Gilles LeBlanc
Manager - Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softball.ca
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