July2015

Junior Women’s National Team Opens Canadian Open with Two Wins

July 8, 2015

Surrey, BC

 

Junior Women’s National Team Opens Canadian Open with Two Wins

The following is a media release issued by Softball Canada.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8th, 2015
 

Junior Women’s National Team Opens
Canadian Open with Two Wins

(Surrey, BC) The Canadian Junior Women’s National Team opened the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship with a pair of wins, defeating the Fraser Valley Fusion 9-0 in five innings on Monday before beating the Surrey Storm 98 Gold team 5-1 on Tuesday. Team Canada is competing in the Futures Gold division of the tournament.
 
Against the Fraser Valley Fusion, Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, BC) led off the bottom of the first with a walk and later scored on a two-run homerun by Holly Speers (Surrey, BC) as Canada opened the scoring. The Fusion got a leadoff double with the runner being sacrificed to third the following inning, but Canadian pitcher Desirae Villanueva (Surrey, BC) got out of the inning with a big strikeout. In the bottom half of the inning, Team Canada send nine batters to the plate and added four runs to its lead. The Fusion got two quick outs, but Julianna Waldner (Altona, MB) singled followed by a double by Maude Sigouin (Laval, QC) before both scored on a two-run double by Jenkins. Alisha Welch (Langley, BC) brought Jenkins in to score with a single to right field, and later scored on a single by Speers to increase the lead to 6-0.
 
In the third, Brielle McCullough (Saskatoon, SK) tripled to the corner in left field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sigouin. Canada would go on to add two more runs in the bottom of the fourth on another triple by McCullough that scored Welch and Taylor Lundrigan (Abbotsford, BC) to complete the scoring.
 
Villanueva earned the win in the pitcher’s circle for Canada, allowing two hits and two walks and striking out five in four innings of work. Madison Hope (Winnipeg, MB) pitched the fifth inning, retiring two batters on strikes. Speers led Canada with a homerun and a single with three runs batted in, while McCullough added two triples and drove in two. Welch had a double and a single with Sigouin and Jenkins each contributing a double. Callum Pilgrim (Abbotsford, BC), Lundrigan, and Waldner each chipped in with a single.
 
In Tuesday’s game against the Surrey Storm, Team Canada got on the scoreboard early once again as Welch hit a one-out triple and scored on a single by Speers in the bottom of the first. The following inning, Courtney Gilbert (Delhi, ON) led off with a single, advanced to third on an error and scored on a single by Waldner to give Canada a 2-0 lead. The red and white went on to add three more runs in the third to increase the lead to 5-0 as Welch started the inning with a double and scored on a single by Ashley Penney (Victoria, BC), which was immediately followed by a two-run homerun by Speers. The Storm was able to score a run with three singles in the top half of the seventh but Elizabeth Murphy (Maple Ridge, BC) closed out the game with a strikeout.
 
Madison Clarke (Edmonton, AB) earned the win pitching the first three innings for Canada, limiting the Storm to only one hit and striking out three. Murphy threw the last four inning, allowing one run on four hits to go along with three strikeouts. Speers continued her strong hitting with a homerun, a single and three runs batted in, while Welch had a double, a triple and scored twice. Waldner chipped in with a pair of singles with other hits going to Penney and Gilbert.
 
The Canadian Junior Women’s National Team (2-0) will play a doubleheader today against the Calgary Kaizen (2-0) at 12:30pm PDT followed by the White Rock Renegades 99 (1-1) at 9:30pm PDT.

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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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