Junior Women’s National Team
to Play for Gold at Canadian Open

(Surrey, BC) The Canadian Junior Women’s National Team secured a spot in the Gold medal game in the Futures Gold division of the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship, winning its two playoff games on Friday and two more on Saturday. Team Canada defeated the San Diego Renegades 10-0 and Lloydminster Rebels 97 team 8-2 on Friday, before beating the Florida Plantation Pressure Gold team 13-0 and the White Rock Renegades 97 team 2-1 on Saturday. The Gold medal game is scheduled for 4:00pm PDT, with Canada’s opponent to be determined earlier in the day.
 
In the first game on Friday against the San Diego Renegades, Team Canada opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when Taylor Lundrigan (Abbotsford, BC) led off with a single, advanced to third on an error and scored on a fielder’s choice by Brielle McCullough (Saskatoon, SK). The following inning, Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, BC) led off with a single of her own and immediately scored on a two-run homerun by Maude Sigouin (Laval, QC) to give Canada a 3-0 lead.
 
Mary Martin (Winnipeg, MB) led off the top half of the fourth with a triple and scored on a triple by Julianna Waldner (Altona, MB). Jenkins was hit by a pitch and a ground ball to the pitcher put runners on second and third before Alisha Welch (Langley, BC) hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Waldner, and Holly Speers (Surrey, BC) smacked a two-run homerun as Canada extended its lead to 7-0. In the fifth, McCullough reached on an error followed by a single by Becki Monaghan (Spruce Grove, AB) and later in the inning, Jenkins tripled to bring both runners in to score and was brought home on a double by Sigouin to round out the scoring.
 
Ashley Penney (Victoria, BC) started the game in the pitcher’s circle for Canada, facing only one batter over the minimum on a walk and struck out two batters in three innings. Desirae Villanueva (Surrey, BC) pitched two perfect innings of relief with five strikeouts as the duo combined for a five inning no-hitter. Offensively, Sigouin had a homerun and a double with Speers notching a homerun and a single, while Jenkins, Martin, Welch and Waldner all tripled. Lundrigan collected a pair of singles and Monaghan chipped in with a single of her own.
 
The Lloydminster Rebels were able to hold Team Canada off the scoresheet over the first four innings, but weren’t able to get much going themselves as the game was scoreless through four innings. However, Canada was able to get things going in the top of the fifth by scoring five runs. Courtney Gilbert (Delhi, ON) led off with a single and Waldner reached on an error before Jenkins smashed a double to bring both runners in to score. A single by pinch-hitter Speers brought Jenkins to the plate followed by another single by Welch to put runners on the corners. Welch stole second, and both later scored on a single by Callum Pilgrim (Abbotsford, BC) as Canada built a 5-0 lead.
 
In the top of the seventh, Welch reached on an error, advanced to second on a single by Lundrigan and to third on an error on the play before scoring on a single by Pilgrim. With Lundrigan now on third, Monaghan lifted a sacrifice fly ball to right to bring another run in to score, and Pilgrim crossed the plate on a single by Penney to make the score 8-0. In the bottom of the seventh, Lloydminster was able to produce two runs as the leadoff batter singled followed by a double before a pair of groundouts brought each of them in to score.
 
Madison Hope (Winnipeg, MB) pitched the full seven innings for Canada, surrendering two runs on five hits and struck out five. At the plate, Jenkins had a two-run double for Canada while Welch, Penney, Pilgrim and Gilbert all contributed a pair of singles. Speers and Lundrigan also added a single each.
 
Against the Florida Plantation Pressure Gold on Saturday morning, Team Canada got things going early as Monaghan hit a one-out double followed by a single by Emma Entzminger (Victoria, BC), with the runners getting to second and third on an error by the centerfielder. Speers then smacked a two-run double as Canada took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Florida got a single and a walk to start the bottom of the first, but a fielder’s choice and two fly outs kept them from scoring.
 
In the second, Pilgrim started things off with a walk, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on a double by Welch. Speers doubled and Lundrigan singled in the third but were left stranded, and Canada went on to add four more runs in the fourth. Penney and Waldner hit consecutive one-out singles and Welch was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Monaghan walked to force one run home, and Entzminger cleared the bases with a triple to the right-center field gap as Team Canada took a commanding 7-0 lead.
 
In the top of the fifth, McCullough started the inning by reaching on an error and after two fly outs to left, Waldner walked and Welch reached on an error by the third baseman with McCullough scoring on the play. Another error allowed Waldner to score and Entzminger hit a run-scoring single before Speers blasted a three-run shot to make the score 13-0.
 
Canadian pitcher Elizabeth Murphy (Maple Ridge, BC) cruised to the five inning shutout win, allowing only two hits and striking out two. Speers hit a homerun and two doubles while Entzminger had a triple and two singles. Welch and Monaghan each connected with a double with Lundrigan, Penney and Waldner each contributing a single.
 
Canada also defeated the White Rock Renegades 2-1 on Saturday night to earn a direct berth to the Gold medal game at 4:00pm PDT on Sunday.