For the second summer in a row, the Canadian womenB次元官网网址檚 national softball team has struck gold in Surrey.
On Sunday evening at Softball City in South Surrey, Canada B次元官网网址� with Semiahmoo Peninsula pitcher and former White Rock Renegade Sara Groenewegen in the pitcherB次元官网网址檚 circle B次元官网网址� defeated Texas-based U.S. club team Scrapyard International 8-4 in the championship game of the Canada Cup International Fastpitch Championship.
The victory marked the second year that Canada has defeated a U.S. club squad for the tournament title; in 2018, they to win the Canada Cup for the first time in more than 20 years. Prior to last yearB次元官网网址檚 win, the national program B次元官网网址� and de facto home team at the week-long international fastpitch showdown B次元官网网址� had not won the event since 1996.
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This yearB次元官网网址檚 win was no easy feat, despite the fact that Canada cruised through the round-robin portion of the tournament with a . Canada opened its tournament July 9 with an 8-0 win over Great BritainB次元官网网址檚 U22 team, and followed up with victories over AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 Calahoo Erins (10-0), New Zealand Major Sox (12-0) and Chinese Taipei (4-2).
On Friday, Canada wrapped up pool play with an 11-4 win over Triple Crown, and later in the day, defeated Puerto Rico 12-1 in the first game of the playoff round.
But thatB次元官网网址檚 when things got a little more difficult.
Facing Scrapyard in a semifinal tilt Saturday night, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 offence was stymied by pitcher Kylee Hanson, who held the high-powered Canadian team B次元官网网址� considered by many to be the best team the country has ever produced B次元官网网址� to just three hits in a 2-0 Scrapyard win.
The result bumped Scrapyard directly into SundayB次元官网网址檚 gold-medal game, and meant Canada would have to win another do-or-die game Sunday afternoon against Chinese Taipei in order to claw back into the final of the double-elimination tournament.
That game, too, was a close one, with Canada edging Chinese Taipei 2-1 in extra innings.
At the start of the eighth inning, with Canadian infielder Janet Leung on second base B次元官网网址� per international tie-breaker rules, team start extra innings with a runner on second B次元官网网址� Joey Lye executed a sacrifice bunt to move Leung to third base, and one batter later, she scored when Kaleigh Rafter grounded out to first base.
In the bottom of the eighth, Taipei was not able to advance their second-base runner beyond third base, and Canada escaped with the win.
In SundayB次元官网网址檚 final, Canada B次元官网网址� who jumped out to an early 6-0 lead B次元官网网址� was led by Groenewegen, who struck out five batters, scattered nine hits and allowed four runs in seven innings of work en route to earning the win.
It was a fitting end of the tournament for the former Renegade, who didnB次元官网网址檛 get to enjoy last yearB次元官网网址檚 championship victory after being near the end of the tournament.
Groenewegen acknowledged Sunday night that she felt confident early this yearB次元官网网址檚 final.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a good day when you can have your pitches working in all four quadrants,B次元官网网址� said Groenewegen, who was named the tournamentB次元官网网址檚 top pitcher. B次元官网网址淚 had some good plays behind me, and itB次元官网网址檚 more comfortable when you have an early lead like we did.B次元官网网址�
At the plate, Canada was led by tournament MVP Jennifer Gilbert, who had two hits and one run-batted-in. Lye also had three hits in the victory.
In nine games this week, Gilbert had 16 hits B次元官网网址� including three doubles, a triple and one home run B次元官网网址� and 11 RBI.
Next up for the Canadian squad is a return to the National Pro Fastpitch league, where Team Canada plays out of Illinois as the Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois, and from there, theyB次元官网网址檒l head to the Pan American Games, which are set for Lima, Peru from July 26-August 11.
The Canadians will be back in Surrey late next month, when theyB次元官网网址檒l be one of a dozen teams vying for two 2020 Olympic berths at the Softball City-hosted
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