Team Canada and Triple Crown Colorado Defeat Canada Elite

Softball Canada – Surrey, B.C. – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team defeated Canada Elite 8-1 in five innings in Canada Cup action, while Canada Elite suffered an 11-4 loss to Triple Crown Colorado earlier in the day at the Canada Cup International Softball Championship.
 
The showdown between the two Canadian teams saw Canada Elite take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Joey Lye (Toronto, Ont.) led off with a single, stole second and scored on a single by Erika Polidori (Brantford, Ont.). Team Canada responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back solo homeruns by Jenn Salling (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and Kelsey Jenkins (Delta, B.C.). Team Canada’s starting pitcher Karissa Hovinga (Edmonton, Alta.) settled in after giving up two hits in the first by allowing only one baserunner over her next three innings of work.
 
Team Canada added three runs to its lead in the bottom of the third by loading the bases with two outs before Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.) cleared them with a triple. In the fourth, Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ont.) singled and advanced to third on a double by Salling before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jenkins, followed by a two-run homerun by Holly Speers (Surrey, B.C.) who stayed hot at the plate with her fourth homerun in the last three games. Sara Plourde (Baker Lake, N.B.) came in to pitch the fifth inning for Team Canada and sat Canada Elite down in order for the run-rule win.
 
Box Score: Canada 8 vs. Canada Elite 1
 
Hovinga’s full pitching line was one run on two hits and a hit batter to go along with two strikeouts in four innings, with Plourde pitching a clean inning. Salling led Canada at the plate with a homerun and a double, with Speers hitting a two-run homerun, Franklin hitting a three-run triple and Jenkins adding a solo blast for the game’s big hits. Victoria Hayward (Toronto, Ont.), Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, Ont.) and Leung each chipped in with a single.
 
For Canada Elite, Sierra Bertrand (Stirling, Ont.) suffered the loss by allowing five runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks, while Elizabeth Murphy (Maple Ridge, B.C.) gave up three runs on four hits.
 
Earlier in the day, Canada Elite took on Triple Crown Colorado and opened the scoring in the top of the first on a two-out homerun by Polidori. In the third, Grace Messmer (Surrey, B.C.) hit a two-out single before Polidori came up again and drilled a two-run homerun to give Canada Elite a 3-0 lead. Triple Play Colorado put four consecutive singles together to push their first run across in the bottom of the third, but Canada Elite got that run back immediately when Callum Pilgrim (Abbotsford, B.C.) singled, stole second and scored on a single by Shianne Brannan (Chino, Calif.).
 
Canada Elite pitcher Savanna Copeland (Fishers, Ind.) limited Triple Crown Colorado to one run as she scattered seven hits over the first four innings before giving way to Kenzie Friesen (Saskatoon, Sask.) in the bottom of the fifth. Triple Crown greeted her by producing three hits, drawing three walks and taking advantage of three errors to score six runs and take a 7-4 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, the first two batters reached base before Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage (Fort McMurray, Alta.) came in relief and allowed four singles as Triple Crown Colorado pushed four more runs in to score to take the 11-4 win in six innings.
 
Box Score: Triple Crown Colorado 11 vs. Canada Elite 4
 
The loss was Canada Elite’s first of the tournament while Triple Crown Colorado improved its perfect record to 5-0. The Canadian Women’s National Team will look to hand Triple Crown Colorado its first loss and avenge its 4-3 loss on Tuesday when they square off with them again at 1:00pm PDT on Friday.
 
All Canada Cup Women’s International Division games on Diamond 1 can be seen live at cbc.ca/sports and on the CBC Sports app.