Canada advances to medal round with win over Brazil at Pan American Championship

[Al's Fastball News]

Junior Women's Pan American Championship III

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
August 14, 2010 

Canada advances to medal round with win over Brazil at Pan American
Championship 

(Bogota, Colombia) The Canadian Junior Women's National Team
has guaranteed itself a medal with a 5-3 win over a very good
Brazil team. With several rain delays, Canada is waiting for
the loser of the game between the United States and Puerto Rico
and will play for Bronze with the winner moving on to the Gold
Medal Game. 

Canada was able to get an early lead as Jennifer Gilbert (Mckinney,
Texas) led off the bottom of the first with a triple to left
field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Victoria Hayward (Mountain
View, California). Canada's starter pitcher Shanna Wilson (Peterborough,
ON) retired the side in the first two innings but in the third,
she had two outs and one on and Canada committed their first
of three errors to put runners on second and third. The next
batter singled up the middle to put Brazil up 2-1. Canada responded
in the bottom of the inning when Shannon Davidson (Whitby, ON)
drew a leadoff walk and Tessa Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) was safe
on an error that put runners on first and third. Gilbert followed
with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Davidson. 

Wilson gave up a leadoff single in the fourth and Natalie Becker
(Waterloo, ON) came on in relief and got out of a bases loaded
jam with a one hopper back to her. Canada put three runs across
the plate in the fourth when Natasha Szlapetis (Brampton, ON)
was safe on an error and Katelyn Bedwell (White Rock, BC) singled
to left field to put two runners on. Natalie Wideman (Mississauga,
ON) hit a line drive single to right field that got by the Brazilian
outfielder and scored pinch runners Logan White (Brantford, ON)
and Erika Polidori (Brantford, ON) and Wideman ended up on third
base. After a walk to Kristy Noble (Uxbridge, ON), with one-out,
Tessa Loewen hit a hot shot past the third baseman to score Wideman.
Gilbert then lined out to first and Loewen was double off. 

Becker seemed to have things in hand but with one out in the
sixth, Canada committed two errors in a row to allow Brazil to
score their third run. Karissa Hovinga (La Vista, Nebraska) was
called upon to relieve Becker and she promptly got two outs to
end the inning. In the top of the seventh, Hovinga shut the Brazilians
down with two strikeouts and a ground out to confirm at least
a Bronze Medal for Canada. 

The trio of Wilson, Becker and Hovinga gave up four hits and
allowed no earned runs, striking out nine. Seven different batters
contributed to Canada's seven-hit attack. Gilbert tripled with
singles to Hayward, Szlapetis, Bedwell, Wideman, Loewen, Polidori
and Corinne Brookhuis (East York, ON). 

-SC- 

For more information, please contact: 

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

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