Baseball Canada’s national women’s team claimed its second bronze medal at the Women’s World Cup of Baseball today, blanking Hong Kong 10-0 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Four teams were tied in second place with 4-2 records behind the gold medalists from the United States after the round robin tournament. Japan came out of the tie-break scenario with the silver medal while Canada claimed the bronze to duplicate the final medal standings from the 2004 World Cup in Edmonton.
Despite having the same 4-2 record, Australia and Taiwan had to settle for fourth and fifth place respectively while Cuba finished in sixth at 1-6 and winless Hong Kong rounded out the pack.
Canada took control early against Hong Kong, scoring three runs in the first inning to set the tone for the game. Four runs in the second, two in the third and a solo marker in the fourth ended the game early after five innings thanks to the international 10-run mercy rule.
Designated hitter/first baseman Marie-Josée Tremblay (Saint Honoré-de-Chicoutimi, Qué.) led the way for Canada, going 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, but was not to be outdone by catcher Amanda Asay (Prince George, B.C.) who also produced three runs, while going 1-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored.
Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.) was 2-for-4 with a two RBI and Karin Gagné was 2-for-2 with 2 walks, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.
Asay, who batted .500 at the World Cup, was named to the tournament All-Star Team.
Southpaw Annie Kowalczyk (Mississauga, Ont.), Susan Douthwright (Riverview, N.B.) and Samantha Ostrom (Calgary, Alta.) combined for a three-hit shut out. Douthwright held Hong Kong hitless over one inning of work in relief to earn the win.
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