Third baseman Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.) was 5-for-5 with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored as Baseball Canada’s national women’s team came from behind three times to top an upstart Cuban squad 10-8, today, moving Canada to 2-0 at the Women’s World Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.
Two first-inning errors by Canadian shortstop Erin Forman (Hamilton, Ont.), allowed Cuba to take a quick 3-1 lead into the second inning where the wild see-saw affair began.
Canada came back with a three-spot of their own in the top-half of the second to take a 4-3 lead, but the Cubans struck with three more in the bottom half of the inning to take another two-run lead, 6-4.
After both teams were held scoreless in the third inning, Canada reclaimed a one-run lead only to have it slip away in the bottom of the fourth as Cuba drove in a pair of runs to take a 8-7 advantage.
Katherine Hannah (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) picked up the win in relief, shutting Cuba out over the final 3.1 innings of work, allowing only one hit and striking out four. While Hannah stymied the Cuban offence, Canada took advantage of a tiring Yaima Ramos, who pitched all seven innings for Cuba. The Canadians scored a pair in the sixth to go ahead for good and added a final run in the seventh for the 10-8 win.
“The Cubans have really improved since we played them in Havana in 2005. That team has a lot of potential,” said Canadian head coach André Lachance. “We got off to a rocky start with the two errors in the first inning, but Hannah was spectacular on the mound and Geneviève Beauchamp (St. Jérome, Qué.) continued to do damage at the plate.”
Beauchamp, Karine Gagné (Granby, Qué.) and Kate Psota (Burlington, Ont.) each had a pair of RBI while Canada was also sparked by its youngest team member, 16-year-old Nicole Luchanski (Edmonton, Alta.), who was 3-for-3 with 2 runs scored.
Canada does not play Wednesday but will prepare for a rematch of the 2004 World Cup Semi Final, Thursday, against Japan. The reigning silver medalists, Japan beat Canada 3-1 to advance to the 2004 championship game.
Box Score
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