GIJANG, Korea- Canada bent but did not break, holding host Korea off the scoreboard and generated nine runs on offence to come away with a 9-0 win in Super Round action at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup.
The win sets up tomorrow’s match-up against Chinese Taipei where a victory would send Canada to Sunday’s gold medal game for only the second time in the history of the Women’s National Team program.
“We got the job done today and that’s what matters,” said Canadian Manager André Lachance. “We’ve played well all tournament and control our destiny, which is what you want.
“We have a chance to get into the gold medal game with a win tomorrow so I’m expecting our group to be ready and focused.”
Heather Healey (Paradise, NL), Melissa Armstrong (Saskatoon, SK) and Anne Sophie Lavallée (Boucherville, QC), who made her tournament debut, combined to shutout the Koreans and hold them to just five hits.
“We ran into some tough situations while in the field, but were able to hold them off,” said Lachance. “Our defence was there when we needed them and we got good pitching at crucial times.”
Healey walked the bases loaded in the third but got an inning ending double play to get out of it, while in the fourth a single and double chased her from the game with runners on second and third, but Melissa Armstrong got two outs when it mattered to keep the Koreans off the board.
“Melissa is a veteran and did a great job in that spot,” said Lachance. “She was able to come in and calm things down which was what we needed in that situation.”
Armstrong also got out of a bases loaded situation in the sixth and turned in two and two-third innings on the mound that saw her allow just one hit and two walks, while adding one strikeout.
A two run first inning that saw Kelsey Lalor (Red Deer, AB) double in a run and later score on a Pascale Jalbert (St-Honoré, QC) single, got Canada’s offence going and they went up by four in the second after Jenna Flannigan (Cornwall, ON) singled with two out to score both Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, ON) and Nicole Luchanksi (Edmonton, AB).
The Canadian offence was held at bay in the third and fourth before Pascale Jalbert scored from third on a double steal in a first and third situation.
Canada’s hitters struggled for parts of the game adjusting to a change in velocity after facing Venezuela and Australia over the past two days.
“None of (Korea’s) pitchers threw very hard and that really messed up our (hitters’) timing,” said Lachance. “You see it all the time with slower velocity. It’s tough on a batter because timing is such a big part of hitting.”
The bats came alive in the sixth as Canada used five hits including an RBI double from Nicole Luchanski and RBI singles from Jalbert and Mia Valcke (St. Marys, ON) to plate four runs. Jenna Flannigan singled and scored in the frame to put the finishing touches on a 3-for-4 day that saw her steal three bases and drive in two runs.
“I’m really happy with the way we’re going about our business to this point of the tournament,” added Lachance. “We’re right where we want to be.”
UP NEXT: Team Canada will conclude the Super Round tomorrow against Chinese Taipei with the first pitch set for 9:30am KT/8:30pm ET (Thursday)…You can watch the game live on the WBSC’s YouTube channel.
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