WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup: Canada too much for India
By: Adam Morissette
Canadian Baseball Network
GIJANG, Korea- Canada exploded for seven runs in the first inning and added nine more in the fifth to cruise to an 18-4 mercy-rule win over India in the first ever match-up between the two nations in a sanctioned international baseball competition.
The win evens Canada’s record to 1-1 through two days of competition at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup with a game against the Netherlands looming tomorrow (2:30am ET/3:30pm KT) to decide the second Group B team that will advance to the Super Round.
“I’m pleased with the way we played today given the circumstances,” said Canadian Manager André Lachance. “These games aren’t easy to play sometimes when you’re heavily favoured, so I was happy with the way we went about our business today to come out with a win.”
India is playing in the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever with the goal of helping to grow baseball in their country. The entire team including coaches is new to baseball.
“It’s great to see new countries involved in the sport and trying to build programs to be able to compete at this level,” added Lachance. “I hope they continue with their program, it’s great for women’s baseball to have more countries involved.”
Canadian starter Katie Hagen (Dartmouth, NS) also made history for the Women’s National Team program, as she became the youngest player to ever play in a World Cup game for Canada. Hagen worked all five innings and fanned ten to pick up the win.
“Katie gave us exactly what we needed today which was to throw strikes and pitch well into the ballgame so we could give our bullpen a rest,” explained Lachance. “I’m proud of the way she handled herself on the mound.”
Canada came out swinging in the top of the first and batted around the order to take an early 7-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Niki Boyd (Surrey, BC) singled in both of her plate appearances, scored a run and knocked in one, while Amanda Asay (Prince George, BC) and Becky Hartley (White Rock, BC) each drove in runs on base hits.
India fought back in the home half of the first using a leadoff single and walk to get two runners aboard before a double to left scored both. Hagen followed with two strikeouts, although the second batter reached on a dropped third strike that put runners on the corners before a sac fly brought in the third run of the frame.
Canada added two runs in the fourth to go ahead by six before exploding for nine in the fifth that came on ten hits with eight of them coming consecutively.
Offensively, Canada had nineteen hits with eight players recording multi-hit games. Ella Matteucci (Fruitvale, BC) smacked three doubles and drove in two as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate, while Amanda Asay also went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Mia Valcke (St. Marys, ON) drove in three and had a double as part of a perfect 2-for-2 day at the plate.
“It’s nice to put one in the win column, but it all means nothing if we don’t come out and get a win against the Netherlands tomorrow,” said Lachance. “We still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be, so tomorrow is a big game for us.”
UP NEXT: Canada will wrap up Group B action tomorrow against the Netherlands (2:30 am ET/3:30 pm KT) with a berth in the Super Round on the line… You can follow the game, pitch-by-pitch via the WBSC Live Scoring system.
Follow Team Canada:
Twitter.com/baseballcanada
Facebook.com/baseballcanada
Instagram.com/baseballcanada