August 9, 2017

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

WASHINGTON, DC – Edmonton’s Madison Willan made history on Wednesday becoming the first player in Women’s National Team program history to hit an out of the park homer after she belted a three-run shot at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy on day one of the summer development program.

The Women’s National Team program has 31 athletes split into two teams this week in the U.S. capital to play an exhibition series against USA Baseball’s Women’s National Team Development Program.

Canada Leaf 5 USA Stripes 4

Willan, playing for “Canada Leaf”, homered at a crucial time against USA’s Stripes squad to break a 2-2 tie and put Canada up by three. With two down and runners on second and third, Willan came in to pinch hit and slammed a pitch over the left field wall.

Canada then held off a USA comeback with Stacy Fournier (Langley, B.C.) earning the save in a 5-4 win.

Down 1-0 in the third, Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.) ripped an RBI single to tie the score before Daphnée Gelinas’ (Québec City, Que.) singled home Amanda Asay (Prince George, B.C.) to give Canada the lead in the fourth. Asay paced Canada’s offence with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and scored two runs.

Canadian starter Tess Forman (Ottawa, Ont.) went three innings and allowed a run on two hits and two walks while striking out two. Noémie Lapointe (Laval, Que.) recorded the win after three innings of relief.

Canada Maple 13 USA Stars 7

Down by six runs in the top of the fifth, Canada Maple scored nine runs to take the lead and eventually hung on for a 13-7 win over USA Stars. Emma March (Vancouver, B.C.) got things going with a triple to score Emma Carr ((Toronto, Ont.) and later scored on a single to left off the bat of Allison Schroder (Fruitvale, B.C.). Pascal Jalbert (St-Honoré, Que.) added an RBI single before Canada benefitted from a pair of bases loaded walks and a throwing error that plated two runs.

With the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, Canada added to their lead when Jenn Gilroy (Mississauga, Ont.) reached on an error before Emma Carr drove in two with a single to right field. Kaitlyn Ross (Redcliff, Alta.) singled, stole second and moved to third on an error before scoring a wild pitch in the seventh, while reliever Stephanie Ellis (Brantford, Ont.) held the U.S. to one run over two innings of work to preserve the win.

Canada Maple starter Heather Healey (Paradise, Nfld.) worked three innings and gave up three runs before giving way to Britney Langlais (Garson, Man.) who was credited with the win.

Up Next: The series resumes Thursday at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy with a nine-inning contest slated for 6 p.m ET. Follow live here: http://sidearmstats.com/usabaseball/national_team/