By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

VIERA, Florida – Kelsey Lalor (Red Deer, Alta.) belted a two-run homer in the first inning to lead a Canadian offence that had 17 hits to an 18-1 defeat of the Dominican Republic that puts Canada into the Super Round at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup.

Canada finished the Opening Round with a record of 4-1 and outscored opponents 42-16 collecting 62 hits in the process for an average of over 12 per game.

“Obviously we’re very happy with the way we’re swing the bats right now,” said Canadian Manager André Lachance. “We also know that once the Super Round starts that the games get tighter, but it is (the offence) a positive for sure.”

After adding two more runs in the second, Canada sent 16 batters to the plate in the third scoring 12 runs including four RBI from Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.) courtesy a double and triple, while Nicole Luchanski (Edmonton, Alta.) and Mia Valcke (St. Marys, Ont.) each drove in two runs. 

Seven different players in the Canadian lineup recorded multi-hit games including Stephenson and Niki Boyd (Surrey, BC) who had three hits apiece.

The Dominican Republic led 1-0 after a half inning of play but Canadian starting pitcher Emma Carr (Toronto, Ont.) shut them down the rest of the day and finished with five strikeouts to earn the win.

“Emma was great for us today,” explained Lachance. “Her effort allowed us to rest our bullpen, and with tomorrow’s off-day will benefit us with the potential of four games in four days.”

UP NEXT: Canada will open the Super Round on Tuesday against a yet-to-be-determined opponent with Opening Round games still to be played on Monday. The Super Round features the top three seeds in each group playing crossover games before bronze and gold medal match-ups are played on Friday, August 31. 

LINKS:

WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Website
WBSC YouTube Channel
Baseball Canada Women’s National Team Roster