By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

VIERA, Florida – The United States used home runs from Jade Gortarez and Megan Baltzell, and a solid pitching performance from starter Marti Sementelli to hand Canada a 5-1 loss in Super Round action at the Women’s Baseball World Cup on Wednesday.

Canada jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first on a Kate Psota (Burlington, Ont.) RBI ground out before Gortarez put the US up for good with a three-run blast in the second off Canadian starter Anne-Sophie Lavallée (Boucherville, Que.).

“They have some power in their lineup and they certainly showed that tonight,” said Canadian Manager André Lachance. “Anne-Sophie has been great for us all tournament but tonight wasn’t her night.”

Lavallée allowed a solo shot to Baltzell in the third before the US added another run to chase her from the game. Allison Schroder (Fruitvale, BC) came in from the bullpen and shut the US down for four and two-thirds innings scattering two hits and three walks to go along with two strikeouts.

“Allison proved tonight that she has what it takes (on the mound) to compete at this level,” said Lachance of the 16-year-old hurler. 

Meanwhile, USA starter Marti Sementelli limited a Canadian offence that scored 47 runs in just six tournament games to just one run on four hits.

“(Sementelli) deserves a lot of credit for the way that she pitched tonight,” said Lachance. “She threw strikes and got help from her defence when she needed it.” 

UP NEXT: Canada (2-2) will close out Super Round play Thursday against Chinese Taipei (3-1) with a 1PM ET first pitch at Space Coast Stadium. The game can be viewed live on the WBSC’s YouTube channel. The world championship game as well as the third place contest are scheduled for August 31st.  

LINKS:

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