Received: 7/28/08 1:07:41 PM From: "Gilles LeBlanc" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Canada splits pair of games in Japan / Le Canada partage deux parties au Japon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE July28, 2008 Canadasplits pair of games in Japan (Sendai,Japan) Team Canada continued its preparations for the Olympic Games as theycompeted in a Tri-Nations tournament in Japan this past weekend. After taking a5-0 victory Friday over the Netherlands, who will participate at the Olympicsfor the first time since 1996, Canada dropped a 4-0 decision to Japan onSunday. Japan also blanked the Netherlands 4-0 on Saturday. Inthe opening game against the Netherlands, Canada wasted no time putting pointson the board, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. MelanieMatthews (Surrey, BC) led off with a double, and Erin McLean (Whitby, ON)immediately followed with a two-run homerun. Third batter Jennifer Yee (NorthDelta, BC) then walked, stole second base and moved to third by tagging up on afly ball before scoring on a two-out infield single by Alison Bradley(Pinkerton, ON). Canadaadded a run in the third, when McLean led off the inning with a single, movedto third on an error and later scored on another RBI single by Bradley.Jennifer Salling (Port Coquitlam, BC) rounded out the scoring with a solohomerun to left-centerfield in the fifth. LaurenBay Regula (Trail, BC) threw five hitless innings for Canada, striking outseven batters. Dione Meier (Saskatoon, SK) pitched the two final innings,allowing only one hit and struck out one. AgainstJapan, Canada fell behind early after three consecutive singles led to a run inthe first inning. The rest of the damage came in the third inning, when ReiNishiyama led off with a single, followed by back-to-back homeruns by SatokoMabuchi and Rie Sato. RobinMackin (Newmarket, ON) started the game for Canada, allowing four runs in fiveinnings of work. Dione Meier came on in relief for the two final innings,escaping difficult situations with runners on second and third in both thesixth and seventh. The Canadian hitters were only able to connect with two hitsin the game, a double by Melanie Matthews in the fourth and an infield singleby Caitlin Lever (Buffalo, New York) in the fifth. Japanese starting pitcher YukikoUeno threw three perfect innings with one strikeout before being relieved inthe fourth. Theevent was Canadas final games against International competition before theOlympic Games, which are set to begin on August 12. They will continue to trainin Japan and will play a pair of exhibition games against local club team, oneagainst Leopalace on July 31st and another against Hitachi Softwareon August 4th. The team will then head to Beijing on August 5th. -SC- Formore information, contact: GillesLeBlanc Manager:Marketing and Communications SoftballCanada (613)523-3386 x. 3105 gleblanc(at)softball.ca Al's Fastball News *Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] NEWS-1: http://www.AlsFastball.com/ NEWS-2: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball VIA http://www.webbox.com
_______________________________________________ Alsfastball mailing list Alsfastball@fastpitchwest.com http://fastpitchwest.com/mailman/listinfo/alsfastball_fastpitchwest.com
