Received: 8/15/08 3:29:09 AM From: "Gilles LeBlanc" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Canada_Runs_Out_of_Energy_Against_USA_/_Le_Canada_perd_son : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE August15, 2008 Canada Runs Out of Energy Against USA (Beijing,China) After holding the powerful Americans scoreless for five inningsbetween yesterdays rain-shortened game and this mornings continuation of thepreliminary game, the Canadian softball team came out on the losing end of an8-1 decision. Three costly errors in the top of the sixth inning led to fourAmerican runs, and USA added four more in the seventh for good measure to takesole possession of first place with a 4-0 record. Aftera solid three up, three down inning that ended with Dione Meier (Saskatoon, SK)striking out Jessica Mendoza in the first inning yesterday, Canada opened thescoring in the bottom half of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Melanie Matthews(Surrey, BC) drove a pitch deep to centerfield that Caitlin Lowe was unable tocatch, allowing Matthews to reach second. After Matthews advanced to third onan illegal pitch and Erin McLean (Whitby, ON) walked, Jennifer Yee (NorthDelta, BC) stroked a sacrifice fly to left field to bring Matthews in to score. Meierwas solid for Canada through three innings, but the game was postponed in thetop of the fourth following heavy rain. Whenthe game resumed earlier this morning, Canadian head coach Lori Sippel(Stratford, ON) decided to go with the hot hand, entering Lauren Bay Regula(Trail, BC) into the pitchers circle to attempt to stave off the Americans.Bay Regula had just come off a complete game shutout win over China, and wasstill riding that high. Regula pitched the fourth and fifth innings for Canada,before Meier re-entered the game she originally started in the sixth. Despitegetting the right pitches from Meier, Team Canadas defence committed threeerrors in the sixth, as Meier allowed four runs on no hits. After retiring thefirst two hitters in the seventh, Meier gave up four straight hits as theAmericans scored two more runs. Robin Mackin (Newmarket, ON) came into the gameto get the final out, but was tagged for a two-run single before she couldclose out the half inning. Thefinal line on Meier was eight runs (four earned) on five hits and two walkswith one strikeout in four and two thirds innings. Bay Regula walked twobatters and had one strikeout in two innings of relief, while Mackin gave upone hit in a third of an inning. At the plate, Canada only managed one hit, asingle by Sheena Lawrick (Calgary, AB) off American pitcher Cat Osterman in thebottom of the seventh. Osterman earned the win in the pitchers circle aftercoming on in relief of starting pitcher Monica Abbott in the fourth. Despitethe loss, Canada is tied with Japan for second place in the preliminary roundstandings with a 3-1 record. The red and white will return to action Saturday,August 16th when they will face Venezuela (0-3) at 7:30am EDT (liveon CBC, RDS). -SC- Formore information, contact: GillesLeBlanc Manager Marketing and Communications SoftballCanada (613)523-3386 x. 3105 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
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