U16 Youth World Cup - Day 4
Thursday, August 13, 2009
(Prague, Czech Republic) – The Canadian Women’s U16 National Softball Team secured second place in Pool A at the Easton Foundation Youth World Cup today by defeating Russia 3-0 in its final preliminary round game. With the win, Canada (4-1) earned double-life in the elimination round and will play its first playoff game against Puerto Rico (5-0) at 9:00am EDT on Friday.
Against Russia, Canada opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning and benefited from an excellent pitching tandem of Olivia Zwick (Surrey, BC) and Jaycee Affeldt (Maple Ridge, BC) to cruise to victory. Jennifer Gilbert (McKinney, Texas) led off the bottom of the first with a single, and Tessa Loewen (Abbotsford, BC) laid down a perfect bunt to reach base as well, and the runner advanced to second and third on an error. Back-to-back RBI groundouts by Tarah Ettinger (Plainfield, Illinois) and Stephanie Gallant (Ajax, ON) gave Canada the early 2-0 lead.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth, when Megan Gurski (Saskatoon, SK) reached on an error and later scored on a triple by Jennifer Gilbert, leading Canada to the 3-0 win.
Olivia Zwick began the game in the pitcher’s circle for Canada, pitching four shutout innings and allowing only two hits with eight strikeouts. Jaycee Affeldt then pitched three innings of hitless relief, striking out eight batters.
Jennifer Gilbert led Canada at the plate with two hits, while Tessa Loewen, Renee Helmer (Oakville, ON) and Shannon Davidson (Whitby, ON) also registered hits for the red and white.
Canada vs. Russia: Box Score and Play-by-play
In other action at the Easton Foundation Youth World Cup, Venezuela edged China 3-2, the Czech Republic trimmed Venezuela 3-2 and the Dominican Republic shut out Italy 10-0 last night. Earlier today, Italy defeated South Africa 6-2, Japan shut out Russia 7-0, Puerto Rico beat the Netherlands 5-2, the Dominican Republic defeated South Africa 5-1 and the Czech Republic beat Venezuela 4-2.
Final Preliminary Round Standings:
Pool A Wins Losses
1. Japan 5 0
2. Canada 4 1
3. Dominican Republic 3 2
4. Italy 2 3
5. Russia 1 4
6. South Africa 0 5
Pool B Wins Losses
1. Puerto Rico 5 0
2. Czech Republic 4 1
3. Netherlands 3 2
4. Venezuela 2 3
5. China 1 4
6. Zimbabwe 0 5
Friday’s Cross-over games:
4:00am EDT: Italy (4th Pool A) vs. Netherlands (3rd Pool B)
6:30am EDT: Dominican Republic (3rd Pool A) vs. Venezuela (4th Pool B)
9:00am EDT: Canada (2nd Pool A) vs. Puerto Rico (1st Pool B)
11:30am EDT: Japan (1st Pool A) vs. Czech Republic (2nd Pool B)
For tournament information, scores and schedules, please visit the official website at http://ywc.softball.cz. All remaining games can now be seen on the live webcam at http://89.24.132.153:850/, and there is live scoring (each half inning) through the “Schedule” page.
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For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 x3105
gleblanc@softball.ca 
www.softball.ca / www.BackSoftball.com