Two convincing wins for Softball to start the tournament
Team BC 13, Team Nova Scotia 1
Team BC opened up with a very strong effort, putting in a 13-1 mercy of Nova Scotia Monday afternoon. 7 runs in the top of the third inning turned the game lopsided in British Columbia’s favor.
Jessica Fasolino (Surrey) threw a complete game with few miscues to her name. She worked quickly, only facing 21 batters in retiring Nova Scotia across five innings. Three was the magic number for BC against their Atlantic counterpart. Emma Entzminger (Victoria) and Damara Begin (Delta) both collected three hits, with Damara driving in three of BC’s 13 runs as well. Jordan Britten-Yung (Richmond) crossed the plate 3 times, and Fasolino collected 3 strikeouts in her winning effort.
Quotes
Rob Warburton, Coach (Surrey)
On how the team will use this to build momentum for next game against Quebec
“Well we feel it’s a great first step. We were able to get our feet wet, get some players in and get some experience. Got rid of the nerves”
Taylor Lundrigan, Shortstop (Abbottsford)
On how she felt about her first game
“It was exciting, nice to get a win in our first game. While we always try to get better, we brought a strong start to the tournament and we’re looking to keep our energy going into the next game!”
Team BC 9 Team Quebec 1
BC capped off a strong first day with a 9-1 five inning mercy of Team Quebec. Quebec drew first blood, notching a run on consecutive BC errors, but the home side tightened up the defense to get out the innings and not allow any more runs throughout. BC bounced back immediately, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the inning, and then doing the same for the next two frames, pacing the way for BC’s victory.
Julia Wright (Langley) was masterful on the mound, throwing the entire game, giving up only five hits and zero earned runs. She was aggressive in getting ahead of hitters throughout (51 out of 71 pitches went for strikes) and came through with some clutch pitches when runners were on base.
BC sported a team effort at the plate, with Callum Pilgrim (Abbottsford), and Taylor Lundrigan (Abbottsford) coming through with clutch hits to drive in baserunners. Damara Begin (Delta) drove in 2, giving her 5 RBI’s on the day.
Team BC has two games again Tuesday facing off against Newfoundland at 1:00pm CST and New Brunswick at 4:00pm CST.
Quotes:
Gord Collings, Head Coach (Delta)
Overall thoughts on how they improved from the first game.
“The team is coming together. Even when they made a few mistakes out there, they picked each other up and nobody got down on themselves or each other. Julia pitched a heckuva game and that made a difference, she was really locked in.”
On focuses heading into two more games tomorrow
“We just need to keep improving, keep being aggressive at the plate and in the field. If we handle the simple things we will be in very good shape.”
Julia Wright, Pitcher (Delta)
On mentality going through bullpen and into the game
“I wasn’t feeling 100% my best going through warmup, but after a strong first inning I felt very locked in. I wanted to have an aggressive mentality and get ahead on every hitter, and I think that really helped out myself and the team today.”