Maracay, Venezuela-Kate Psota’s (Burlington, ON) 2 out RBI single highlighted a 4 run 7th inning as Canada beat Cuba 10-9 in a walk-off victory. The victory gives Canada life as they now hope for a USA victory over Australia later today which would advance them to the medal round of the Women’s World Cup.
“After a tough loss to Japan yesterday, I told our players that we will not quit until the last pitch is thrown in any game," said André Lachance (Ottawa, ON), Field Manager for the WNT. “Today was a good example of how things change quickly in the game of baseball. Our players did not quit and were rewarded for their late-inning efforts!”
Down 9-6 in the bottom of the 7th, Marie-Josée Tremblay (St-Honoré, QC) hit a bases loaded single up the middle to score 2 runs and bring the Canadians within one. After a walk to Nicole Luchanski (Edmonton, AB) loaded the bases again, Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, ON) hit a sacrifice fly to left field which brought home the tying run. Psota then came to the plate and drilled a 0-1 pitch into centre field to cap the dramatic comeback.
The Canadians carried a 6-4 lead into the top of the 7th inning only to see the Cubans put 5 runs across to change the momentum of the game. The Cubans loaded the bases and with 2 out and a walk followed by two doubles suddenly gave them a 9-6 lead.
Earlier in the game, with the Canadians down by two into the 3rd inning, they pushed across 5 runs to take a 3 run lead. Amanda Asay (Prince George, BC) had the big blow in the inning, connecting for a single which scored 2 runs.
Canada would score another run in the 4th but Cuba would not go away as they scored a run in both the 5th and 6th innings which would foreshadow the exciting 7th inning.
Stephenson was credited with the win as she replaced Jessica Bérubé (Québec City, QC) who came on in relief of Canadian starter Autumn Mills (London, ON).
Notes: At the time of this release it is not yet know when Canada’s next game will be. An Australian loss would put Canada into a semi-final game while an Australian victory would force Canada to play in the 5th place game. ... To follow the important Australia/USA game at 3:30pm ET, you can visit: http://ibaf.prod.kgroup.eu/en/competition-detail.aspx?id=a4406b7a-327d-4dbc-8b16-16198b57ccef
