OTTAWA – The Midget Championship and the Bantam Girls Championship both got underway on Thursday and if day one is any indication, we are in for some great baseball action.
The Midget Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia saw a pair of barn burners to open the tournament. Ontario would defeat New Brunswick 1-0, despite Ben Sollows (Moncton, NB) one-hit, complete game effort. The lone Ontario run came in the top of the first inning.
Also, it took 12 innings for Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia to settle this one, with Newfoundland taking it in the end 3-2. Newfoundland broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 12th inning by scoring a pair of runs to take a 3-1 lead. Nova Scotia responded by scoring one run in the bottom half of the inning but that is all they would get as they would leave two runners stranded in the final frame.
In the rest of the day’s action, Alberta would win big twice by defeating Saskatchewan 13-1 and Halifax 12-0. Both games were decided by the 10-run mercy rule. Ontario also moved to 2-0 with a win over Prince Edward Island 11-0.
PEI did however put one in the win column, beating Halifax 6-1 earlier in the day. Québec and Nova Scotia also finished with a split today, with Nova Scotia defeating Québec by a score of 2-1 in each their second game of the day.
Sitting undefeated so far along with Ontario and Alberta is Manitoba, who is at 1-0 after a 10-0 win over Newfoundland & Labrador.
In the Bantam Girls Championship, taking place in Mascouche, Québec; the weather cooperated long enough so that four games could be completed, with an excellent pitching duel to finish off the day.
It was 0-0 going into the top of the seventh inning between British Columbia and Saskatchewan when BC scored four runs in the inning and would hold on for the 4-0 win. Katie Wallace (Nanaimo, BC) hit a two-run single in the seventh to bring in BC’s third and fourth runs. She was 2-for-4 in the game.
Shayla Shahsavar (Saskatoon, SK) was outstanding in a losing cause, throwing the complete game and allowing the four runs, two earned, on six hits and one walk. Shahsavar would also collect an impressive 13 strikeouts.
In other Bantam Girls action, Québec made easy work of Nova Scotia, winning 11-1. It was a similar story between Ontario and Manitoba with Ontario taking it 15-5 and Lanaudiere would defeat Alberta by a score of 9-3.
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