麻豆社区

Monday night brought a true test for Canada and Great Britain in their match-up at ISF Women's World Championships.

Rain.

Lots of it.

The two teams battled through downpours that fell intermittently but heavily throughout the first four innings.

With temperatures just above 10 degrees Celsius in Whitehorse, the cold rain didn't slow the offensive prowess of the Canadian team.

Kaleigh Rafter of Guelph, Ont., Canada's veteran catcher stepped to the plate in the bottom of third with the downpour pounding the field and with the ball barely visible, laced a single up the middle, bringing Calgary's Sheena Lawrick home from second base.

It was the third run for Canada, after 19 year-old rookie Carey-Leigh Thomas of Ohsweken, Ont., knocked a two-run home run to right field in the second inning, and displayed the team's resilience.

Canada would go on to add five runs in the bottom of the sixth and with the score 8-1, the umpires called the game.

After suffering a disappointing 6-2 loss the night before against a gold medal favourite Japan, Canada found their rhythm early on, erasing any memories from that loss and improving their record to 3-1.

"We bounced back tonight,鈥� said Lawrick, who drove in two runs on three hits.

"That's the whole point of this tournament; you take it a day at a time.鈥�

Stacie Townsend of Great Britain collected the loss, giving up eight runs on 13 hits.

"She's a good pitcher and we tip our hats to her,鈥� said Lawrick. "They're a team that's definitely getting better as the years go on.鈥�

Canada head coach, Mark Smith, was pleased with the team's effort but knows they have to continue to make strides on both sides of the ball.

"We left a ton of runners on base tonight,鈥� he said. "You can find yourself behind when you should have put the team away innings earlier and that's where this one was heading.

"It was nice see in the bottom of the sixth when we finally had an opportunity to push some extra runs across the board we did, that means one less inning of pitching and one less inning we have to go out there and defend.鈥�

Canada fell behind in the first inning, giving up their only run when Great Britain's Stacie Townsend brought Kristia Yoshizawa home from third on a single to right field.

Lawrick said the rain, while making the ball harder to grip and follow, can sometimes be beneficial.

"It really makes you focus,鈥� she said.

"That's part of sports, playing in the weather, I know it's a lot colder than most people are used to but I think we handled it pretty well and our pitcher handled it really well.

"I thought we were having good at-bats, we weren't striking out and we were putting the ball in play, we made our adjustments a little later than we wanted to.鈥�

The continued offensive onslaught from Canada will benefit the team later in the tournament, said Lawrick

"We're a great hitting team and the big games are when those bats will show up but we're taking these at bats in the middle of the week seriously and trying to gain confidence.鈥�

Playing their fourth game in as many days, Canada was back on the field at 11:30 this morning in a match-up against New Zealand.

Smith said if the team's not already feeling the fatigue, they will be soon.

"I was telling the girls that these events are marathons and not sprints,鈥� he said.

"You really have to get the proper rest and make sure you're ready to play.

"Young athletes tend to think they're a bit invincible but we talked about the importance of proper nutrition and the fatigue factor and hopefully we'll come out here tomorrow well rested and ready to go.鈥�

New Zealand, currently at 2-2, has a young team capable of competing with the top squads in the tournament when they get momentum on their side.

"New Zealand is a scrappy team and we can't afford to leave runners on base and do the types of things we did today,鈥� said Smith.

"We've got to get out to a good start early and get the job done.鈥�