Maple Ridge softball star Larissa Franklin will be playing in the Olympics.
Franklin patrolled centre field for Team Canada as the women qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
On Sunday, before a crowd of 4,500 at Softball City in Surrey, the Canadian women beat Brazil 7-0 on the last day of the Americas qualifying tournament to win their berth.
Franklin had a great game, with two hits including a triple, and she drove in three runs.
Canada went 7-1 in the tournament, with seven shutouts, and outscored the opposition by a total of 83-2.
Franklin’s joined the senior national team in 2013, competing in the World Cup of Softball and the WBSC Americas Qualifier where Canada won a silver medal. Since then, she has been a mainstay in the outfield for Canada, competing in multiple international events including the 2014, 2016 and 2018 WBSC Women’s Softball World Championships, helping to bring home bronze at the latter two events.
Franklin was also part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and silver medal squad at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima this past summer.
@NeilCorbett18
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter