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Maple Ridge softball athlete helps Canada’s national team climb to perfect record

Canada defeats Peru, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic in Women’s Pan American Championship
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The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team remains undefeated in the first three days of the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press photo)

The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team has been putting on a dominating performance at the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament.

This international tournament features 14 teams who are all battling it out to compete at next year’s World Cup Group Stage, with the top two teams in that tournament facing off against each other in the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup in 2024.

With only two days left in the tournament, the competition is heating up, but Canada’s national team is remaining cool as a cucumber with their perfect 3-0 record.

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On Saturday, Nov. 12, Canada began the tournament with an impressive 14-0 win over Peru. This was followed up by another shutout win the next day when they faced Nicaragua and beat them 9-0.

Yesterday’s 11-1 win over the Dominican Republic was the first time that Canada allowed a run to be scored against them.

One of the major stars of the Canadian Women’s National Softball Team has been Sara Groenewegen from Surrey, B.C., who has refrained from allowing even a single hit with her pitching.

Kelsey Harshman from Delta, B.C. has been an unstoppable force at the plate, recording hits at every one of her seven plate appearances.

Alysen Febrey from Peachtree City, GA and Erika Polidori from Brantford, ON have also made their mark on the tournament, each scoring two home runs.

Many of the team’s runs have been helped or scored by Larissa Franklin from Maple Ridge, B.C. who has put up four runs across three games.

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The next challenge for the team will be today at 1:30 p.m. PST when they go up against Cuba, who also enters the match as an undefeated team.

This match, and all future matches, can be seen live at https://www.facebook.com/SoftballCanadaNSO.

The tournament will wrap up on Wednesday, Nov. 16 with Canada playing Team WBSC at 4 p.m. PST and then immediately going up against Mexico at 6:30 p.m. PST.


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Brandon Tucker

About the Author: Brandon Tucker

I have been a journalist since 2013, with much of my career spent covering sports and entertainment stories in Alberta.
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