Canada beats Japan to win round-robin pool at Canada Cup softball

by jtsg | July 6, 2007 at 11:24 am

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Surrey, British Columbia, Canada (2007/7/5) — Team Canada clinched their round-robin pool with a 5-2 victory against Japan at the 2007 Canada Cup international women’s fast pitch softball tournament at South Surrey Athletic Park.

Japan took an early 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth when the Canadians rallied for 4 runs including a 3-run homerun by pinch hitter Tamra Howren. (RF) Melanie Matthews added Canada’s final run scoring after she hit a triple when Japan’s (P) Mariko Masubuchi released a wild pitch. Canada’s starter (P) Robin Mackin delivered a complete game for the win with 5 strikeouts allowing 2 runs on 4 hits.

The Canadian squad joins USA as the only unbeaten teams through round-robin at 6-0, while Japan and their national alternate team Japan Elite are seeded second in their respective pools at 5-1.

To begin the double-knockout championship round on Friday afternoon, Canada takes on Chinese Taipei, USA matches against Venezuela, Japan meets defending Canada Cup champions Australia, and Japan Elite faces compatriot Denso Club. The four winning teams will pair up to play Friday evening for entry into the top bracket, while the losing teams will be relegated into the elimination bracket to be matched up Saturday morning.

The championship semi-final and final are scheduled for Sunday at South Surrey Athletic Park’s Softball City Diamond One.

Score summaries:

-- Jul. 5, 2007 (Day 6) --