Grand Slam
Softball Recaps Canada Cup
July 3, 2006
Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2006 by Marco Stoovelaar

Monday, July 3
Shutout-win for Dutch
Dutch beat Canada!


Shutout-win for Dutch
Nederlands | Box Score | Play-by-Play
SURREY (Canada) - The Dutch Softball Team also won its second game of the Canada Cup Tournament.
After not having played on Sunday, the team opened on Monday with a 6-0 shutout vs. Delta Sunfire from Canada. This was the first of two games scheduled for the Dutch team on Monday. In the evening, it played against the national team of Canada.
The Dutch rallied for five runs in the first inning to take a comfortable lead. The Canadian opponent had only one basehit off two Dutch pitchers. Judith van Kampen threw the first four innings and gave up no hits, Kristi DeVries completed the game.

After starting pitcher Judith van Kampen retired the side in the first inning, her teammates rallied for five runs in the second half of the at bat. Saskia Kosterink and Lynn Geertman led off with singles to put runners on first and third base. Delta-short stop Cheryl Chan then made an error on a grounder by next batter Daisy de Peinder that enabled Kosterink to score the first run. The bases were the loaded when Sandra Gouverneur walked. Delta Sunfire-starter Lisa Ekman then also walked next batter Noémi Boekel to bring in another run, before she struckout powerhitter Debbie Connor. But then Marjan Smit followed with a single on which Daisy de Peinder scored and the bases remained loaded. Ashley Taylor was brought in to relief Lisa Ekman, but walked Ellen Venker, resulting in another run. Noémi Noekel was then forced out at home on a grounder by Nathalie Gosewehr for the second out in the inning, but the Dutch lead was increased to 5-0 when Saskia Kosterink was hit by a pitch. The inning finally ended on a groundout by Lynn Geertman.

The Dutch team added a run in the second inning. Daisy de Peinder led off with a single and moved on a sac-bunt by Sandra Gouverneur. She then stole third base and scored on a single by Noémi Boekel. The Dutch team got the bases loaded with two outs hereafter when Debbie Connor and Ellen Venker also singled. The last single was hit off the third Delta-pitcher in the game, Dione Meier, who had come in after Connor's single. The three runners, however, stranded when pinch-hitter Marloes Fellinger struckout.
In the next four innings, three Dutch batters would reach base, but were all stranded on second base.

Delta Sunfire got only one runner on third base in this game. Dutch starter Judith van Kampen threw four innings in which she didn't gave up a basehit. She allowed only three batters to reach base. In the second inning, a batter reached base on a throwing error. In the fourth at bat, a walk and a hit by pitch resulted in the other two runners. Kristi DeVries took over in the fifth inning and gave up a lead-off single to Amy O'Bee, which was to be the lone Canadian basehit in the game. Only one more batter would reach base after this and that happened on a hit by pitch in the sixth inning.
(July 3)


Dutch beat Canada!
Nederlands | Box Score | Play-by-Play
SURREY (Canada) - The Dutch Softball Team on Monday continued its strong start on the Canada Cup Tournament with a 7-6 victory vs. the national team of Canada.
The Dutch team rallied for all seven runs in the first inning and then had only two more baserunners in the last six innings off a new pitcher.
From the fifth inning on, Canada started to come back. There was a lot of tension in the seventh inning when Canada, while trailing 7-4, scored twice to come back to 7-6, but with two runners on, Rebecca Soumeru ended the game with a strikeout.
This was only the third Dutch victory vs. Canada in their 21st meeting overall.

For the third game in a row, the Dutch team had a big early rally that proved to be decisive for the outcome of the game. Pitching and defense then did the rest and secured the lead.
Canada-starter Robin Mackin had some problems with her control, but also gave up three basehits, as she faced seven batters in the first inning. She started fine when she struckout lead-off hitter Saskia Kosterink, but then hit Lynn Geertman with a pitch. A single by Daisy de Peinder and a walk for Sandra Gouverneur then loaded the bases. The Dutch team then scored its first run when Marloes Fellinger also was hit by a pitch. Kristi DeVries followed with a 2-run single to make it 3-0 and Debbie Connor increased the lead to 4-0 with her RBI-single, resulting in a pitching change. Danielle Lawrie took over with two pinch-runners on base. Femke Haage had come in after Kristi DeVries singled and Areke Spel ran for Debbie Connor. Both would score moments later. The new pitcher was greeted with a single by Kinge Bouma on which Haage scored. After a passed ball enabled Spel and Bouma to move, Marjan Smit struckout, but then the two runners scored when Saskia Kosterink followed with a single that made it 7-0. Kosterink initially advanced on an illegal pitch, but then was caught trying to steal third base to end the inning.

In the remainder of the game, the Dutch team would reach base only two more times, both in the sixth at bat. From the second through the fifth inning, Canadian reliever Danielle Lawrie retired 12 batters in a row, before she walked Marloes Fellinger to open the sixth inning. Kristi DeVries then followed with a single, but the next six batters then also were retired in order. Lawrie, who threw 6 2/3 inning, struckout 13 Dutch batters!

In the home of the first inning, Canada reacted with one run when Melanie Mathews homered with one out off starter Judith van Kampen. In the second inning, two Canadian batters singled with one out, but the first of them was caught stealing, then the inning ended with a flyout. Canada then also stranded a runner in the third and fourth inning, but started to come back in the fifth inning when it scored three runs. Erin McLean and Rachel Schill led off with singles and moved on a grounder. After the bases were loaded when Sheena Lawrick walked, Judith van Kampen was relieved by Rebecca Soumeru. But the righthander was greeted with a 2-run single by Alison Bradley and an RBI-single by Tamra Howren, then loaded the bases by walking Cindy Eadie. However, Canada was unable to score more runs, as a strikeout and a flyout ended the inning.
In the sixth inning, Rachel Schill and Melanie Mathews singled for Canada with one out, but again the team was unable to score. Schill was caught stealing and Mathews stranded as a flyout ended the at bat.

But tension was building in the seventh inning. Leading 7-4, nerves started to do their things, as two errors enabled Canada to come back to 7-6. First, Tamra Howren and Cindy Eadie singled. Then, an error was made on a grounder by Angela Lichty that resulted in a run, but when a throwing error followed, another run was scored to make it a 7-6 score. After a flyout, another batter reached base when she walked, but Rebecca Soumeru then ended the game by throwing out the next batter on first base after a comeback grounder.
(July 3)


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