Canada bounces back, tops South
By John Denny
Staff Reporter

Canada's Samantha Newton and Brittany Thorne converge on a USA South fly-pop in their 8-7 ninth inning comeback win on Aug. 9. Below, USA South rightfielder Ramie Pruitt slides in past Canada’s catcher Brittany Thorne for one of their seven fourth inning runs. Thorne tied the game on a two-RBI infield single in the bottom of seven and Amanda Shaule hit a walk-off single to score Samantha Newton to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Photo by RUSLANA LAMBERT

Any lingering questions about the Canadian team’s abilities — or more importantly, their desire to win — were erased on Aug. 9 in an extra-innings 8-7 comeback victory over the USA South (Morristown, Tenn.).

With two outs and starting pitcher Samantha Newton primed and ready at first base in the bottom of the ninth, Canadian third baseman Amanda Shaule knew her team’s chances were dwindling.

USA South starting pitcher Brittany Dixon had already tossed 133 pitches throughout the game but one more could get her out of the inning — and, sure enough, it did.

As the pitch neared the plate, Shaule swung and connected, lifting the ball into the right-field gap, and a determined Newton never looked back until she tapped home plate.

“I knew I needed a hit, so I just wanted to make contact — especially with two outs,” Shaule said as she shook from excitement.

Shaule and her teammates had good reason to cheer, seeing how they had come back from a dismal fourth inning in which they had relinquished a 4-0 lead on three RBI’s by first baseman and relief pitcher Morgan Balanger and on one of USA South’s three errors, only to give up seven runs on two hits and three errors.

USA South loaded the bases six times in the fourth, scoring three runs on errors, plating another on a hit batter, making a RBI fielder’s choice by centerfielder Katee Estes and scoring on one of Dixon’s three hits for a two-RBI standup double, to take a 7-4 fourth-inning lead.

Canada could’ve won the game in the bottom of the seventh, when two runs scored off a throwing error by USA South third baseman Kasey Turner on an infield single by catcher Brittany Thorne. But in all the excitement of the possibility of winning the game, Thorne confused the third-base coach’s signal to Newton to score for a signal to her and was tagged out at the plate.

Canada (1-1) committed 10 errors in its loss to USA East and was never able to get into a position to mount a comeback. They tallied only three hits over five innings.

They surpassed that number by 10 hits, with 13 hits against USA South. Outfielders Sabrina Phillips, Jessica Kipping and Dani St. Pierre all joined Balanger with multi-hit games.

“I’m very proud of them,” Carr gushed. “They really came to play, and that’s what championship teams are made of.”

“I set a goal for them to win or tie every inning, and they did that every inning except the fourth. I told them to play the way they know they can and that they didn’t show everyone how good they really are,” Carr added, referencing the 11-0 loss to USA).

On a side note, following the game Shaule mentioned that the Canadian team had dedicated the game against USA South to teammate Natasha Spadafora, who couldn’t make the World Series trip.