| Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
For the second straight year, the Wilfrid Laurier
women’s fastpitch team has captured a silver medal at the Provincial
Championships in the Ontario Intercollegiate Women’s Fastpitch
Association. Fresh off a fourth place finish at the National
Championships on Thanksgiving weekend, the Golden Hawks travelled to the
host Queen’s Gaels for this year’s league tournament. The top eight
teams in the province qualified for the championships, with the Golden
Hawks seeded second place going into the weekend, once again for a
second straight year.
The Golden Hawks began action Friday night against the Carleton Ravens. The Ravens found themselves out of the game almost immediately as Amy Campagnolo struck out the side in the top of the first and the bats took it from there. Bobbi Sue Hentges reached on an error, followed by a walk to Nicole Gagnier and Rachel Warmington then hit a hard single to score two. Ellen Westelaken then had a sacrifice fly as Laurier led early, 3-0. In the bottom of the second, two consecutive errors from the Ravens had the Hawks threatening again as Campagnolo helped her own cause with a triple to left and later scored herself. Now up 6-0 in the bottom of the third, Lyndsey Allingham swung a hot bat with her second straight single to open the inning. Emma Scanlon then sacrificed her to second and Marissa Woodburn doubled her and Scanlon in. Laurier added two more runs and took the opening win of the weekend 10-2. Laurier’s second round robin game was against the Ottawa Gee-Gees; a rivalry that has extended for over 10 years between the two teams. The Golden Hawks executed early as Bobbi Sue Hengtes led off with a single to left, was sacrificed to second by Gagnier, and it was starting pitcher Warmington this time that helped her own cause with a single past the third basemen. The Hawks added another run in the third when Gagnier, who was 3-3, singled to centre and scored on a double by Westelaken. The Gee-Gees evened it up in the fourth but the Hawks answered right back as Woodburn singled, Amelia Ballak reached on an error to turn the order over to the top who executed clutch hits to put Laurier back up by two. With Ottawa threatening in the sixth inning, Kathryn Kennaley made an absolute highlight of the weekend catch over her shoulder and doubled off the Ottawa runner to end the inning. Laurier would add one more in the bottom of the inning and Hawks improved to 2-0 with a 5-3 win. With top rank in the pool between two 2-0 teams on the line in the final round robin game, Laurier took on the third seeded Brock Badgers. Threatening in the first two innings, the Hawks finally broke the scoreless tie in the third when Campagnolo reached on an error from a hard hit ball followed by a double from Warmington. Westelaken then singled in Campagnolo followed by an infield single from Woodburn for the 2-0 lead. Campagnolo led the 5th inning off with a double and eventually scored on an RBI single from Lyndsey Allingham who was 2-3 in the game. Brock scored once in the seventh and left a runner at third base but the Golden Hawks prevailed 3-1 and would finish first in pool B action. In semi-final play, the Golden Hawks faced the Gee-Gees once again who downed the host Queen’s Gaels earlier Sunday morning. The Gee-Gees took the lead in the third inning 1-0, but as they had all weekend long, Laurier had an answer back. Scanlon leads off with a walk and was bunted to second by Sheena Haines. With a fielder’s choice to B. Hentges, Nicole Gagnier walked and Campagnolo hit a long fly ball that went off the centre fielder’s glove that gave the Hawks the 2-1 lead. Hentges led off the fifth inning with a bunt single, and was scored on a double from Westelaken. Making the adjustment in the batter’s box, Laurier opened the flood gates in the sixth inning, scoring five times for the 8-1 run-rule win. Three straight singles from Woodburn, Scanlon, and Ballak had the Hawks threatening when Hentges and Campagnolo scored those runs and Westelaken once again brought her trusty bat to the plate and ended the game for Laurier, putting them in the gold medal game against the powerhouse Western Mustangs. With lots of action in two weeks, a number of Laurier starters were suffering some prolonged injuries and unable to start. Sixth year alumni of the program Rachel Warmington got the start on the mound in her last university game, however the Mustangs were too strong. Getting up early 3-0, the Mustangs eventually prevailed by a 7-0 score. This is the second consecutive silver medal at the OIWFA Championships and the Golden Hawks at the OIWFA Championships, and fourth medal overall. Laurier softball now qualifies for the National Championships in Saskatchewan in October 2016 where they will look to improve on their fourth place finish in 2015. Saturday night, both Campagnolo and Warmington were named league all-starts. For more information on Laurier Softball, follow them on Twitter @LaurierSoftball or email womensfastpitchc...@laurierathletics.com | ||
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