MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Ice have their first win under their belt at the Softball Canada U15 Girls Canadian Championship.
The Ice opened the 21-team tournament in Ile-Perrot, Que. with a 10-3 win over B.C.’s Fraser Valley Fusion on Wednesday morning before dropping a 6-0 decision to host Equipe du Quebec in their second contest, giving the local squad a 1-1 record after the opening day of competition.
Moose Jaw has a pair of round robin games on Thursday and Friday, with the teams with the top 12 records from the preliminary round advancing to the championship playoffs beginning Saturday.
The provincial silver medalist Regina Fighting Saints were 0-2 in their first games, falling 3-1 to the Alberta champion Lloydminster Liners and 8-4 to Ontario’s Windsor Wildcats. The White Butte Storm lost 9-4 to Ontario’s Haldimand Heat and were to play the New Brunswick Selects in their second game Wednesday.
Moose Jaw 10, Fraser Valley 3
Things couldn’t have gone better for the Express in their first game of the tournament -- four runs in the first, a 9-3 lead through four and a five-inning mercy-rule victory.
Charlize Hillmer led the way at the plate with a 3-for-4 outing that included a two-run triple in the third inning, two runs scored and three runs batted. Avery Garthus went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Callie Bell was 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.
Moose Jaw had a total of 12 hits in the game and took advantage of five Fraser Valley errors to secure the win.
Taryn Friesen had an impressive nationals debut in the circle, allowing three unearned runs while scattering six hits, striking out four and walking a pair over five innings of work.
Aleesha Edwards led Fraser Valley’s offence with a 3-for-3 game and a run scored.
Bella Tyson was the starting pitcher and gave up four runs, one earned, on four hits in the first inning. Katie Baumung went the rest of the way, allowing six runs, two earned on eight hits in 3 ⅓.
Quebec 6, Moose Jaw 0
The Ice ran into a tough pitcher in their second game Wednesday, with the local squad managing only three hits on their way to the loss.
Jade Mainville would go the distance for Equipe, pitching all six innings while striking out 11 without giving up a walk as Quebec improved to 2-0 on opening day.
Hillmer, Tara Bell and Jayden Babich had Moose Jaw’s hits, with the Ice unable to get a runner in scoring position in the game.
Garthus was the starting pitcher and allowed a run on two hits in the first inning; Kenzi Hildebrand pitched the next two innings and allowed four runs on five hits while striking out a pair. Aurora Wingenbach finished things off, allowing a run on two hits and striking out four over the final three frames.
Megane Ricard was 2-for-4 with two runs scored to lead Quebec’s offence.
The Ice are back on the field at 11 a.m. Moose Jaw time against the Ontario provincial silver medalist Brantford Bobcats before taking on Manitoba’s Westman Magic at 5 p.m. Action continues Friday with Moose Jaw taking on the Newfoundland Selects at 8:30 a.m. and B.C.’s Abbotsford Outlaws at 2:30 p.m.
