Reds finish first
Host team begins playoff round Saturday morning
The host Scotiabank Reds have finished first in the roundrobin portion of Softball Canada’s national senior women’s fastpitch championship. The Reds, Prince Edward Island’s 2017 Canada Summer Games team, defeated Team P.E.I.’s Island Impact 6-0 at Ellis Field in O’Leary on Friday night to move into a first-place tie with the defending champions from Ontario, Whitby Senior Eagles. Both teams completed the round robin with 5-1 (won-lost) records, but the Reds get top spot based on their head-tohead win over the Eagles. The Island Impact finished in seventh and last place at 0-6, but they leave the tournament with their heads held high. They saved their best ball for the final day of the round robin.
First four games
After losing their first four games by the mercy rule, the Impact went into Friday knowing they’d be facing the top two teams. But the Eagles and Reds had to go the full seven innings against the Impact. The Eagles won the morning game 6-2.
Evening game
In the evening game, the Reds took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and extended it to 3-0 and 5-0 in the third and fifth innings, before finishing out the scoring in the seventh. Alyssa Fleming, who saw action in all six Reds’ games, threw a complete-game threehitter, walking two and striking out nine. Kelly Lea, Stacy Montgomery and Jody Kinney were the only batters to get a hit off Fleming.
Top hitters for the Reds were Jada Yeo (2-3, run scored, two RBIs), Sarah Woodside (2-3), Clara Jane Wood (2-3, two runs scored) and Emily Cairns (1-3).
Pitching
Maggie MacIssac pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the Impact, surrendering five runs on eight hits. Her summary included three walks and two strikeouts. Priscilla Curran finished the game, allowing a hit and a run while striking out one and walking one.
Playoffs
The top six teams advance to the playoffs that start Saturday at 9 a.m., with the first-place Reds taking on the fourth-place team. Who that is will depend on the outcome of Friday’s late game between the Quebec Rebelles (3-2) and Port Perry Angels (1-4). The Angels can finish no higher than sixth while a Quebec win would result in a third-place finish. A Quebec loss would put them into a tiebreaker situation with the Whitby Intermediates (3-3) and Saint John (3-3). The second-place Whitby Senior Eagles will play the thirdplace team at 11 a.m. The winners of those games will meet at 7 p.m.
Awards
In between, all-star awards will be presented at 1 p.m., and the sixth-place team will face the loser of Game 1 at 3 p.m., and the fifth-place team will play the loser of Game 2 at 5 p.m. Sunday’s schedule includes games at 10 a.m., noon and the championship contest at 2 p.m.