Small-ball victory
Reds use speed, bunts to win East Coast Games
The Scotiabank Reds avenged an earlier loss to the Saint John Stingers in the final of the East Coast Games recently in Saint John, N.B.
The Stingers won the roundrobin contest 5-4, but the Reds took the under-21/open women’s championship game 7-2.
It is the Reds third tournament win of the season.
“We wanted this tournament since we signed up for it back in April. We knew the competition was going to be the best we have seen, and wanted to beat the best,” said manager Jordan Ellis.
“We wanted to win this one for our head coach Jeff Ellsworth, who is representing Team Canada at the ISF world championships in Saskatoon.”
Pitcher Emily Brothers was named the championship game MVP while the offence was led by Kailey Koughan, 3-for-4; Brianna Arsenault, 2-for-4 with a triple; and Jada Yeo 2-for-4.
“We were tired. It was our fourth game of ball for the day, but we knew what we had to do to win,” said co-captain Hope Higginbotham. “Emily Brothers pitched a great game for us and our small ball game worked out like we hoped for.”
The Reds were aggressive stealing bases and caused a few errors leading to runs.
In round-robin play, the Island squad picked up a 13-2 win over Nova Scotia’s under-21 team and a 16-9 victory over the Saint John Vipers. Jordon Havenga picked up both wins and was 2-for-3 against the Vipers.
Yeo, Sarah Woodside and Abbie Morrissey each had two hits against Nova Scotia while Higginbotham had two hits against the Vipers.
Brianna Arsenault was 2-for-3 and Koughan 1-for-1 in the loss to the Stingers.
The Reds play the Nova Scotia under-18 team in a doubleheader on Sunday in Stellarton, N.S., and are preparing for the All-American Challenge in Lowell, Mass.