Canadians storm back, Japan next

CANADA 10 CUBA 7

VIERA, FLA.— Niki Boyd scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Daphnee Gelinas in the fifth inning, and Canada completed a rally from six runs down to beat Cuba 10-7 on Thursday in its second weather-shortened game of the women’s baseball World Cup.

Gelinas drove in Boyd with the one-out fly to right field off Cuban reliever Isabel Gonzalez Pavon, and Kate Psota and Kelsey Lalor added RBI singles to extend the lead.

“All wins in this tournament are big, but this one was big for us, dealing with the adversity that we faced and how we overcame it,” said Canadian manager Andre Lachance. “I’m proud of the way our group competed today, didn’t panic and ended up with a positive result. I had no doubt in my mind that we’d be able to come back after getting behind (early).”

The 2-0 Canadians, who face top-ranked Japan on Friday, trailed 7-1 in the third inning.

They scored two in the bottom of the third, then tied the game 7-7 with a four-run fourth inning that was capped by an RBI base hit from veteran third baseman Ashley Stephenson. Stephenson, from Mississauga, and Burlington’s Psota have competed in each of the eight women’s World Cups since 2004.

Kaitlyn Ross, Claire Eccles and Nicole Luchanski also drove in runs for Canada. Usually seven innings, the game was called after five because of bad weather. Canada opened the tournament Wednesday with a 4-0 win over Hong Kong — Anne-Sophie Lavallee pitching a no-hitter — that was also called after five innings following a lightning delay.