LONDON, Ont. - Trailing 3-0 into the fourth inning against a solid Waterloo squad, the Western Mustangs’ bid for an undefeated season received perhaps its greatest challenge on Friday evening, but the Mustangs emerged with a 10-3 victory.
Waterloo freshman pitcher Nicole Singleton allowed only two singles into the 4th inning when Mustangs senior Julianne Proniuk (Brampton, Ont.) reached on an error, stole second, and scored on a triple by third-baseman Danielle Beckett (Embro, Ont.) who later scored herself when Leslie Hanson (Oakville, Ont.) followed with an RBI single.
Perhaps sensing Singleton was tiring, the Warriors brought in junior pitcher Sara Moroz in the fifth inning - but the move did not work out for the Warriors as the Mustangs batted around scoring seven runs in the inning including a leadoff triple and a 3-RBI double by Western shortstop Steph Reid (Scarborough, Ont.).
Then in the sixth inning, sophomore Tricia MacKay (Embro, Ont.) singled in Proniuk for a walk-off run rule victory. Molly Yetman (Cambridge, Ont.) got the win in relief for Western.
In Game 2, the Mustangs led 1-0 in the fourth inning when Moroz gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead with a two-run double. Western tied it up in the 6th when second-baseman Lindsey Martin (London, Ont.) scored on a one-out single by Beckett.
Then in the seventh, freshman first-baseman Kara Stirling (London, Ont.) singled, stole second, and advanced to third base on a sacrifice by sophomore outfielder Leah Margolis (Vancouver, BC).
This prompted a pitching change by Waterloo but once again the change failed to halt the charging Mustangs who scored five runs in the inning, including RBI hits by Vanessa Homiak (Orangeville, Ont.), Proniuk and Beckett.
Yetman picked up the win with two innings of no-hit relief pitching.
Saturday was Seniors' Day and the Mustangs honoured Proniuk, a biomedical sciences student, and Homiak, an education student who will graduate next June. Both have been Ontario all-stars as well as Quest for Gold Scholarship recipients.
Homiak joined the Mustangs this year after graduating from The University of Ottawa, while Proniuk, who was selected to the all-tournament team at the 2009 National Championships, is completing her fourth year with Western, including the last three as team captain.
Both were instrumental on this day as the Mustangs defeated Laurier 8-0 in a run-rule shortened, five-inning contest, and 6-0 in Game 2.
In the first game, Western scored three runs in the second, two in the third and broke it open with three more runs in the fourth including a leadoff-triple by Jenn Roesel (Brampton, Ont.), a triple by Martin and a homerun by Meg Hewins (Burlington, Ont.) in consecutive at-bats.
Proniuk and Homiak added doubles for Western. Shea Black (Toronto, Ont) went the distance in the circle for the win.
In Game 2, the Mustangs exploded for five runs in the second inning on five hits, including a homerun by Reid and a triple by Hewins, and cruised to a 6-0 victory.
MacKay recorded a triple, a double and two singles going four-for-four at the plate. Mel Stevenson (Brampton, Ont.) was the winning pitcher.
The Mustangs now enter the Ontairo provincial championship Oct. 22-24 in Hamilton as the No. 1 seed. Other qualifiers include Laurier, Guelph, Toronto, York and Waterloo. McMaster qualifies as the host and the remaining two seeds will be determined in next weekend’s play-in tourney at the Brampton Fairgrounds.
