Day Three Recap

OSHAWA, Ont. – The Western Mustangs took second place at the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association National Championship after being narrowly edged out by the St. Clair College Saints by a 2-1 score on Sunday afternoon.
 
The win by St. Clair ends Western's unprecedented four-year run as reigning national champions after taking the title each year from 2011 to 2014. It's the Saints first CCSA national title after claiming silver in 2014 and bronze in 2013.
 
The game also marks the first time the Mustangs have lost a regular season or playoff game since a September 27, 2013 regular season loss against Laurier, ending the team's winning streak at 69 consecutive games.
 
Three Mustangs earned spots on the Tournament All-Star team with Shannon Davidson, Melanie Smith, and Riley Cunningham all being honoured.
 
Davidson hit .444 in the five games of the tournament, recording four hits with three going for extra bases including a home run. She also knocked in three runs and drew four walks with only one strike out. Cunningham hit .267 with two doubles, a home run, and three runs batted in, while Smith hit .533 with two triples, one home run, and five runs batted in.
 
Rachael Jacques was named the championship's Top Pitcher after going 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched. Jacques allowed only 19 hits and 10 walks in that span, also striking out 30 batters over the course of the weekend.
 
Sunday's contest was the second time in two days that the Mustangs and Saints had faced off, with Western earning a 4-3 win in eight innings on Saturday morning to claim first place in Pool A and a bye into the national semi-final. It was also a rematch of last year's national final in Calgary that Western won 9-1.
 
The Mustangs started off the final by scoring one run in the top of the first inning, as Davidson crossed the plate following a single by Smith. St. Clair responded with a single run of their own in the bottom of the third before both defences shut down their opponents until the game's final inning.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, St. Clair's Sarah Bondy claimed the national title for her side with a walk-off single that plated pinch runner Sydney MacPherson to give the Saints the 2-1 win.
 
Allison Telfer got the win for the Saints, allowing one run on five hits and a walk in seven innings while striking out one. Jacques put in her second strong performance of the day in the loss, allowing only two runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out four.
 
Earlier on Sunday the Mustangs earned their spot in the national final with a 5-1 win over Laurier in the semi-finals.
 
Western took the lead in the third inning and never looked back, scoring four runs on three hits and one error. After Holly Perry crossed the plate for Western's first run of the day both Michelle Reynolds and Davidson scored on a triple from Smith. Smith then scored two batters later thanks to a double from Cunningham.

Laurier responded with one run in the top of the fourth before Davidson rounded out the day's scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to send Western to the national final with a 5-1 win.

Jacques pitched all seven innings in the win, only allowing one run on three hits and three walks, while striking out six.
 
Western won't have long to rest before their next tournament, as they'll take aim at winning their sixth consecutive Ontario title next weekend in the OIWFA Provincial Championship being hosted by Queen's from October 16-18.


Day Two Recap

OSHAWA, Ont. – The Western Mustangs claimed first place in Pool A and earned a bye into the semi-finals at the CCSA National Championship with a 4-3 extra innings win over the St. Clair College Saints on Saturday morning at Durham Field. 

With both teams tied 1-1 after seven innings, the Saints scored two runs in the top of the eighth under the tie breaker format (the inning starts with a runner on second base) to take a 3-1 lead.
 
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mustang leadoff hitter Michelle Reynolds produced a successful bunt single pushing Jayme Wells to third base. Melanie Smith followed up the bunt single with a sacrifice fly to plate Wells and cut the St. Clair lead to 3-2. The Saints then walked Shannon Davidson, putting the tying run in Reynolds at second base and the winning run on first with cleanup hitter Robyn Wood at the plate. Wood came through, scoring Reynolds with a single up the middle and advancing Davidson to third before taking second base herself on the throw. An intentional walk to Riley Cunningham loaded the bases for Lauren Sovereign who crushed the second pitch she saw well over the centre fielder's head for a walk-off 4-3 win.

The win propels the Mustangs into a semi-final tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at Durham Field against Laurier. Saskatchewan, the winners of Pool B, will face St. Clair in the other semi-final, before the two finalists meet in the Championship Game on Sunday at 3 p.m. Fans can tune into Western's semi-final matchup live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/durham-lords-network. 


Day One Recap

OSHAWA, Ont. – The four-time defending champion Western Mustangs softball team couldn't have asked for a better start to the 2015 Canadian Collegiate Softball Association National Championship, as the purple and white went 2-0 on the opening day of the tournament.
 
Western kicked off their title defence with a 9-1 win over the Calgary Dinos. Sara Contini got the win for the Mustangs, throwing four innings of shutout ball, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out seven.
 
The Mustngs took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Melanie Smith scored on a sacrifice fly from Shannon Davidson. That would be the only run of the game until the top of the fifth when Calgary's Karen Sondergard crossed the plate to tie things up before the Mustangs bats came alive in the bottom half of the inning.
 
With two outs remaining in the fifth Riley Cunningham recorded the first home run of the game, bringing both herself and Melanie Smith around to score to put Western up 3-1. That was only the beginning however, as the Mustangs scored eight runs on five hits in the inning, with Emma Parno knocking in Courtney Reynolds, Kristen Pearn, Alana Cress, on a triple. Pearn then scored on a single from Michelle Reynolds, while Reynolds crossed the plate on a home run from Smith to give Western a 9-1 win in five innings.
 
Immediately following that matchup the Mustangs took on the host Durham Lords, defeating the home team by a 4-1 score. Rachael Jacques got the win for Western, allowing only four hits, one run, and one walk while striking out eight over seven innings.
 
Durham were first on the board in this one, scoring one run in the third to take the early lead. Western fired back in the fourth, scoring two as Davidson and Holly Perry both crossed the plate.
 
The Mustangs extended their lead in the fifth as a single from Davidson plated both Michelle Reynolds and Kristin Roy. The purple and white defence then shut things down for the remainder of the game, taking a 4-1 victory.
 
Western has one game remaining in the round robin portion of the tournament, a 10 a.m. showdown against the St. Clair Saints on Saturday morning. The Saints, who also defeated Durham and Calgary on Friday, will be looking to avenge their loss to the Mustangs from the 2014 national final. The winner of Saturday's matchup will claim first place in their pool and earn a bye into the semi-finals.