Canada 19 Guatemala 0
SURREY, B.C. — The Canadian women have barely been on the field, yet they’re 3-0 at the Softball Americas Olympic Qualifier.
Danielle Lawrie was unhittable, and Canada opened with an eight-run first inning before adding another eight runs in the fourth on its way to a 19-0 victory over Guatemala on Tuesday.
Guatemala went to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and failed to record a hit before the mercy rule came into play.
Lawrie and Eujenna Caira combined to no-hit the opposition, with Lawrie striking out seven through 2 2/3 innings.
Victoria Hayward had an inside the park grand slam amongst her three hits to go along with a team-high five RBIs. Kelsey Jenkins was 4 for 4 with a homer and three RBI, while Janet Leung was 3 for 4 with four RBIs.
Canada opened the tournament on home soil Sunday by routing Cuba 17-0 in a game that lasted just three innings, then were handed the victory against Argentina on Monday after the South Americans forfeited the contest.
Argentina and the British Virgin Islands were expected to make it a 12-team event, but withdrew from the competition citing unexpected circumstances in their own countries, according to the tournament website.
At No. 3 in the world, Canada is the top-ranked team at the regional Olympic qualifier and is in Group A with Puerto Rico (4), Cuba (17), Guatemala (18) and Bahamas (39).
The top two teams at the tournament will qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
No. 5 Mexico and No. 14 Brazil lead Group B at 3-0. The other teams are No. 16 Venezuela, the Dominican Republic (19) and Peru (20).
Canada plays Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
Softball is being included in the Olympic program for the first time since 2008, when Canada finished fourth in Beijing. The sport has already been nixed from the 2024 Olympics in Paris.