South Tampa handles Canfield

Staff report

kirkland, wash.

Canfield fell to 1-1 in pool play in the Junior Softball World Series Monday afternoon at Everest Park.

One day after routing Windsor, Ontario, 15-0, Canfield’s 13-14 team allowed four sixth-inning runs and nine more in the seventh as South Tampa (Fla.) claimed a 17-2 victory.

After Tampa grabbed the lead with a run in the top of the first, Canfield quickly answered.

In the bottom half of the inning, Ally Sammarco singled to center, stole second and advanced to third on Bridget Durkin’s sacrifice bunt.

Maura Kennedy quickly fell behind in the count 0-2 to Tampa starter Dana Rowley. She fouled away two more Rowley offerings before drilling a single to left field, scoring Sammarco to tie the game at 1.

That was as close as Canfield would get.

Tampa added another run in the third before pulling away in the fifth.

“We were toe-to-toe with them and all of a sudden the floodgates opened,” Canfield manager Kerry Durkin said.

With one on, Lindsay Lopez’s one-out home run to center gave Tampa a 4-1 lead.

Rowley tripled home Haley Morrell to begin the sixth, part of the four-run inning that put the game out of reach.

Mia Kindinis reached on a fielder’s choice and scored Canfield’s second and final run in the bottom of the sixth.

The Tampa team that shocked Durkin with its sheer size before the tournament even began showed its prodigious power in the top of the seventh.

Ahead 12-2 and with the bases loaded, Brendea Rafferty drilled an 0-1 pitch over the center field fence. Two batters later, Rowley’s solo home run finished the scoring.

It was shock and awe for a Canfield team that hadn’t given up even three runs in a game all summer.

“I’ve never seen girls that age hit a ball like they did,” Durkin said. “That team’s on another level at this point.

“It was incredible — an eye-opener for us.”

Canfield has two more games left in pool play. Durkin is hopeful his team can rebound from their first loss of the tournament.

“We’ve got to brush it off,” he said. “It’s the first loss they’ve experienced. We’ll come out tomorrow and play our game again.”