Olympic warm-up: Softball Canada sweeps Italy in four-game series

World No. 3 Canada and No. 10 Italy faced off in a pair of doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday at CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, with the red and white team grabbing all four games. The games were live-streamed for free for fans around the globe. Both teams will meet again at the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In game one of the series, Jen Gilbert, Kelsey Harshman and Erika Polidori hit home runs for Canada, while Larissa Franklin collected three hits in the first game of the day to lead Canada to a 10-1 victory over the European champions. Lauren Bay Regula and Sara Groenewegen pitched for Canada. For Italy, Emily Carosone drove in the team’s lone run with a single, while Ilaria Cacciamani and Alice Nicolini went the distance.

In Sunday’s second game, Canada’s Jenna Caira and Danielle Lawrie helped lead their team to a 7-1 victory. Greta Cechetti was charged with the loss after 5 innings of work. Andrea Filler homered for Italy in the top of the fifth, while Natalie Wideman led Canada with a triple, a double and 2 RBI.

The most contested game of the series was the third one, played on Monday. Canada carried a 4-0 lead into the seventh frame, when a 2-run home run by Amanda Fama made it a 4-2 game. However, with a runner on second base, Lawrie struck out Laura Vigna to close the game. For Canada, Harshman and Polidori hit their second home run of the series.

In the last game of the series, third baseman Emma Entzminger had a superb offensive performance with two triples and a dinger, totalling 11 bases and 6 RBI in the game, leading Canada to a 14-5 win over the European team. Italy collected 14 hits and 5 runs scored, but the pitching staff had a tough time with the Canadian batters who produced 15 hits.

Italy will head to Miami to play against Florida International University today (27 April 2021) at 6 pm (EST). This exhibition game will be closed to the public, but fans can watch the game for free on FIU Softball Facebook page.

Canada and Italy will face off on 26 July at Yokohama Stadium, in Game 14 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, closing the Opening Round for both squads.

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