by Bob Fromer
Surrey, British Columbia: July 3 -- As dawn broke, and heavy overnight rain continued to fall on the Semiahmoo Peninsula, it didn't look as if any play would be possible today at the Canadian Open Fastpitch Championships
. But the rain eventually stopped around lunchtime, the impressive ground crews got to work on waterlogged fields, and the GB Women's Team eventually got to play both their scheduled games in the Women's Elite Division -- though not exactly at the scheduled times.
And in the end, GB turned in two solid performances that resulted in a pair of 7-0 mercy rule wins over Peru (after five innings) and over the host club White Rock Renegades (after six innings). The wins give GB a 4-1 record in the Elite Division round-robin, good enough for a share of second place behind the undefeated California A's.
Eight of the nine teams in the Elite competition will make the double-elimination playoffs, but placing in the round-robin is all important, as the playoffs will start with 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5.
Dominant pitching
Two fine pitching performances -- by Carling Hare in the afternoon game against Peru and by Stacie Townsend in the evening game against White Rock -- were the foundations for GB success on the day.
Carling gave up only two hits over five innings of work against the Peruvians, striking out six and walking none, and was in complete control throughout the game, overpowering the Peruvian batters with speed and good location.
Later, against White Rock, Stacie Townsend was even better, pitching a perfect game through five innings against a team that came in to the contest with a 3-1 record. In the end, Stacie gave up only one hit in six innings, with ten strikeouts and no walks.
Timely hitting
This excellent pitching was backed up by timely hitting. 
The GB offense had 10 hits against Peruvian pitcher Marisa Matsuda in five innings in Game 1 and 13 hits against three White Rock pitchers in six innings in Game 2.
Leading the charge in Game 1 was Steph Pearce, who went three-for-three against Peru and also chipped in with a key two-out single in the third inning against White Rock that drove home the first GB run of the game.
GB scored once in the first inning against Peru when Amy Moore's double drove in Kristi Yoshizawa and picked up two more in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Naomi Jones and an RBI single by Yoshizawa.
That was all the scoring GB could muster until the bottom of the fifth, when a four-run outburst brought the mercy rule into effect. Three consecutive singles by Leah English, Sarah Jones and Steph Pearce plated the final runs.
Game 1 was also marked by the first base hit for GB Under-19 player Amy Wells in a senior game, as Amy ripped a change-up past the Peruvian shortstop in her first at-bat in the second inning and eventually came around to score.
Game 2
In Game 2, Ali Parkerson and Amy Moore had three
hits each and Ali picked up two RBIs. Shortstop Jess Legendre had two singles and a walk, Naomi Jones doubled over the centre fielder's head, and everyone in the starting line-up except catcher Leah English had at least one base hit.
The GB runs were scored in bunches -- three in the third inning off White Rock starter Maddie Lynch-Crumrine and four more in the bottom of the sixth against relievers Cassidy Lee and Kyla Myre to trigger another mercy rule ending.
Amy Moore led off the GB third with a double, Leah English reached on an error, and then Jess Legendre, Steph Pearce and Ali Parkerson singled to bring in the runs.
Kristi Yoshizawa and Amy Moore stroked back-to-back singles to open the GB sixth, and then White Rock pitching fell apart, with two runs scoring on wild pitches and one on a passed ball. Ali Parkerson's sharp single to left field was the final blow that brought the mercy rule into effect.
It looks like the GB Team is beginning to round into shape as the business end of the Canadian Open approaches, with the World Championships in Whitehorse to follow.