Team Sask. hits mercy rule, defeats Manitoba in 19U Women’s Baseball Nationals opener

It wasn’t a walk-off play in the usual sense, but Braidy Birdsall delivered the final swing needed for Team Saskatchewan to open up their 19U Women’s Baseball National Championships tournament with a win.

Birdsall cleared the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI triple, to score three runs and trigger the mercy rule in an 11-1 drubbing of Manitoba in Saskatchewan’s first game of the tournament at Cairns Field.

“I just had to stay patient at the plate and wait for my pitch,” Birdsall said.

“I like that spot apparently. It was great, the girls are always so happy to see each other succeed and win as a team. Just coming into that dugout was pretty electric.”

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Saskatchewan dominated their opening game of the four-day tournament, which has brought the country to Saskatoon with seven provinces hitting the field to claim a Canadian championship.

“It was definitely a team effort,” Birdsall said. “Our amazing defence, we were stopping every single ball, our cuts were good and then just stringing hits together.”

Birdsall, a draft pick of the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s Boston Hunters, was named Saskatchewan’s player of the game Thursday after she went 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs on the evening.

Eye-popping numbers on the page, however they don’t surprise Team Saskatchewan head coach Tony Black.

“That’s Brady,” Black said. “When Brady hits like that, she’s one of the higher performing players we have. Offence is one of her strengths and you can see that.”

While Saskatchewan’s offence starred at Cairns Field, their defence rose to the occasion as well with pitchers Makenna Dobrowolsky and Bailey Lacelle combining to allow just one hit against from Manitoba.

“That was really awesome,” Dobrowolsky said.

“Just kind of set the tone for the tournament. For myself, it was really great to just fill up the zone and have fun.”

Dobrowolsky kicked off her tournament with a dominant performance on the mound, as she went four innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts and just two walks.

Black said his starting pitcher for the tournament opener performed to the level he’s seen all summer.

“When she’s on her game, she’s on her game,” Black said. “She threw very effectively here in the first few innings and she kept her pitch count low.”

Overall, Black added it was an excellent showing from start to finish for a group of girls looking to make some noise at home against Canada’s best 19U talent.

“We opened it up strong,” Black said. “It’s the way the kids play, I got all the faith and the confidence in them. They brought the whole game to the field tonight and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Dobrowolsky opened the scoring for Saskatchewan in the bottom of the first inning, as she smacked a ball to left field on a double to score Birdsall from first base and take a 1-0 lead.

It was in the second inning which the host province blew the doors open, as they cashed in four runners with RBIs from Victoria Bateman, Criseyde Borthwick and Birdsall to extend their lead to 5-0.

That early explosion of offence was key according to Black in getting their tournament off on the right foot.

“It sort of sets the tone right?” Black said. “Once you set the tone, the game just keeps going. They set the tone, they wanted the game and they deserved it.”

A balk from Dobrowolsky in the third inning cashed in Manitoba’s lone run of the night, but Saskatchewan answered back in a big way in the fifth inning.

Brenna Birdsall, Taylor Schueller, Lacelle and Bateman all came through with hits to drive in runs, which set the stage for Braidy Birdsall to double to right field and end the game at 11-1 with a 10-run advantage.

Home field advantage was evident for Dobrowolsky, which she expects to continue over the rest of the tournament.

“Just to be in Saskatoon and have everybody out, especially young girls who can hope to play at this level later, it was really good,” Dobrowolsky said.

With the goal of qualifying for Sunday’s semi-finals, Team Saskatchewan still has two round-robin games to go, but no shortage of confidence after an opening day victory.

“I think we can carry this into (Friday),” Braidy said. “There’s going to be a hard time stopping this team, for sure.”

Other games Thursday saw Quebec earn a pair of wins 6-4 against Ontario and 20-4 over British Columbia, while Ontario did get their first victory of the week 13-4 in their second game versus Team B.C.

Saskatchewan (1-0) is back on the diamond Friday night at 7 p.m. to battle Alberta in their first game of the tournament at Cairns Field.