The University of Toronto Varsity Blues softball team hosted the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens at Dieppe and Hendon Parks this weekend (Sept. 22-23).
The Blues split their doubleheader with Ottawa, winning 5-1 before falling 4-0. Toronto went onto defeat Carleton 7-0 and 15-6 on Sunday.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees began the weekend at Dieppe Park, with Taylor Wright starting the opener in the pitching circle. Wright was excellent, throwing six and two thirds innings, giving up just one run on six hits. Alexandra Pennell came in to close the game with a strikeout, but the story was really Wright, with an excellent defence, shutting down a steady Ottawa team. Toronto got off to a good start, scoring one run in each of the first two innings, with Taylor Wright scoring on a single from shortstop Beth Deconinck, and Kristen Naidu scoring after a leadoff double in the second on an error. The Blues put the game away in the fifth inning, scoring three runs courtesy of a leadoff, pinch hit double from Jessica Tamayo, and runs driven in by Amanda Deconinck, Wright, and Kylie O'Donnell for a steady 5-1 victory.
Game 2 of the day was not quite as positive for the Blues. Despite a decent performance from the pitching duo of Samantha Cotton (4.2 innings), and Pennell (1.1 innings), it was not enough. Good pitching from the Gee-Gees shut down a pesky Toronto offence, while Ottawa scored four runs in the fifth inning on a few hits, one error, and some bad luck, for a 4-0 shutout win for Ottawa.
Sunday in the OIWFA saw the Carleton Ravens visit Toronto. Entering the day the Ravens were just 3-9 on the season. Toronto came out firing in Game 1, putting up a great team performance on offence with six different players scoring runs. With two hits each from Erin Sullivan, O'Donnell, and Tamayo, plus a first Varsity Blues start for Aurora Nowicki, reaching base twice as well. That steady offensive performance was in front of the first pitching start for Alexandra Pennell, who was excellent in throwing a two hit shutout. Five great innings, with four strikeouts in her third pitching appearance of the weekend and the Varsity Blues shut out the Ravens 7-0.
The second game of the series started very quickly for both teams. The first five hitters reached base for Toronto, with the first four scoring runs, taking a quick 4-0 lead, but Carleton jumped back into it, scoring their first three hitters as well. Toronto would not be denied though, scoring four more in the second and six more in third in front of Sullivan's pitching. Beth Deconinck was particularly impressive on offence, with three hits and a walk. This was a full team effort though, with seven different players driving in runs, and eight different players scoring runs, with a career first Varsity Blues hit for outfielder, Katelyn Graham. This full team effort led to a 15-6 victory behind Sullivan, and Annie Vlahiotis in the pitching circle.
This 3-1 weekend has Toronto sitting in a great position entering the final weekend of OIWFA play, sitting second in the East division at 8-4, trailing Queen's University (8-3) by just a half game in the standings. The chase for the top spot will be settled Saturday in Kingston vs. the Gaels at 2pm and 4pm. Toronto then visits York University (0-12) to close out the season in Brampton, looking to lock up the East Division title before the chase for the playoffs in Ottawa October 12-14.
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