Canada routs Venezuela 8-1 and South Korea 9-0 at women’s baseball World Cup

GIJANG, Korea, Republic Of – Claire Eccles of White Rock, B.C., came within two outs of a no-hitter as Canada defeated Venezuela 8-1 at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup on Thursday before the Canadians shut out South Korea 9-0.

The wins improved Canada’s record to 3-1 in the playoffs, known as the Super Round.

Canada plays Taiwan next, where a victory will send the Canadians to Sunday’s gold-medal game for only the second time in the history of the women’s national team program.

“We got the job done today and that’s what matters,” said Canadian manager Andre Lachance. “We’ve played well all tournament and control our destiny, which is what you want.

“We have a chance to get into the gold medal game with a win tomorrow so I’m expecting our group to be ready and focused.”

After fielding a groundout to start the bottom of the seventh, Eccles hit a batter before Venezuela’s Sor Malis Brito singled to centre on the first pitch to break up the no-hitter.

“I didn’t even realize I had (a no-hitter) until right before I gave up the hit,” explained Eccles after the game. “It would have been nice to have but we got the win and at the end of the day that’s the main thing.”

From the third on, Eccles allowed just two walks and kept her defence involved, inducing 10 groundouts in a stretch that saw her retire eight in a row at one point.

“I was a little nervous at the start given the situation of the game,” she said. “But I found I relaxed a bit and was able to pitch my game.”

Heather Healey of Paradise, N.L., Melissa Armstrong of Swift Current, Sask., and Anne Sophie Lavallee of Boucherville, Que., who made her tournament debut, combined to shut out the Koreans and hold them to just five hits.