Amanda Asay was holding her breath on the pitcher's mound as the long throw to home sailed in from left field.
Nursing a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, Team Canada catcher Stephanie Savoie braced for the collision as the Puerto Rican base runner ran in from second base trying to snap Canada's perfect string at the Pan Am Games.
But Savoie held on to tag the runner and end the game, preserving a 3-2 victory Wednesday which left Canada a perfect 3-0 heading into their final preliminary round game Friday in Ajax, Ont.
Asay, a 10-year national team veteran from Prince George, started the game at designated hitter and came in to pitch the seventh inning, scattering two hits to earn the save. The one-run win was a far cry from their opening two games at the five-team women's baseball tournament -- Canada opened Monday with a 13-1 win over Cuba and defeated Venezuela 9-3.
"It was a little bit close for comfort but we were able to come out with the win so we're happy," said the 27-year-old Asay. "They got a couple of hits early and were able to score some runs and we were still feeling confident as a team for a lot of the game but couldn't string our hits together."
Puerto Rico scored both its runs in the first inning off Canadian starter Katherine Psota, who gave up four hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Melissa Armstrong took over in the third and held Puerto Rico scoreless on four hits. Canada made it a one-run game in the third inning and second baseman Nicole Luchanski kept up her torrid pace and provided the knockout punch in the sixth. Luchanski's two-run double, her 11th hit in 14 plate appearances, scored Jennifer Gilroy and Veronica Boyd to set it up for Asay in the top of the seventh.
"I felt pretty comfortable up there, I actually thought I was throwing pretty well but they put their bats in front of a couple curveballs and they dropped in and luckily my defence came up big," said Asay. "Our centre fielder made a pretty nice catch (for the second out) and on the last out of the game (Rebecca Hartley) made a very nice throw to get the runner at the home. It ended up being a pretty big collision."
Each team stranded eight baserunners. Puerto Rico (1-1) outhit Canada 10-7.
Canada has a bye today and will rest up to play the United States Friday (4:05 p.m. PDT start). The Americans (2-0) shut out Cuba 11-0 Wednesday night. The top two teams advance to the gold medal game Sunday at 9:05 a.m. PDT.
"It'll be a big game, I know both teams are going to be pretty pumped up for it," said Asay, whose team beat the U.S. 17-15 in exhibition play Sunday.
Asay has filled the DH position each game and says she's getting used to it. Through three tournament games she has two hits in nine at-bats for a .222 batting average, has walked twice and drove in two runs for a .417 on-base percentage.
"I haven't been getting as many hits as I'd like, but I've put the bat on the ball pretty well a couple times, they just haven't dropped, hopefully that's coming," she said.
