Haarlem,
Netherlands – The USA Softball Women’s National Team moved to 6-0
and locked up a first-place seed in the playoffs of the International Softball
Federation (ISF) Women’s World Championship by defeating Dominican Republic
10-0 (four innings) on Wednesday. Playing on her 21st birthday, Hallie Wilson (Santa
Ana, Calif.) stood out going 2-3 with a two-run single in the third and a three-run
home run in the fourth inning. Jolene
Henderson (Elk Grove, Calif.) picked up her second win of the World
Championship throwing the complete four innings and allowing just two hits while
striking out seven.
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the Box Score
Dominican Republic held the
USA scoreless in the first but the runs came in the second. Two walks and an
error loaded the bases to start the inning and a third walk scored Valerie
Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) from third. With the bases still juiced, Destinee
Martinez (Corona, Calif.) flied out to left field and Taylor Hoagland (Flower
Mound, Texas) tagged at third and easily crossed home. In the next at-bat Raven
Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) singled to load the bases back up and a walk
scored Wilson from third. When the dust
settled on the top of the second, Team USA held a 3-0 lead.
Henderson needed just eight
pitches in the bottom of the second and 10 in the third to retire the side as
she struck out five-of-six batters in the two frames.
In the top of the third, the
USA Women continued their scoring run as Arioto and Hoagland each walked to
start the at-bat and Wilson’s single to left field brought them each around to
score. Later in the at-bat, Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) singled to
center field scoring a sixth USA run and after having reached on an error, Martinez
crossed home on a wild to make it USA 7, Dominican Republic 0.
Wilson’s three-run homer in
the fourth plated both Hoagland and Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) and provided
the Americans with the 10 runs they needed to meet run-rule requirements after
four innings of play. Henderson returned to the circle in the bottom half of
the inning needing three outs to end the game. The California native allowed
just one hit in the frame while striking out one and getting two others to
ground out to second base.
The 10-0 victory was the
sixth for the Americans in the World Championship and their fourth by run rule.
USA will face Italy
at 2 p.m. (7 a.m. CDT) on Thursday in the final pool-play game before the
playoff portion of the tournament starts on Friday. Live streaming and live
stats are available via www.USASoftball.com throughout the ISF World
Championship. Log on and follow Team USA as they seek a tenth World
Championship Gold.
About
ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing
Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic
Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations
and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local
associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to
over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.
For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA
Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the
USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs
together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting
these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic
competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two
women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive
gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine
World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as
claimed six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA
Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com.
About ISF
Headquartered in Plant City, Florida (USA), the ISF is a member of
the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the world governing body for
the sport which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and
SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports
Federations). Softball (women’s fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996
Games in Atlanta. There are 127 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of
participants in the sport worldwide.