Haarlem,
Netherlands – The USA Softball Women’s National Team ended pool play
at the International Softball Federation (ISF) Women’s World Championship by
defeating Italy 7-0 (five innings) on Friday. Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) and
Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.) combined to throw a no hitter with Traina
pitching the first four innings and earning the win. Offensively Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks,
Calif.) paced a hot USA lineup going 3-4 with two runs scored.
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“We did what we had to do in
pool play,” said USA Head Coach Ken Eriksen. “We played consistently well and
earned the top seed. Now we just have to carry it over to the playoffs. We’re
going to have to keep playing at a high level to finish where we want to
finish.”
Following a three up, three
down inning for Traina and the USA defense in the top of the first, Chavanne
broke open the scoring when Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) doubled to bring her
around from second. Four pitches later, Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.)
singled to right field bring Gibson around for the second run of the opening
at-bat.
A fly out and back-to-back
strike outs for Traina ended the top of the second and Kellie Fox (San Diego,
Calif.) added a third run to the lead when she hit a fly ball to right field
that got under the defenders glove resulting in an inside-the-park home run in
the bottom half. Two batters later, Chavanne singled to short stop and then
advanced to third on a Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) double. With runners in
scoring position, Gibson hit a hard ground ball to short resulting in an error
and a fourth USA run as Chavanne crossed home.
In the top of the third,
Traina matched her effort from the first two innings by getting the first
Italian batter to ground out to Arioto at first base and then striking out the
No. 8 and 9 hole batters.
Consistency was the key as
Team USA score two more runs in the third inning. Amanda Chidester (Allen Park,
Mich.) lead off the bottom of the third with a solo homer to center field and
Hallie Wilson (Santa Ana, Calif.) followed her with a triple to right field.
Two batters later, Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) plated Wilson when she
singled to third. At the end of the inning, Team USA lead Italy 6-0.
With one out in the top of
the fourth, Italy managed their first base runner when Grifigano earned a walk
but a ground out and strike out in the next two at-bats stranded her a second.
A fly out and two ground outs
in the bottom of the fourth from the USA batters kept the score at 6-0 entering
the fifth. Nevins entered the circle to start the inning and picked up where
Traina had left off by striking out the side.
In the bottom of the fifth
Team USA needed just one run to end the game by run rule and Destinee Martinez
(Corona, Calif.) delivered. With the bases loaded, the speedster singled to
right field scoring Fox from third for the seventh and final run of the game.
Team USA finished with 13
hits in the contest included five for extra bases. In the circle, Traina and
Nevins combined for 10 strikeouts in just five innings of action.
With the win, the USA moves
to 7-0 in the ISF World Championship and will be the No. 1 seed from Pool B
entering Friday’s playoffs. They
will take on Canada, the second place team from Pool A. The game time is still
to be determined and will be announced following the completion of all
pool-play games. 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.