Haarlem,
Netherlands – Following a near 30-hour delay due to rain, the USA
Softball Women’s National Team began the playoff portion of the International
Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship on Saturday. Team USA, playing as
the top seed from Pool B, defeated Canada 6-1 in their first game to earn a
matchup later in the day with the only other undefeated team in the tournament,
Japan. With a spot in Sunday’s Gold medal game on the line, Japan jumped out
early on the USA and never let up as they went on to win 6-1.
USA 6, Canada 1
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here for Box Score
Despite being held scoreless
for the first three innings versus Canada on Saturday, Team USA posted six runs
in the final four frames to take a 6-1 win and advance to the next round in the
winners bracket at the ISF World Championship. Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville,
Fla.) and Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) each homered resulting in five of USA’s
six runs. Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) started the game in the circle and
lasted 3.1 innings before Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.) entered in relief
to earn the win.
“I loved the little things
that we did to get the win over Canada,” said USA Head Coach Ken Eriksen. “Sacrifice
bunts, aggressive base running, those are things that don’t look all that
impressive on a score sheet but they add up to wins.”
Samantha Fischer (Simi
Valley, Calif.) lead off the top off the fourth with a ground ball single to
short stop and advanced to second via a Moultie sacrifice bunt in the next
at-bat. A walk and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Team USA with Haylie
McCleney (Morris, Ala.) up next. The outfielder singled to left field scoring
the first USA run of the game.
The lead didn’t last long as
Canada started the bottom off the fourth with a single and followed it with a
shot to center field that barely snuck past McCleney’s glove. The first runner
scored but Moultrie gunned down the second runner at third to preserve the tie
through four.
Gibson walked to start the
fifth inning and a Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) sacrifice bunt advanced
her to second. Two batters later, Moultrie put Team USA ahead for good when she
sent the first pitch she saw sailing over the center field wall.
Nevins retired the side in
the bottom off the fifth and Team USA added insurance runs in the sixth. With
two outs, Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) singled to third base and
Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) followed her up with a single to left field.
With the runners on base, Gibson sent an 0-2 pitch over the center field wall
for a three-run homer to give Team USA their 6-1 lead.
With the favorable lead,
Nevins kept the Canadian batters in check through the sixth and most of the
seventh innings. In the bottom of the seventh, the lefty gave up her first hit
of the game, a two-out single to Joey Lye. In the next at-bat, with an 0-2
count, Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) entered the circle to pitch. Needing just
one strike to end it, Traina followed a foul ball with a swinging strikeout and
Team USA secured the win.
Japan 6, USA 1
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here for the Box Score
Japan jumped out to an early
lead on Team USA in their game late Saturday evening at the ISF World
Championship. Facing Jolene Henderson (Elk Grove, Calif.) Japan scored one run
in the first and added three in the second to put the Americans in a four-run
hole early in the game. Offensively Team USA couldn’t get much going early facing
Japanese veteran Yukiko Ueno.
“We put the ball in play and
put runners on base,” said Eriksen. “We did some nice things, just had a few
small errors and when you’re playing Japan they will take advantage of those
errors. The great thing is, we still have tomorrow. We just have to play great
softball for one day and then we can call ourselves World Champions.”
A Japan two-out single in the
top of the first was followed by an Eri Yamada double scored the first run of
the game as Japan went up 1-0. Gibson walked and Arioto singled in the bottom
half of the inning but Ueno left them stranded, getting a strikeout to end the
inning.
Japan added three more runs
in the second off of two singles and a walk before Traina entered to pitch for
Team USA. With two outs, Traina pitched a fly ball to end the Japan rally.
Both teams remained scoreless
through the third inning. In the top of the fourth, Japan added a fifth run,
this time off of Traina. Nagayoski singled to start the inning and was later
brought around to score on a Kawano single to short stop.
Team USA gave up the sixth
and final run to Japan in the top of the fifth. Mine doubled to right field to
start the at-bat and after Sakamoto laid down a sac-bunt to advance her to
second, a Sato single to short stop scored the runner from second putting Japan
up 6-0.
The Americans finally got on
the board in the bottom of the sixth when Hoagland drew a walk and later came
around to score on a Kellie Fox (San Diego, Calif.) single to right field.
Nevins retired the side in the top of the seventh but the USA bats couldn’t
muster a comeback as Japan secured the 6-1 win.
Sunday morning at 12:00 p.m.
(5 a.m. eastern) the USA will now play the winner of Australia, Canada who was
playing at the time of this release. The winner advances to place Japan in the
Gold medal game at 3:00 p.m. (7 a.m. eastern). 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.