WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada – Despite holding a five run lead entering the sixth inning, it took the USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team eight innings to secure a win over Mexico in the International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Men’s World Championship the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. Tyler Bouley (Champlin, Minn.) secured the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning when he singled to right field with the bases loaded scoring Cody Valeros (Stockton, Calif.) from third.

“Today’s game was a real battle,” said USA Head Coach Tim Lyon. “Our guys again showed resiliency in the way they kept battling to the end.”

Team USA scored early and often in the game as they posted two runs in the first, one in the second, two more in the third and a sixth in the fourth inning. On the defensive side, Phillip Zimmerman (New Holland, Pa.) kept the Mexican batters in check through the first three innings before surrendering a run in the fourth. USA’s 6-1 lead held to the sixth when Mexico scored four runs on two hits and two USA errors. One more run in the seventh tied the contest and sent it to an extra inning.

In the eighth, Zimmerman came up huge for the home team striking out two and getting a third to fly out to left field.

In the bottom of the eighth, Team USA started with a runner at second per the International Tie Breaker (ITB) rule. Bryce DuCharme (Hudson, Wis.) led things off with a single and Tyler Stoffel (North Mankato, Minn.) was then intentionally walked to load the bases. With no outs, Bouley blasted a ball into deep right field scoring Valeros from third and securing the win for the USA Junior Men.

Zimmerman earned the win going the complete eight innings while allowing six runs on seven hits and striking out nine Mexican batters. On the offensive side, Bouley, DuCharme and Stoffel each recorded three hits in the contest.

With the win, USA moves to 3-2 in the ISF Junior Men’s World Championship and will next face Japan at 6:30 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday. Visit www.USAsoftball.com to follow live stats, streaming and see photos from all of USA’s games at the ISF World Championship. 

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.

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.