WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada – The USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team lead the undefeated Argentinian National Team 1-0 entering the bottom of the third inning but three runs in the third and six in the fourth gave the team from South America a run-rule victory as Team USA moved to 5-3 at the International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Men’s World Championship on Thursday the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today.
“Argentina is a great team and we played them very well through the first few innings,” said USA Head Coach Tim Lyon. “We just made a few mistakes and when you play a team like that you have to be on you’re A game. The great thing is we still control our own destiny and need to get a win tomorrow night over Australia and we’ll be where want to be.”
Jimbo Pernetti (Ceres, Calif..) broke the scoreless game in the top of the second when he belted a shot that bounced over the right field wall for a ground-rule double and two batters later crossed home plate on a wild pitch. That score held until the bottom of the third when Argentina jumped on the board with three runs in the inning on a hit and a USA error.
Team USA got one back in the top of the fourth by way of a Tyler Bouley (Champlin, Minn.) home run that sailed over the deep center field wall. The Minnesota native is currently hitting .448 through eight games in the World Championship.
Leading 3-2, Argentina opened it up in the bottom of the fourth with six runs on four hits and one USA error. When the dust had settled, they lead 9-2 and the USA Junior Men found themselves down to one at-bat to score a run or be run ruled. Bryce DuCharme (Hudson, Wis.) connected for a single but a ground out in the next at-bat ended any chance of a comeback.
Zane Chason (Alma, Ga.) was credited with the loss going all four innings in the circle and giving up eight earned runs on six hits and striking out two.
As a result of the loss, Team USA finds themselves in a tie for third place overall with Australia and Japan. A Friday evening win over Australia would secure a spot in the Championship Bracket for the Americans and a top-four finish in the World Championship. The two teams will take the field in Whitehorse at 7:30 p.m. (PST) on Friday. Live streaming and live stats are available during every contest of the World Championship. Visit www.USASoftball.com to see all of the action.
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.