PRAGUE – After earning a spot in the quarterfinals at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Softball World Championship, the USA Softball Men’s National Team (MNT) was shutout by Argentina, 9-0, and will now compete for fifth place. Playing at Svoboda Ballpark, the MNT struggled to find their rhythm as the team managed just four hits off Argentina’s Potolicchio and Migliavacca.
“There is nothing good we can say about today’s game,” said Head Coach Gregg Leather (Staten Island, N.Y.). “We came up short in all facets of the game from coaching, pitching, hitting and defense. It was a bad time to have our worst outing of the year but give credit to Argentina. They had everything going for them and will be tough to beat if they keep playing like they did today.”
Erick Ochoa (Imperial, Calif.) doubled on a 3-2 count to left field to record the first hit of the day for the U.S. but with two outs, Ochoa was left stranded after a fly out to right field. Meanwhile, Argentina struck first in the bottom half of the first inning. After a leadoff single and walk put runners on, both advanced on a wild pitch and came home via a sacrifice fly and triple followed. With one out, Argentina singled up the middle to jump ahead 3-0.
In the second inning, the Red, White and Blue went down in the order before Argentina plated another five runs in the bottom half of the frame. After a leadoff walk, Duane Weiler (Richland, Pa.) entered the circle but Argentina’s offense stayed hot as they went on to score another five runs. Weiler issued a walk and after both runners advanced on a passed ball, a pair of singles and groundout plated three runs with just one out. A swinging strikeout followed but Argentina went yard before the inning’s end to make it 8-0.
Looking to create a spark in the top of the third inning, Nick Mullins (Toms River, N.J.) led off with a single but Argentina’s Potolicchio got the best of the U.S. offense, issuing three straight strikeouts to keep Team USA off the board.
The U.S. replaced Weiler with Joel Cooley (St. Paul, Minn.) to start the third inning, but a double and infield error put runners on the corners for Argentina. The U.S. turned a double play after a groundball was hit to the glove of Cam Schiller (Prescott, Ariz.) but a sole run scored to push the U.S. deficit, 9-0. Threatening to score additional runs after a single, hit-by-pitch and walk loaded the bases, a line out to Schiller ended their chances to bring the U.S. offense back to the plate.
Despite two outs quickly being recorded by Argentina after a fly out and ground out, Matt Ratliff (American Fork, Utah) connected for a single to right field but a groundout kept the U.S. at bay. Entering the circle in the bottom of the fourth inning, Jon Gwizdala (Bay City, Mich.) fielded a ground ball before issuing a strikeout to record the first two outs of the inning. A walk put a runner on but for the first time in the game, a groundout to second baseman Jeff Nowaczyk (Midland, Mich.) put a zero on the scoreboard for Argentina.
Down to their final plate appearance in the top of the fifth inning and facing a new pitcher in Argentina’s Migliavacca, Mullins managed a one-out single to right field. After a strikeout recorded the second out, Jonathan Lynch (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) reached first on an infield error but the two were left on base as a groundout handed the U.S. the 9-0 loss.
The pitching staff of Cooley, Gwizdala, Mancha, and Weiler combined to issue three strikeouts, allowing nine runs on eight hits and walking five, while Mullins finished the day with a 2-for-2 performance. The MNT will now compete for fifth place and face Australia at 1:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. CT) tomorrow at Svoboda Ballpark.
“Now that we have been eliminated from medal contention, it will be tough to get back out there tomorrow in the placement games and be at our best, but that is exactly what we expect from the guys,” said Leather ahead of tomorrow’s game. “We still have the Pan American Games in July and we need to use these next two days to ready ourselves for that.”
Click here to see the complete schedule for the United States
The 16 teams that are competing in the WBSC Men’s World Championship are: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, USA and Venezuela.
Currently ranked No. 6 in the world, the U.S. is looking to improve upon a sixth-place finish at the 2017 WBSC World Championship in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, where the team finished with a 6-3 record. Team USA last stood on the podium at the 2000 edition in East London, South Africa.
Click here for more information on the 2019 WBSC Men’s World Championship
MEDIA: For more information on the WBSC Men's World Championship, please contact media@wbsc.co.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.
As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.