Barranquilla, Colombia — Opening up the 2019 U-17 Women’s Softball Pan American Championship at Edgardo Schemel Stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia was the United States and Peru. The U-17 Women’s National Team (WNT) defeated Peru 13-0 (four innings) on Friday as Caitlynn Neal (Dewey, Ariz.) and Dani Drogemuller (Frankfort, Ill.) combined to throw a shutout. Drogemuller closed out the four-inning game with a strikeout.
“I’m excited to have Day 1 under us,” said Head Coach Kyla Holas (Pasadena, Texas). “We were able to learn a lot about each other and dust off the travel. I’m looking forward to getting better every day and embracing this opportunity as a team.”
Neal got the offense fired up in the first inning, singling on a 2-1 count to score the first run for the United States while Avery Hodge (Fulshear, Texas) drew a bases-loaded walk in the second to plate a second run.
Peru managed to collect a single, what would be their only hit of the game, in the first inning and was held scoreless through the next three innings.
Securing the victory thanks to eight runs in the third inning, the Red, White and Blue rotated through the lineup with Maddie Gallagher (Port Washington, N.Y.), Claire Ginder (Lithia, Fla.), Haidyn Sokoloski (Flower Mound, Texas), Jessie Blaine (Wentzville, Mo.), Casey Goguts (Reading, Pa.) and Neal all knocking in runs in the inning.
Neal, Gallagher, Sokoloski, and Ginder all collected multiple hits, with Neal going 3-for-4 to lead the team.Neal led the U-17 WNT to victory in the circle, pitching three innings and allowing zero runs on one hit and striking out three. Drogemuller threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen, walking one and fanning three.
The U.S. is back in action tomorrow, October 12 at 4:30 p.m. CT against Brazil. Live stats will be available through USASoftball.com while WBSC has provided streaming through Gametime.Sport.
A total of 33 games will be played across nine days as participating countries battle it out to qualify for the 2020 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup. The 10 participating countries were drawn into two groups. Competing in Pool A, the U.S. is slated for matchups against No. 14 Brazil on October 12 at 4:30 p.m. CT, No. 5 Mexico on October 13 at 4:30 p.m. CT, and No. 25 Argentina on October 15 at 11:30 a.m. CT after opening up the tournament today over Peru.
Following the conclusion of pool play, the top three finishers will advance to the Super Rounds for a six-team, round-robin schedule. The top two teams from the Super Rounds will compete for the Pan American Championship Final on October 19 at 6 p.m. CT while the third and fourth-place teams will compete for the Bronze Medal.
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 in every state through a network of 69 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. 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.
About the World Baseball Softball Confederation
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland -- the Olympic Capital -- the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. WBSC has 202 National Federation and Associate Members in 143 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.
The WBSC governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships (Men, Women, U-19 Men, and U-19 Women), Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women's).
For more information, visit: www.wbsc.org.