USA Softball: Early Lead for No. 4 Australia Seals Fate for Men’s National Team

June 16, 2019

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Early Lead for No. 4 Australia Seals Fate for Men’s National Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2019 Web Release: Link

Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic – An early 1-0 lead in the first inning proved to be the difference maker as the USA Softball Men’s National Team (MNT) dropped a tightly-contested matchup against world-ranked No. 4 Australia Saturday evening at Hippos Arena. With the loss, Team USA moves to 1-1 at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Softball World Championship.   “We knew this game would be a tough one coming in,” said Head Coach Gregg Leather (Staten Island, N.Y.). “(Andrew) Kirkpatrick and (Adam) Folkard are two of the toughest pitchers in the game but Joel (Cooley) and Duane (Weiler) did a great job and gave us every opportunity to pull that game out. It’s tough when the only run of the game comes on a cross-up of signals between our pitcher and catcher, but those are the kinds of mistakes you can’t make when facing pitchers of that caliber. We have to regroup and be ready tomorrow against South Africa.”   The U.S. was sat down in order to start the game, while Australia quickly made do with their at-bats. A leadoff single and walk put runners aboard before both advanced on a sacrifice bunt. A flyout to Jonathan Lynch (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) tallied the second out, while a passed ball scored the runner from third to make it 1-0 in favor of Australia. Joel Cooley (St. Paul, Minn.) responded with a strikeout to close out the first frame.   Through the next two innings, Australia put three runners aboard on two hits and a walk. Cooley and the U.S. defense kept them from scoring additional runs, including a perfectly-executed double play by middle infielders Tyler Dudley (Battle Creek, Mich.), Cam Schiller (Prescott, Ariz.) and Erick Ochoa (Imperial, Calif.) in the bottom half of the third inning.   Leading off the fourth frame, Lynch laid down a bunt single and beat out the throw for Team USA’s first hit of the game, but a flyout and double play from Australia kept the U.S. from plating a run of their own.    In the fifth inning, both teams switched out their starting pitchers as Folkard and Duane Weiler (Richland, Pa.) entered the game. Matt Ratliff (American Fork, Utah) collected the second and, what would be, the final hit of the game on an infield single for Red, White and Blue but a pair of strikeouts kept him from crossing home. Weiler started the bottom half of the frame, inducing a flyout to left field before back-to-back strikeouts retired the Aussies in order.   The pitcher’s duel continued on both sides and even with Australia’s solo hit in the bottom of the sixth, the score remained with the U.S. trailing, 1-0. Down to their final at-bats in the seventh, Team USA’s Ochoa drew a one-out walk but a strikeout and groundout followed to close out the game.    Cooley pitched four innings and allowed one run on four hits and struck out three, while Weiler fanned an additional three in his three innings of work. Lynch and Ratliff recorded the only two hits of the game. Team USA continues pool play and returns to action tomorrow to face No. 12 South Africa at 4:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. CT).   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.

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