USA Softball: Six-run third inning propels Men’s National Team to a 7-0 shutout win over No. 22 Singapore

June 18, 2019

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Six-run third inning propels Men’s National Team to a 7-0 shutout win over No. 22 Singapore

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 18, 2019 Web Release: Link

PRAGUE – In their fifth contest of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Softball World Championship (MSWC), the USA Softball Men’s National Team earned its first shutout and run-rule victory of the MSWC after routing No. 22 Singapore, 7-0, in five innings at Svoboda Ballpark. Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.) and Joel Cooley (St. Paul, Minn.) combined to throw a shutout, while the Red, White and Blue offense came alive in the third inning to plate six runs en route to their third victory of the tournament.   “Today was a must-win game for us and the boys responded,” said Head Coach Gregg Leather (Staten Island, N.Y.). “Tony (Mancha) held them in check until our bats could get going. We will have to be a bit more disciplined at the plate against Denmark tomorrow. We can’t chase balls out of the zone and expect to have success. I like where our pitching is but we need more consistency from our lineup. We are in a position to control our own destiny and that is where you want to be at this point in the tournament.”   Singapore led off the game with a single to right field and stole second before advancing to third on a groundout to first. With two outs, Mancha issued his second strikeout of the inning to keep Singapore off the board. Despite back-to-back one-out walks to Cam Schiller (Prescott, Ariz.) and Erick Ochoa (Imperial, Calif.), Matt Palazzo (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) grounded out to the second baseman, resulting in Singapore turning a double play to close out the inning.     A swinging strikeout delivered by Mancha opened up the second inning before Singapore tallied their second hit of the game on a ground ball. A groundout to Jeff Nowaczyk (Midland, Mich.) at third and Mancha’s fourth strikeout brought the U.S. back to the plate, where they were retired in order to close out the second frame.   Mancha and the U.S. defense retired the side in order to begin the third inning, while Gil Saenz (El Paso, Texas) got the offense going with a perfectly placed two-out bunt single and Schiller walked to put two runners aboard. Ochoa singled to right field to score Saenz, before a walk to Palazzo loaded the bases for Team USA. Nowaczyk capitalized on the opportunity, clearing the bags off a triple to center field and extended the U.S. lead, 5-0. Nick Mullins (Toms River, N.J.) capped off the inning, driving in Nowaczyk with a fly ball to left field to make it 6-0 in favor of the U.S.    Singapore fought back in the fourth inning, drawing a walk and reaching first on an infield error but Mancha got the third out with his ninth strikeout of the game to strand the runners at first and third. With the U.S. unable to add to their lead in the bottom half of the frame, Cooley entered the circle in the top of the fifth inning while he and the defense kept Singapore off the board with a groundout, line out and strikeout.    Having entered the U.S. lineup, third baseman Kevin Castillo (Long Beach, Calif.) hit a one-out single before a walk to Nowaczyk put two runners on for Team USA in the fifth inning. A passed ball advanced the runners, while Mullins sealed the 7-0 (five inning) victory with a walk-off single to drive home Nowaczyk.    Mancha surrendered zero runs on two hits over four innings of work, striking out nine and walking one, while Cooley threw one inning of relief and struck out one. Mullins went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, while Nowaczyk collected 3 RBI with his triple in the third inning. The U.S. (3-2) returns to action tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. CT) to face No. 11 Denmark at Hippos Arena in Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic.    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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