EVRY-COURCOURONNES, France –
 Balanced Attack and Strong Pitching Gives U-19 Women’s National Team a 7-0 Victory Over France in Achille Challenge Finale
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EVRY-COURCOURONNES, France – Strong pitching backed by a balanced attack at the plate capped off the 2019 Achille Challenge for the U-19 Women’s National Team. The Red, White and Blue jumped out to a great start at the dish en route to a 7-0 victory over France on a picture perfect Sunday afternoon.
Lexi Kilfoyl (Land O’ Lakes, Fla.) set the tone right off the bat with back-to-back strikeouts in the circle to open the game. The offense wasted no time with leadoff hitter Skylar Wallace (Woodstock, Ga.) roping a double to the left field fence.
Taylor Pleasants (Houston, Texas) drove in the U-19 WNT’s first three runs of the game in the first two frames. In the first, Pleasants battled to a 3-2 count before making solid contact on a two-run home run shot over the right field fence. Pleasants scored Wallace again in the second on a single to center advancing the USA lead to 3-0.
Kilfoyl nearly went untouched in her four innings of work. She surrendered one hit while striking out four earning her first win of the summer.Â
The only time France saw its leadoff hitter aboard came in the fifth as the French six-hitter singled up the middle. After the runner stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice, it was up to reliever Kelley Lynch (Newnan, Ga.) to buckle down in the circle. Lynch did exactly that picking up a pair of swinging strikeouts to force another zero on the board.
Pinch-hitter Kassidy Krupit (Suwanee, Ga.) put USA back in the scoring column with her RBI single to right in the fifth. The lead became 5-0 the next at bat when Jadelyn Allchin (Huntington Beach, Calif.) came across the plate on a wild pitch.
The sixth was filled with defensive highlights. Lynch picked up a pair of strikeouts before Allchin showed off her range tracking down a foul ball from left with a spectacular diving grab.
USA worked its way around the base paths in the sixth stealing a pair of bags in the inning. Jasmine Sievers (Laguna Niguel, Claif.) scored on Jadya Coleman’s (The Colony, Texas) RBI single up the middle making way for Macy Simmons (Chandler, Ariz.) to pick up the game-ending hit. Simmons bounced a 2-0 pitch over to short allowing Coleman to score USA’s seventh run for the shortened game victory.
The U-19 WNT closed out the 2019 Achille Challenge with back-to-back shutouts from its pitching staff and finished 3-1 against the field of Japan and France. The Red, White and Blue will have a quick turnaround flying to Dublin, Ireland tomorrow where they will take on the national team of Ireland in the 2019 Atlantic Challenge Cup. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. CT). Live stats and streaming links can be found by clicking here.
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.Â
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.
