U-19 Women's National Team secures second win of WBSC World Cup with second straight perfect game

IRVINE, California – The U-19 Women’s National Team (WNT) put on an offensive showcase in route to a 15-0 victory over Botswana in three innings for the team’s second victory at the World Baseball Softball Classic (WBSC) U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup and Montana Fouts (Grayson, Ky.) was lights out in the circle for Team USA tossing the second straight perfect game for The U.S..

Click here for box scores and results from the 2019 WBSC U-19 Women's Softball World Cup

Charla Echols (Newnan, Ga.) started the scoring for Team USA in the first inning with a two-run home run to give The Eagles an early 2-0 lead. A string of singles from Team USA and doubles from Skylar Wallace (Woodstock, Ga.) and Bailey Dowling (St. joseph, Ill.) gave The U.S. a 9-0 lead in the first inning.

“I think that was a good thing for our team to get ahead and give our pitcher an early lead,” Echols said. “I’m glad that we could do that for our pitcher right at the beginning.”

A monster three-run home run from pinch hitter Lexi Kilfoyl (Land O’Lakes, Fla.) in the second inning gave The U.S. a 12-0 lead. Team USA had 14 hits in the game, six of which went for extra bases. 

“When I stepped in the box I just tried to stay calm, put the ball in play and do what I know how to do,” Kilfoyl said. “It just so happened to be a home run so that was good to help save the pitcher to get her out of the game earlier.”

Fouts threw six straight strikeouts in the first and second inning to keep Botswana off the base path. The U.S. would push across two more runs in the third inning to secure the three-inning run rule victory.

Fouts was perfect through all three innings of work registering eight strikeouts and retiring all nine batters in order. Twenty of Team USA’s 21 total outs at the 2019 WBSC U-19 World Cup have come via strikeout with Megan Faraimo (Vista, Calif.) tossing a 12-strikeout perfect game in Team USA’s four inning victory over Mexico to open the tournament.

“I think it just really helps our offense get in there quicker,” Fouts said of the back-to-back perfect performances. “It keeps us on a roll and having shutdown innings.”

Team USA will be back in action on August 12 at 8 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. CT against No. 15 Czech Republic in their third pool play matchup of the tournament. A win against Czech Republic would secure The U.S. a top seeded spot in the Super Round which begins on August 13. 

Free live streaming of all games and live stats will be available throughout the WBSC U-19 World Cup and fans at home can follow along with recaps and more at USASoftball.com.

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, 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.