IRVINE, California – The U-19 Women’s National Team (WNT) defeated Japan 4-3 in walk-off fashion to win the 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup. With the win, Team USA became the first team in history to win three consecutive U-19 World Cup Titles and has seven titles overall.
Click here for box scores and results from the 2019 WBSC U-19 Women's Softball World Cup
“It’s something I will never forget,†Megan Faraimo (Vista, Calif.) said. “Just the sheer resiliency of this team and the durability is something that I have never experienced before and to come back and win a ball game like this against one of the best teams in the world says a lot about the character of this team.â€
It was a back and forth defensive battle through the first seven innings of the game. Faraimo had nine strikeouts through her first seven innings of work giving up just three hits. Offensively, Team USA was putting the ball in play but wasn’t able to break through the tough defense of Japan.
“This team deserved an opportunity to have a game like this,â€Â U-19 WNT Head Coach, Heather Tarr (Redmond, Wash./Head Coach at Washington) said. “What an amazing team that Japan has this year. Every inning was a fight and a battle and every inning it was so hard to score runs off of their pitching and their defense.â€
In the eighth inning the teams entered international tie breaker play and Japan scored quickly on a double to left field to bring the runner placed on second home. Japan followed with a single to left field driving in another run to make it a 2-0 ballgame. An error by Skylar Wallace (Woodstock, Ga.) allowed for another runner to score and give Japan the 3-0 lead. Pitcher Montana Fouts (Grayson, Ky.) would come in and get the final out of the inning.
Team USA entered the bottom of the eighth down 3-0 with Bailey Dowling (St. Joseph, Ill.) on second base. Jadelyn Allchin (Fountain Valley, Calif.) hit a leadoff single to move Dowling to third. Frankie Hammoude (Oakland, Calif.) entered the game as a pinch hitter and sent the third pitch of her at bat over the left field fence to tie the game 3-3.
“When I was walking up to the box all I was thinking was that we just need a small base hit,†Hammoude said. “Coming home to my teammates after tying the game was an indescribable feeling and I couldn’t wait to touch home.â€
With two outs, Charla Echols (Newnan, Ga.) hit a triple to deep centerfield to continue the rally for Team USA representing the game winning run. After going down 0-2 early in her at bat, Jasmine Sievers (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) singled on a ground ball bobbled by the shortstop scoring Echols in the eight inning, comeback victory.
“This is a dream come true,†Faraimo said. “I used to dream about this moment, so it means a lot. It is such an honor and it feels even better to do it with a group of girls that I really love.â€
About USA Softball
USA Softball (USAS) 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 & Paralympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USAS sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations. USAS 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. USAS annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USAS 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, USAS 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 USAS, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.
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