USA Junior Men go 1-2 on Wednesday; Suffer two one-run losses in final inning
June 26, 2008
White Horse, YK
Junior Men go 1-2 for the day; Suffer two one-run losses in final inning
WHITEHORSE, Yukon --- The USA Softball Junior Men’s team recorded one win and two losses on Wednesday as they continued in pool play at the 2008 ISF Junior Men World Championships. A one-run difference in all three games, the U.S. suffered back-to-back losses in the morning to New Zealand 4-3 and Argentina 5-4, before bouncing back in their final game of the night defeating Mexico 7-6 in eight innings.
Moving to a 4-4 record, Team USA continues action on Thursday as they match-up against top tournament team in Australia at noon local/2 p.m. CST. On Friday, June 27, they will play the Czech Republic at noon local/ 2 p.m. CST and Canada at 7:30 p.m. local/9:30 p.m. CST.
Current Standings (as of June 26):
1 Australia 8-0
2 Canada 8-1
3 New Zealand 6-2
4 Japan 6-2
5 Mexico 6-3
6 United States 4-4
7 Venezuela 4-5
8 Argentina 4-5
9 Czech Republic 2-6
10 South Africa 2-7
11 Denmark 1-8
12 Botswana 0-8
GAME 1 – New Zealand 4 USA 3 (8 innings)
In a game that was rescheduled due to weather, the U.S. took the field at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning to make up for the match-up against New Zealand.
Starting strong, the U.S. put up two runs in the top of the first while New Zealand connected for just one run in the bottom of the first. In the second, New Zealand put up the tying run as the game stalled at 2-2 through the fifth inning. The U.S. took a one-run lead in the top of the sixth, but New Zealandanswered tying the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Moving to an eighth inning, it was a clutch situation but New Zealand came out on top scoring one run in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the victory.
The U.S.recorded nine hits and zero errors to New Zealand’s (6-2) six hits and two errors.
GAME 2 – Argentina 5 USA4
Just four hours later, the U.S. took the field for its second contest and fell short again with a 5-4 loss to Argentina (4-5).
Argentinahad a 1-0 lead through three innings before the U.S. tied the game in the top of the fourth. The Red, White and Blue continued to look strong scoring three security runs in the top of the fifth for the 4-1 advantage while Argentinanotched another run in the bottom of the inning for the 4-2 difference.
The tide changed however as the U.S. was held scoreless through the sixth and seventh while Argentina scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh to seal the win.
It marked the second time in as many games the U.S. loss in the bottom of the last inning.
The U.S.scored four runs on six hits and one Argentina error.
GAME 3 – USA 7 Mexico6 (8 innings)
In its third contest of the day, the U.S. gutted out a 7-6 victory in eight innings against Mexico (6-3).
Mexicojumped ahead 3-0 after two innings, but the U.S. used a five-run third inning to take the lead. Another run in the fourth, the U.S. looked strong at a 6-3 lead through the fifth inning.
Mexico responded tying the game in the top of the sixth inning at 6-all, but the U.S. prevailed taking home its first win of the day with one run scored in the bottom of the eighth.
The U.S. totaled nine hits in the victory.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit www.usasoftball.com
Julie Bartel
ASA/USA Softball
Director of Communications
405-425-3463 - work
405-203-4645 - cell
