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SURREY, BC
USA Softball drops their first game in the Canadian Open, a 5-0 decision to Japan
OKLAHOMA CITY –The USA Softball Women’s National Team found themselves on the losing side for the first time in the 2013 Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship on Sunday the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The Americans dropped a 5-0 decision to Japan and now must move on to play Monday at 7 p.m. CT against the winner of a Canada vs Australia matchup taking place later in the evening on Sunday. The winner of Monday’s game will move on to face Japan for the tournament championship at 9:30 p.m. CT on Monday.
Pitching dominated from the start in USA’s Sunday night matchup with Japan. Aside from a Misa Okubo single in the top of the second, both teams failed to get anything going offensively through the first three innings of play. Another three up, three down inning for Team USA in the top of the fourth preserved the scoreless game entering Japans fourth at-bat.
The biggest scoring threat came at that point in the game came in the bottom of the fourth when back-to-back Japan singles were followed by an intentional walk to load the bases. The rally prompted a pitching change for Team USA as Cheridan Hawkins (Anderson, Calif.) entered the circle and managed two straight outs to end the threat.
In the top of the fifth, Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.) lead off with a base hit that ended any hopes of a third straight Yukiko Ueno no hitter. Two batters later, Nicole Hudson (Webb City, Mo.) singled for the second USA hit of the game and gave the Americans runners on the corners but Rhea Taylor (Buford, Ga.) was picked off at third to end any chances of a USA run coming in the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Japan exploded for five runs off of four hits and a USA error to open up the game. When the dust settled and the inning came to a close, Team USA found themselves trailing 5-0.
Following the huge Japan scoring run, the sixth inning resumed to a pitching duel with both teams failing to record a hit. The Americans found themselves in need of five runs in the top of the seventh if they wanted to extend the game any further but two strikeouts and a fly out dashed any chances and Team USA fell to Japan 5-0.
With the lose, the Americans move to 6-1 in the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship and will now face the winner of Canada and Australia who played later in the evening on Sunday. The elimination game will take place at 7 p.m. CT on Monday. You can follow all of the action live by visiting www.USASoftball.com.
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 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 200,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://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 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 nine World Championship titles as well as claimed six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.
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Steven Embree | ASA/USA Softball
Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
2801 NE 50th | Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Work: 405-425-3422 | Cell: 405-207-1004
E-mail: sembree@softball.org | Web: www.usasoftball.com
