USA Softball Junior Men claim consolation prize at ISF Junior Men's World Championship

July 21, 2014

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2014

 

USA Softball Junior Men claim consolation prize at ISF Junior Men’s World Championship

WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada – The USA Softball Junior Men’s National Team took the field versus Mexico on Sunday in the consolation finals of the International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Men’s World Championship and won convincingly 11-5 the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. With the win, Team USA finished 7-4, their best record in the Junior Men’s World Championship since 1985.

 

“These guys played hard all tournament long, said USA Head Coach Tim Lyon. “They won more games than any USA Junior Men’s team has won in a long time and that’s something to be proud of.”

 

Zane Chason (Alma, Ga.) drew the start for Team USA but lasted just 2.2 innings before Phillip Zimmerman (New Holland, Pa.) entered in relief. Chason allowed four runs on four hits in his outing and Zimmerman gave up just one run on three hits in the remainder of the game. The duo combined for six strikeouts.

 

Offensively, USA jumped on the board early with three runs on four hits in the top of the first inning. With Bryce DuCharme (Hudson, Wis.) reaching base on a single to lead off the game, Tyler Stoffel (North Mankato, Minn.) homered to make it 2-0. A Daniel Centeno Jr. (Salem, Utah) RBI double later in the at-bat scored the third USA run of the inning.

 

Mexico quickly closed the gap in the bottom of the inning scoring two runs on two hits off of Chason. The 3-2 score remained until the bottom of the third when the Mexican National Team again scored two runs on two hits taking a 4-3 lead into the fourth.

 

Team USA tied it up in the fourth when Tayler Nielson (Lehi, Utah) singled to plate Blaine Milheim (Eaton Rapids, Mich.) from second. In the bottom half, Zimmerman retired the side to preserve the 4-4 score to the fifth.

 

In their next at-bat, the USA Junior Men rallied to score two more runs on three hits and one Mexico error. The home team got a run back in the bottom of the fifth but USA held onto a 6-5 lead entering the sixth when they opened the game up for good. Tristan Sensenig (Denver, Pa.) opened the inning with a double and scored to batters later on an error. Later in the at-bat, with one runner on, Jimbo Pernetti (Ceres, Calif.) homered to give Team USA a 9-4 advantage.

 

Zimmerman held Mexico scoreless again in the sixth and the USA batters added two more runs on three hits in the seventh. With an 11-5 lead, the USA defense secured the win in the bottom of the seventh and Team USA earned the Consolation Championship.

 

In the tournament finals Argentina defeated New Zealand 9-0 in six innings to win their second consecutive ISF Junior Men’s World Championship Gold. Japan took bronze with a loss to New Zealand earlier in the day.

 

Following the tournament, the ISF flag was presented from the Whitehorse host committee to Dan Highland, member of the USA Softball Men’s National Team Selection Committee, as he represented Midland, Mich. who will host of the next ISF Junior Men’s World Championship in 2016.

 

Visit www.USAsoftball.com to view stats, archived streaming and see photos from all of USA’s games at the 2014 ISF World Championship.

 

About ISF

Headquartered in Plant City, Florida (USA), the ISF is a member of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the world governing body for the sport  which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations). Softball (women’s fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 127 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

 

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 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 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 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 nine World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive 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