August2014

USA Women split games on day one of playoffs at ISF World Championship

August 23, 2014

Haarlem, Netherlands

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 23, 2014

 

USA Women split games on day one of playoffs at ISF World Championship

 

Haarlem, Netherlands – Following a near 30-hour delay due to rain, the USA Softball Women’s National Team began the playoff portion of the International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship on Saturday. Team USA, playing as the top seed from Pool B, defeated Canada 6-1 in their first game to earn a matchup later in the day with the only other undefeated team in the tournament, Japan. With a spot in Sunday’s Gold medal game on the line, Japan jumped out early on the USA and never let up as they went on to win 6-1.

USA 6, Canada 1
Click here for Box Score

Despite being held scoreless for the first three innings versus Canada on Saturday, Team USA posted six runs in the final four frames to take a 6-1 win and advance to the next round in the winners bracket at the ISF World Championship. Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) each homered resulting in five of USA’s six runs. Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) started the game in the circle and lasted 3.1 innings before Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.) entered in relief to earn the win.

“I loved the little things that we did to get the win over Canada,” said USA Head Coach Ken Eriksen. “Sacrifice bunts, aggressive base running, those are things that don’t look all that impressive on a score sheet but they add up to wins.”

Samantha Fischer (Simi Valley, Calif.) lead off the top off the fourth with a ground ball single to short stop and advanced to second via a Moultie sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat. A walk and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Team USA with Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) up next. The outfielder singled to left field scoring the first USA run of the game.

The lead didn’t last long as Canada started the bottom off the fourth with a single and followed it with a shot to center field that barely snuck past McCleney’s glove. The first runner scored but Moultrie gunned down the second runner at third to preserve the tie through four.

Gibson walked to start the fifth inning and a Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) sacrifice bunt advanced her to second. Two batters later, Moultrie put Team USA ahead for good when she sent the first pitch she saw sailing over the center field wall.

Nevins retired the side in the bottom off the fifth and Team USA added insurance runs in the sixth. With two outs, Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) singled to third base and Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) followed her up with a single to left field. With the runners on base, Gibson sent an 0-2 pitch over the center field wall for a three-run homer to give Team USA their 6-1 lead.

With the favorable lead, Nevins kept the Canadian batters in check through the sixth and most of the seventh innings. In the bottom of the seventh, the lefty gave up her first hit of the game, a two-out single to Joey Lye. In the next at-bat, with an 0-2 count, Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) entered the circle to pitch. Needing just one strike to end it, Traina followed a foul ball with a swinging strikeout and Team USA secured the win.

Japan 6, USA 1
Click here for the Box Score

Japan jumped out to an early lead on Team USA in their game late Saturday evening at the ISF World Championship. Facing Jolene Henderson (Elk Grove, Calif.) Japan scored one run in the first and added three in the second to put the Americans in a four-run hole early in the game. Offensively Team USA couldn’t get much going early facing Japanese veteran Yukiko Ueno.

“We put the ball in play and put runners on base,” said Eriksen. “We did some nice things, just had a few small errors and when you’re playing Japan they will take advantage of those errors. The great thing is, we still have tomorrow. We just have to play great softball for one day and then we can call ourselves World Champions.”

A Japan two-out single in the top of the first was followed by an Eri Yamada double scored the first run of the game as Japan went up 1-0. Gibson walked and Arioto singled in the bottom half of the inning but Ueno left them stranded, getting a strikeout to end the inning.

Japan added three more runs in the second off of two singles and a walk before Traina entered to pitch for Team USA. With two outs, Traina pitched a fly ball to end the Japan rally.

Both teams remained scoreless through the third inning. In the top of the fourth, Japan added a fifth run, this time off of Traina. Nagayoski singled to start the inning and was later brought around to score on a Kawano single to short stop.

Team USA gave up the sixth and final run to Japan in the top of the fifth. Mine doubled to right field to start the at-bat and after Sakamoto laid down a sac-bunt to advance her to second, a Sato single to short stop scored the runner from second putting Japan up 6-0.

The Americans finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Hoagland drew a walk and later came around to score on a Kellie Fox (San Diego, Calif.) single to right field. Nevins retired the side in the top of the seventh but the USA bats couldn’t muster a comeback as Japan secured the 6-1 win.

Sunday morning at 12:00 p.m. (5 a.m. eastern) the USA will now play the winner of Australia, Canada who was playing at the time of this release. The winner advances to place Japan in the Gold medal game at 3:00 p.m. (7 a.m. eastern). Live streaming and live stats are available via www.USASoftball.com throughout the ISF World Championship. Log on and follow Team USA as they seek a tenth World Championship Gold.

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.

 

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.

 

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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

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