Â
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2014
Â
PARANA, Argentina  -  The USA Men's Fastpitch National Team could not overcome a three-run third inning, suffering a 6-1 loss to the Dominican Republic at the IX Conpasa Men's Fastpitch Panam Championship the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. Team USA struck first with a run in the second inning but was held quiet throughout the remainder of the game as the U.S. moves to 2-2 in round robin action.
Â
"Tonight was certainly a tough and strange loss," said Head Coach Denny Bruckert (Gillespie, Ill.). "We had a couple questionable calls and bounces that didn't go our way and every time we started to get things going something would happen to halt it. The team is going to have to bounce back for the next three games, but I think we will be able to put this game behind us and come out strong for the remaining round robin games."
Â
Click here for coverage throughout the IX Conpasa Men's Fastpitch Panam Championship
Â
USA jumped on the board first in the contest as Frank DeGroat Jr. (Ringwood, N.J.) singled to left field to start the inning. Entering as a pinch runner, Tyler Dudley (Battle Creek, Mich.) would later come around to score on a sac-fly from Kris Bogach ( Huguenot, N.Y.). The Dominican Republic responded in the bottom half of the inning when USA's starting pitcher Josh Johnson (El Paso, Texas) gave up a solo home run to tie the game.
Â
That score would remain until the third inning when the Dominican Republic would add three more runs to their lead. A leadoff walk from Johnson followed by an infield single put two runners on base before an error in right field cleared the bases to put the Dominican Republic up 4-1.
Â
An infield single got things started again for the Dominican Republic in the bottom of the fourth inning before the U.S. made a pitching change as Gerald Muizelaar (Grand Forks, N.D.) entered the circle to replace starter Johnson. With one runner on base, a double to center field plated another run for the Dominican Republic, extending their lead to 5-1.
Â
Team USA looked to close the lead in the top of the fifth inning as Bogach walked and advanced to second base on a fielder's choice by Marcus Tan (Union City, Calif.), who also reached safely. A wild pitch advanced Bogach and Tan one base before Chris Miljavic (Easton, Mo.) loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch. The U.S. threat, however, was ended with a strikeout.
Â
The score held at 5-1 in favor of the Dominican Republic until the bottom of the sixth inning when an infield single plated another run to extend the lead to 6-1. Trailing by five in their last at-bat, back-to-back walks to Bogach and Tan with one out looked to spark a rally for the U.S. offense, but a strikeout and groundout secured the win for the Dominican Republic.
Â
Johnson suffered the loss for the U.S., going three and one-third innings with five hits, five runs and three strikeouts. Muizelaar pitched the final two and two third innings, issuing two hits, one run and one strikeout.
Â
Up next for the Team USA is a matchup against an undefeated Canada today at 2 p.m. CT. Live stats and live streaming are available via USASoftball.com.Â
Â
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 SoftballÂ
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 as well as claimed seven World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com.
Â
Â
Codi Warren
Â
Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball
Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817
