Women's National Team readies for World Cup of Softball X following Kansas City tour stop

June 27, 2015

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June 27, 2015

 

Women's National Team readies for World Cup of Softball X following Kansas City tour stop

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -   It was a night to remember for fans in the Kansas City area as the 2015 USA Softball Women's National Team competed in two exhibition games against Team KC the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today.  Hosted by the KC Metro ASA, Team USA captured two wins in their final games before the World Cup of Softball X, June 29-July 5, in Irvine, Calif.  In game one, the Red, White and Blue combined for seven hits for an 8-0 shutout win, while five hits pushed the U.S. to a 3-1 win in game two.  Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) had a standout performance for the night, going 4-for-6 with four RBI while each member of the U.S. pitching staff saw time in the circle.

 

"Having the opportunity to play these exhibition games has been amazing," said National Team athlete Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.).  "We can't thank the Houston, Maryland-DC and KC Metro ASA associations enough for giving us the chance to come together as a team before heading into the international season.  This is a great group of girls and I'm excited to see how far we will go this season."

 

Game One - Box Score

 

Team USA jumped to an early lead in their first meeting with Team KC, punching in four runs in the first inning to propel them to an 8-0 (five inning) win.  Led by Stewart, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, the U.S. pieced together eight runs off seven hits, including a two-run double by Sierra Romero (Murrieta, Calif.).

 

Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) led off for Team USA in the bottom of the first with a bunt and advanced to second on a walk to Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.).  A second bunt by Stewart loaded the bases for Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) who hit a single to right field to plate the first run of the game.  Romero followed suit with a two-run double to right field to expand the lead and a sac-fly from Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored the fourth run of the inning for the U.S. 

 

No additional runs would cross the plate until the bottom of the fourth inning when Kellie Fox (San Diego, Calif.) reached on a leadoff walk.  Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) and McCleney hit back-to-back singles to load the bases and were followed by a  sac bunt from Chavanne that would plate Fox.  Stewart then connected for her second hit of the night, scoring two additional runs.  The U.S. would add their final run of the game when Romero reached on a dropped fly ball in the outfield to give them the 8-0 win.

 

Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.) got the start in the circle for the U.S., and kept Team KC off the board through three complete innings.  Earning the win, Nevins finished the game with three strikeouts, one walk and one hit through three complete innings of work.  Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) entered the game in the top of the fourth inning and held Team KC hitless in the final two frames of the game.  Carda finished the evening with two strikeouts through two complete innings.

 

 

Game Two - Box Score

 

Kelsey Stewart continued to shine at the plate in Team USA's second game of the evening against Team KC, going 2-for-3 to push the U.S. to a 3-1 win.

 

Team USA scored early in their final game of the night as Raven Chavanne led off the game with an infield single.  After advancing to third on a double by Stewart, Chavanne would score on a line drive to left field by Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) to give the U.S. an early 1-0 lead.

 

It was a three-up and three-down ball game through the next three and a half innings until the bottom of the fifth when Janelle Lindvall (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) was hit by a pitch.  Her former Oregon teammate Janie Takeda (Placentia, Calif.) moved her to second after reaching on a bunt and both runners advanced a bag after a passed ball.  When a walk to Sierra Romero loaded the bases, Stewart picked up her fourth RBI of the evening with a hard ground ball up the middle to bring Lindvall and Takeda home.  After five complete innings, Team USA led the ballgame 3-0.

 

Team KC continued to fight and pushed across the lone run of their evening in the top of the sixth after three-consecutive batters connected for singles to load the bases.  Team KC's Madison Sykes hit a ground out to the U.S. pitcher Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) to score Justice Milz to close the U.S. lead to 3-1.

 

That score would hold through the final at-bats for both squads with Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) earning the win for the U.S.  Starting out in the circle for Team USA, Traina pitched a flawless first three innings of the game, striking out five batters while giving up zero hits.  Moore entered the game in the top of the fourth inning and finished with four strikeouts, three hits and one run while Valerie Arioto pitched the final frame of the game with one strikeout.

 

Team USA now sets their sights on the World Cup of Softball X, June 29-July 5, in Irvine, Calif.  This will mark the first international competition for the U.S. of the 2015 season as the Red, White and Blue will take on Mexico at 7 p.m. PDT on Monday, June 29.  You can follow along with all the action at the World Cup of Softball X at ASAUSASoftball.com.

 

 

About ASA/USA Softball


Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 74 local associations and 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.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that 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 eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com/.

 

 

Codi Warren

 

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball

Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817