International & NPF

Maren’s Travel Blog: Six down, one to go

We have played six games in four days and finished pool play with a 5-1 record, sending us to today’s gold-medal game against the winner of Canada and Israel.

Monday, July 10: After losing our opening game to Canada, we sought out revenge and took it to them in our third game on Monday. We scored two runs in the bottom of the first when Noa Yakir (Junior, Cal Poly) double to right center scoring Kennedy Haynes (2016, Dayton) and Tamara Statman (Junior, Arizona).

Canada scored its lone run in the top of the second but it was all us after that.  We scored one in the third, four in the fourth and another in the sixth to end the game with an 8-1 mercy.

Yakir finished the day 2-for-3 with a double and three runs batted in.  Claire Klausner (2017, Princeton) pitched a gem in the circle.  She held the Canadian offense to one hit, one walk and eight strikeouts in six innings.

Tuesday, July 11: It seemed like we found our groove before the Monday’s game and just kept pressing.  We jumped on Israel early with three runs in the first, three in the second and four in third.

The most exciting part for me was getting a hit in my first at-bat.  I don’t think anyone understands the amount of pressure I put on myself and the expectation that I have to perform.  It’s definitely not as easy as it used to be.  I have to stretch extra before every game and take multiple rounds of the tee to get comfortable.

It’s so hard not to swing at every pitch because I want to get a hit so bad.  They say patience is a virtue, but I only get so many opportunities to make something happen that I want to prove that I can still do this.

I led off the second and singled to right field to get things starting.  The next play forced me to slide into second to break up a potential double play.  I’m not kidding when I say that I told myself I hoped I still remembered how to slide.  The ground wasn’t exactly and I may have bruised my knee and thigh doing it but muscle memory took over and it felt awesome.

My second at bat was similar.  I took a 1-0 pitch to right field but this time in the air.  The right fielder caught it and Rachel Barker (Junior, Humbolt State) tagged from third to push our lead to 7-0.  It was only fitting that my first RBI of the tournament scored my roommate.

My final at-bat of the game resulted in getting hit by a pitch.  Back in the day, I used to have a hard time getting out of the way. Actually, I just stood there and let it hit me and that’s exactly what I did this time.

Wednesday, July 12: We entered yesterday in driver’s seat.  Israel shocked everyone by defeating Canada in epic fashion late Tuesday night.  All we had to do was beat Canada one and that would clinch the No. 1 seed.

Mandy Greenberg (2013, Minot State) got the nod for Canada.  This was our third time facing her in three games.  She kept us off balance the first two innings and then we pushed one across in third for a 1-0 lead.  The floodgates opened in the fourth when we scored six.

Cori Coleman (2015, Brandeis) had a big day for us at the plate.  She was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.  I got to know Cori when she was one of the roommates the first week we were in Israel.  She hasn’t played in a couple years but she has come up big the past couple of games.  You can see how much this tournament means to her because she is always smiling from ear to ear.

Canada tacked on a run in the fifth but it wasn’t enough to force another inning.  The run rule here is 15 after three, 10 after four and seven after five.

We clinched a spot in the gold medal game with one more pool play game with Israel left.

Three runs in the first, six in the second and two in third propelled us to an 11-0 win.  I came up with bases loaded in the third and grounded out to short but it scored a run.  Once again, I just wanted a hit so bad that I swung at every pitch I saw.

After the game, we were packing up and a group of young girls came up and asked us all to sign their softballs.  It was so cute.  We told them that if we signed them, they had to start playing and put those balls to good use. Who knows if they will or not but in that moment it was still awesome.

The gold medal game will be at 7:30 p.m. here, 11:30 a.m. CT.

 

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