Surrey, B.C., Canada — You have to earn the right to play on Sunday. That’s been the mantra for the USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT), who earned their spot in the Gold Medal finale at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Championship after a 4-3 thrilling win over Japan. In typical USA vs Japan fashion, the game went back-and-forth, with the U.S. securing the win in the top of the fifth on late game doubles from Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.).
“We’ve been talking all week about not playing against the other uniform but playing against the game and I thought we played against the game pretty well,” said Head Coach Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.). “We put ourselves in a couple of difficult situations, but we did not put our tails between our legs and give up. That’s part of playing the game. I like the way that athletes came off the bench ready to play, and Ally Carda was a bulldog today in the circle.”
The U.S. jumped on the ball early in the game as Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) picked up her first hit of the game and a walk to Arioto put two runners on base with two outs. Japan’s Yukari Hamamura was able to get out of the jam, however, getting a fly out to left field to keep the U.S. off the board. Team USA’s Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) also came out strong in the circle in the bottom of the frame, and despite issuing a leadoff single and a walk was able to record a strike out for the third out to keep it a scoreless contest.
Japan got on the board first in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by Mana Atsumi, but the U.S. would respond in the top of the third. Back-to-back singles from Stewart and Jazmyn Jackson (San Jose, Calif.) put two on with one out before a walk to Arioto loaded the bases. This prompted a pitching change for Japan, as Yamato Fujita entered the circle. On a 2-2 count, Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.) was hit by a pitch to tie the ball game at one run apiece. Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) gave the U.S. the lead, pushing a single through the left side of the infield to bring Jackson home to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
That score would hold until the bottom of the fourth when Japan would tie up the game. After a leadoff single, the U.S. defense quickly recorded two outs with a pair of groundouts. A throwing error would allow two runners to get into scoring position before a fielding error allowed the runner at third to score to tie up the game. With the game at 2-2 heading into the fifth, Arioto led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a double from Aguilar, giving the U.S. a 3-2 lead. Kasey Cooper (Dothan, Ala.) added an insurance run on a hard hit ground ball to right field to plate Aguilar.
Japan would cut the U.S. lead to one run in the bottom of the sixth. Atsumi doubled with one out and advanced to third on a single from Yuka Ichiguchi. A sac fly from Natsuko Sugama made it a 4-3, USA lead.
The U.S. would be retired in order in the top of the seventh to bring Japan to their final at-bat. A leadoff single put a runner on base, who advanced to second on a sac bunt. With one out, Delanie Gourley (Lakeside, Calif.) entered the circle and recorded a huge strikeout to keep the runner at second. Carda then reentered the game and an intentional walk to the cleanup hitter Eri Yamada put two runners on. Carda and the U.S. defense took care of business, as a popup to Aguilar at second base ended the game with the Red, White and Blue earning the 4-3 win.
Carda earned the win in the circle for the U.S., issuing five strikeouts, seven hits and two earned runs to Japan in six and a two-third innings pitched. For the offense, Stewart was nearly unstoppable at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one run scored while Chidester, Aguilar, Spaulding and Cooper each picked up an RBI.
Team USA now heads to the Gold Medal finale at 6 p.m. PT, where they will face off against the winner of Japan vs Canada. Live stats and links for pay-per-view streaming can be found at ASAUSASoftball.com.
About ASA/USA Softball
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body of 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 70 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 2.2 million. ASA/USA Softball 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.
