Surrey, B.C., Canada — The USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) offense continued to shine at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Championship, as the team combined for 14 hits en route to a 13-0 shutout over Brazil. With nearly half of their hits by way of the home run, the U.S. locked up the No. 1 seed in Pool B and remain undefeated in their WBSC World Championship run in Surrey.
“We took care of business in pool play, which is always very nice,” said Head Coach Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.). “Having people come off the bench and execute and having our pitchers go in and work around the strike zone allowed us to do what we needed to do. The tournament starts now. I’d like to see us continue to grow within the system we have on both sides of the game, and we’re going to keep trying to go in the right direction.”
Making her first appearance at a WBSC World Championship, Delanie Gourley (Lakeside, Calif.) made it a memorable one as she retired the side in order with three-straight strikeouts. Once again, the top of the U.S. lineup got the game rolling as Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) and Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) hit back-to-back singles. With McCleney advancing to third on Stewart’s single to right field, Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) stepped to the plate with runners on the corner. Carda hit a hard grounder to the third baseman, who in a close call at third tagged out McCleney to record the first out of the inning.
With two runners on, clean-up hitter Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) hammered the ball over the center field fence to give the Red, White and Blue the early 3-0 lead. Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) followed suit, sending her first pitch of her at-bat over the left field fence for a solo shot. The offense continued to pounce with Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) getting to third base on a dropped ball by the centerfielder before Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.) cleared the bases with a two-run blast to left field. In similar fashion, Kasey Cooper (Dothan, Ala.) hit the fourth home run of the inning over center to make it a 7-0 ballgame. The U.S. continued to add to their lead after Carda collected an RBI single and Arioto picked up her fourth RBI of the game with a double to left field.
Brazil would get their first base runners of the game on in the top of the second after Vivian Morimoto reached on an infield single. A popup to Cooper at third and a strikeout from Gourley quickly recorded two outs, but a dropped third strike would allow another base runner. Gourley didn’t back down, coming back strong with a strikeout to quickly end the threat.
Chidester recorded her second two-run blast of the game in the bottom of the second after Moultrie had led off with a double. A few batters later, Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.) stepped to the plate for her first WBSC World Championship appearance and made a statement with a two-run home run, making it a 13-0 lead for Team USA.
Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) entered the circle in the top of the third and the U.S. defense quickly recorded two outs with a pair of popups to Cooper at third. After a single from Gabriela Dos Santos, Traina came back with a strikeout to keep Brazil off the board. Team USA would be retired in order in the bottom of the frame.
Brazil picked up their third hit of the game in the top of the fourth with a leadoff single, but three-consecutive strikeouts from Traina ended the game with Team USA coming away with the 13-0 shutout victory.
Arioto and Chidester led the U.S. offense, both recording four RBI. From the circle, Gourley allowed just one hit through her two innings of work while issuing four strikeouts. Traina pitched the final two frames, issuing four strikeouts while allowing just two hits.
Team USA will have Monday off before returning to action for their first game of playoff rounds against China at 7:30 p.m. PT on Tuesday evening. 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.
About the World Baseball Softball Confederation
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland — the Olympic Capital — the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. WBSC has 213 National Federation and Associate Members in 142 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.
The WBSC also governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships (Men, Women, U-19 Men, and U-19 Women), Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women’s).
