International News: Team USA Takes Two on Tuesday in WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup… But Has Closest Win So Far

The USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team (WNT) picked up two wins on Tuesday—over No. 40 Colombia and No. 4 Mexico—to remain undefeated at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup.

Improving to 3-0 in their quest to a fourth-straight WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship title, the U.S. remains atop the leaderboard as one of two undefeated teams alongside No. 6 Chinese Taipei.  

*****

USA 8, Colombia 0

The Red, White and Blue opened the day with a 8-0 (five-innings) run-rule over Colombia behind a 2-for-2 performance at the plate from Megan Grant (San Bruno, Calif.) and a combined 10 strikeouts from Mac Morgan (Garden City, Mo.) and Keagan Rothrock (Whiteland, Ind.).
​
Morgan got the start in the circle for Team USA and quickly took control with two strikeouts and a ground out to send the Eagles to the plate.

Two fly outs from the top of the U.S. lineup would look to keep things quiet in the bottom of the frame, but a walk to Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) followed by a double from Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) would put Team USA on the board, 1-0.

The two-out rally continued after Olivia Johnson (Pearland, Texas) drew a walk and Grant sent a pop fly over the first baseman’s head to plate another U.S. run. With runners on second and third, Karli Spaid (Chicago, Ill.) blasted a home run over the centerfield fence to tack on three more and extend the U.S. lead, 5-0, before a fly out ended the inning.
​
Another run would cross the plate for Team USA in the bottom of the second after an error allowed Avery Hodge (Richmond, Texas) to reach base to lead off the inning. Making her way to home plate all on her own, Hodge stole three-straight bases to score another U.S. run and extend the lead, 6-0.
​
Team USA’s bats went quiet in the bottom of the third but came back alive in the fourth with a triple from Kinsey Fiedler (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) followed by a pop fly from Coffel, which forced an error from the Colombia defense to score one.

Zavodnik followed with a single up the middle to score Coffel and give the Eagles an 8-0 lead. Rothrock entered the circle in the top of the fifth to close out the win for the Red, White and Blue, retiring three Colombia batters in order to seal the 8-0 run-rule.
​
In the circle, Morgan went four innings with seven strikeouts while limiting the Colombia offense to just two baserunners off a walk and a single. In for relief, Rothrock tallied three strikeouts of her own without allowing a single Colombia batter to put the bat on the ball.

Grant and Zavodnik led the U.S. offense with a combined four hits and three RBI in addition to Spaid’s three-run home run, which extended Team USA’s home run streak to eight-straight games with at least one ball leaving the park.

Click here to view the complete schedule for the 2021 WBSC U-18 Women’s World Cup

USA 5, Mexico 3

Team USA’s second game of the day featured a rematch of the Junior Pan American gold medal game between world-ranked No. 2 USA and No. 4 Mexico with the U.S. coming out on top with a narrow 5-3 win.
​
Raelin Chaffin (Bossier City, La.) started on the rubber for the U.S., retiring the first three batters in order with a strikeout, line out and pop out. A two-out single from Coffel and a hit-by-pitch from Zavodnik would put two U.S. runners on in the bottom of the frame, but an infield line out would leave them stranded.
​
The U.S. bats would light a spark in the bottom of the second after back-to-back singles from Maci Bergeron (Rayne, La.) and Valerie Cagle (Yorktown, Va.) would put runners on with no outs. A perfectly executed sac-bunt from Rylee Holtorf (Peoria, Ariz.) would send Keely Williams (Cibolo, Texas) to the plate for a line drive in the left center gap to give the U.S. a two-run edge.
​
A pair of one-out singles from Mexico looked to threaten the U.S. lead in the top of the third, but Chaffin fired back with two strikeouts to leave them stranded and maintain the 2-0 lead.

Team USA went down in order in the bottom of the frame before allowing Mexico to cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth after stringing together a double and a single.

The U.S. quickly answered back in the bottom of the inning after a leadoff double from Bergeron and a walk to Cagle put runners at second and third for Hodge who forced an error to score Bergeron. Williams followed suit with a single through the right side to cushion the U.S. lead, 4-1, before a fly out ended the at-bat.
​
Cagle took over pitching duties in the top of the fifth and issued a leadoff walk before firing back with a strikeout. A ball to the backstop would allow the runner to advance to second before attempting to steal third but Bergeron fired the ball down to Fiedler for the second out of the inning.

A fielding miscue followed by a passed ball and a single would allow Mexico to score two more runs, cutting the U.S. lead 4-2 before Rothrock entered the circle to end the threat with a strikeout.
​
The U.S. bats were quiet in the bottom of the frame while Rothrock returned the favor in the top of the sixth with three K’s to send Team USA back to the plate.

A two-out single from Hodge followed by a stolen base would put a runner on second for Williams who sent her third clutch hit of the game through the right side to tack on another run for the Eagles. Fiedler looked to continue the scoring for the U.S. with a single to put runners on first and second, but a fly out would end the at-bat with Team USA on top, 5-3, with three outs remaining in the game.
​
Remaining unfazed in the circle, Rothrock fanned the first two batters before a flash of the leather play from Coffel at third base recorded the final out of the game to seal the 5-3 victory.
​
Williams shined at the plate for the U.S., going 3-for-4 in the win with four RBI. In the circle, the U.S. pitching staff of Chaffin, Cagle and Rothrock combined for 14 strikeouts with Chaffin tallying seven in four innings and Rothrock fanning six.

The Red, White and Blue returns to action today (Wednesday, Dec. 8) against No. 5 Puerto Rico followed by additional contests against No. 10 Netherlands (Dec. 9 at 1:30 ET), No. 30 Peru (Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. ET) and No. 6 Chinese Taipei (Dec. 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET).

Live stats will be available through USASoftball.com while the WBSC has provided live streaming, which can be accessed by clicking here.

Opening Round will conclude on Saturday, Dec. 11 with the top two teams in the standings after the 28-game round-robin advancing to the World Championship gold medal game on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 4 p.m. ET.

The third and fourth place teams will go head-to-head for the bronze medal on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 1 p.m. ET. Due to the postponement of the WBSC U-18 World Cup, which was originally scheduled to take place in August 2020, the WBSC extended the age eligibility to allow athletes who were eligible for the 2020 event with the opportunity to participate in the rescheduled event this year.

With the extended age eligibility, the 2021 USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team roster includes one member of the 2019 U-17 Pan American Gold Medal team, six current NCAA Division I student-athletes and 12 committed and/or signed NCAA Division I student athletes – four of which also advanced to the JWNT Selection Trials through the USA Softball High Performance Program (HPP).

Photos & info courtesy of USA Softball…