The world-ranked No. 2 U-18 USA Women’s National Team (WNT) opened its 2021 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup campaign with a four inning 10-0 victory behind a perfect game from U.S. pitcher Alissa Humphrey (Micanopy, Fla.) and a 2-for-2 day at the plate from Kinsey Fiedler (Lee’s Summit, Mo.).
Humphrey earned the win in the circle for Team USA, retiring the 12 Czech Republic batters she faced in order while tallying seven strikeouts.
Extending the home run streak for Team USA, Fiedler sent a ball out of the park in the top of the second inning to put the U.S. offense at 7-of-7 games with at least one home run.
In addition to Fiedler’s two hits in the win, Keely Williams (Cibolo, Texas), Megan Grant (San Bruno, Calif.), Olivia Johnson (Pearland, Texas), Maci Bergeron (Rayne, La.) and Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) also contributed with one hit apiece.
A quick 1-2-3 inning from Humphrey and the U.S. defense in the top of the first would send the U.S. to the plate for a four-run first inning.
Walks to Fiedler, Coffel and Johnson loaded the bases for Bergeron who sent a two out fly ball to the outfield, which escaped the glove of the centerfielder to clear the bases and give Team USA a three-run lead.
Grant would follow suite with a perfectly placed pop fly over the third baseman’s head to score Bergeron before a pop out in foul territory would end the at-bat with Team USA on top, 4-0.
The U.S. pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the second after a leadoff single from Williams set the stage for Feidler to blast a ball over the centerfield fence. A single from Coffel would look to continue the rally, but a fly out and ground out would send Team USA back to defense with a six-run lead.
Humphrey continued to make quick work of the Czech Republic offense, retiring the side in order with a strikeout, line out and ground out to keep them off the bases through three innings.
Returning the favor in the bottom of the frame, the U.S. was silenced to steady the lead, 6-0.
Two more strikeouts from Humphrey and a line out to Coffel would make for another 1-2-3 inning from the U.S. defense before sealing the win in the bottom of the frame with four more runs.
Avery Hodge (Richmond, Texas) drew a walk to lead things off followed by a single from Fiedler and a sac-bunt from Coffel to put runners on second and third. A walk to Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) would load the bases for Johnson who delivered a single through the left side to put the U.S. within two of the run-rule.
An error from the Czech Republic defense would once again load the bases for the U.S. before back-to-back walks allowed the final two runs of the game to score for the 10-0 run-rule victory.
Click here to view the complete schedule for the 2021 WBSC U-18 Women’s World Cup
Opening Round Schedule |
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| Date | Opponent | Time | Live Streaming | Stats |
| Dec. 6 | USA 10, Czech Republic 0 | 3 p.m. ET | Click here | Box Score |
| Dec. 7 | USA vs Colombia | 12 p.m. ET | TBD | Click here |
| Dec. 7 | USA vs Mexico | 4:30 p.m. ET | TBD | Click here |
| Dec. 8 | USA vs Puerto Rico | 1:30 p.m. ET | TBD | Click here |
| Dec. 9 | USA vs Netherlands | 1:30 p.m. ET | TBD | Click here |
| Dec. 10 | USA vs Peru | 7 p.m. ET | TBD | Click here |
| Dec. 11 | USA vs Chinese Taipei | 1:30 p.m. ET | TBD | Click here |
| Dec. 12 | Bronze Medal game | 1 p.m. ET | TBD | TBD |
| Dec. 12 | Gold Medal game | 4 p.m. ET | TBD | TBD |
The Red, White and Blue is back in action tomorrow, Dec. 6 with a doubleheader against No. 40 Colombia (12 p.m. ET) and No. 4 Mexico (4:30 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…
