With all that’s going on in softball right now–from college coaching moves and player transfers to club tournaments nationwide–there is also a lot happening on the international scene, as the 2022 World Games begin!
The following information was released by USA Softball…
Following the conclusion of a series of exhibition games held in Columbus, Ga. and Oxford, Ala., the world-ranked No. 1 U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) has arrived in Birmingham, Ala. and is set to begin its 2022 World Games campaign alongside No. 2 Japan, No. 3 Canada, No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 Puerto Rico, No. 6 Chinese Taipei, No. 7 Italy and No. 8 Australia.
The event is being held at Hoover Met Stadium from July 9-13.
Here’s the schedule for the week:
| DATE | START | END | ROUND | SESSIONS |
| 9-Jul-22 | 10:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Puerto Rico vs Mexico, Chinese Taipei vs Canada |
| 9-Jul-22 | 4:00 PM | 9:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Australia vs Japan, USA vs Italy |
| 10-Jul-22 | 10:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Mexico vs Japan, Italy vs Canada |
| 10-Jul-22 | 4:00 PM | 9:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Puerto Rico vs Australia, Chinese Taipei vs USA |
| 11-Jul-22 | 10:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Australia vs Mexico, Italy vs Chinese Taipei |
| 11-Jul-22 | 4:00 PM | 9:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Japan vs Puerto Rico, Canada vs USA |
| 12-Jul-22 | 10:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Consolation Rounds |
| 12-Jul-22 | 4:00 PM | 9:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Semifinals |
| 13-Jul-22 | 10:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: Placement Games |
| 13-Jul-22 | 4:00 PM | 6:00 PM | Qualifying | 2 Games: 1 Game-3rd Place |
| 13-Jul-22 | 7:00 PM | 10:00 PM | Final | 1 Game: Finals/Medal Ceremony |
Team USA will look to defend its gold medal finish at the 2018 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Championship in Chiba, Japan where the U.S. earned a qualifying spot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a 7-6 walk-off win over Japan.
Signifying as the 2022 WBSC World Championship, the World Games features the eight participating countries which have been drawn into two groups with No. 1 Team USA competing in Group 1 alongside No. 3 Canada, No. 6 Chinese Taipei and No. 7 Italy while Group 2 includes No. 2 Japan, No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 Puerto Rico and No. 8 Australia.
Here are the participating countries (and their seeds):
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| No. 1 USA | No. 2 Japan |
| No. 3 Canada | No. 4 Mexico |
| No. 6 Chinese Taipei | No. 5 Puerto Rico |
| No. 7 Italy | No. 8 Australia |
The Red, White and Blue will open the competition Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT against Italy followed by two more 7 p.m. CT matchups against Chinese Taipei (Sunday, July 10) and Canada (Monday, July 11).
The top two teams from each group following Opening Round will advance to the Semifinal Round on Tuesday, July 12 with the Medal Round taking place on Wednesday, July 13. The Semifinal Round and the Medal Round will be broadcasted live on CBS Sports Network.
The softball flagship will feature 21 games across five days of competition with select live stream coverage available on theolympicchannel.com and CBS42. Additional weekly coverage will include nightly highlights, which will be available on CBS Sports Network. Free live stats will be available on USASoftball.com.
Click here for more information about the 2022 World Games
The 2022 USA Softball WNT World Games roster includes seven veterans from the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team as well as four members of the 2019 Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT) World Championship gold medal team.
The roster also includes two athletes who have previously worn the Red, White and Blue either as a member of the USA Softball JWNT or USA Softball Women’s Elite Team and two rookies who will represent the U.S. for the first time in their career.
Representing four athletic conferences (SEC: 7, Pac-12: 7,Big 12: 2, CAA: 1), the 2022 World Games roster is comprised of 10 former student-athletes and seven current athletes from 12 NCAA Division I universities with three members having won a NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) National Championship with their respective university.
Here is the complete Team USA player & coach roster:
| First | Last | Pos | College | Grad Year | Player Page |
| Monica | Abbott | P | Tennessee | 2007 | Click Here |
| Ally | Carda | P/IF | UCLA | 2015 | Click Here |
| Charla | Echols | IF | Florida | Sr. | Click Here |
| Megan | Faraimo | P | UCLA | Redshirt Jr. | Click Here |
| Hannah | Flippen | IF | Utah | 2017 | Click Here |
| Jailyn | Ford | P | James Madison | 2016 | Click Here |
| Montana | Fouts | P | Alabama | Sr. | Click Here |
| Kinzie | Hansen | C | Oklahoma | Jr. | Click Here |
| Janae | Jefferson | UT | Texas | Sr. | Click Here |
| Amanda | Lorenz | OF | Florida | 2019 | Click Here |
| Haylie | McCleney | OF | Alabama | 2016 | Click Here |
| Michelle | Moultrie | OF | Florida | 2012 | Click Here |
| Dejah | Mulipola | C | Arizona | 2020 | Click Here |
| Bubba | Nickles | UT | UCLA | 2020 | Click Here |
| Taylor | Pleasants | IF | LSU | Redshirt So. | Click Here |
| Sami | Reynolds* | OF | Washington | Sr. | Click Here |
| Gwen | Svekis* | C | Oregon | 2018 | Click Here |
| * – replacement player | |||||
| COACHES: | |||||
| Heather | Tarr | HC | Washington | ||
| Cindy | Ball-Malone | Asst. | Central Florida | ||
| Tony | Baldwin | Asst. | Georgia | ||
| Tim | Walton | Asst. | Florida | ||
Assisting Head Coach Heather Tarr (Head Coach at Washington) are previously announced assistant coaches Cindy Ball-Malone (Head Coach at UCF), Tony Baldwin (Head Coach at Georgia) and Tim Walton (Head Coach at Florida). The coaching staff will lead the World Games roster after coaching alongside each other en route to a gold medal finish at the 2019 U-19 Women’s World Cup in Lima, Peru.
Posting a 4-1 record through the pre-World Games exhibition contests in Columbus, Ga. and Oxford, Ala., the U.S. offense tallied 35 hits – including six home runs and seven doubles – with Janae Jefferson and Amanda Lorenz leading the squad with seven hits apiece.
The pitching staff of Monica Abbott, Ally Carda, Megan Faraimo, Jailyn Ford, Montana Fouts and Kelly Maxwell (training player) combined for a total of 28 strikeouts though five games while also recording a no-hitter against Australia and back-to-back shutouts against Japan (3-0) and Australia (4-0).
For more information on the 2022 U.S. Women’s National Team, visit USASoftball.com.
