It’s frequently said that it’s much tougher to beat a team the second time and that’s what Team USA will have to do tonight at the Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Columbia after shutting out Mexico 6-0 Wednesday night in the Super Round.
Now, it’s all on the line tonight as the Americans will have to beat Mexico again to take the title after winning the first five games of the event—all by shutout.
Team USA entered the tournament as the world-ranked No. 2 team and played alongside No. 30 Peru, No. 32 Argentina and No. 40 Colombia in Group A while No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 Puerto Rico, No. 11 Venezuela and No. 14 Brazil have battled it out in Group B.
The championship is tonight at 7 p.m. EST and live game stats are available through USASoftball.com and the WBSC is providing live streaming which can be accessed by clicking here.
Game recap and photos provided by USA Softball…
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Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021: U-18 Women’s National Team concludes Super Round with 6-0 win over Mexico; Advances to Gold Medal Game as Home Team
The world-ranked No. 2 USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team picked up its fifth-straight shutout of the 2021 Junior Pan American Games with a 6-0 victory over No. 4 Mexico Wednesday evening.
Clinching its spot as the home team in tomorrow’s gold medal matchup, Team USA extended its home run streak to a fifth-straight game with Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) sending one deep in the top of the seventh while leading the U.S. offense with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.
Keagan Rothrock (Whiteland, Ind.) took care of business in the circle for the Red, White and Blue, recording 14 strikeouts to improve the U.S. pitching staffs total to a combined 54 K’s in five games.
Both offenses were stifled through the first three innings with Rothrock retiring six of the first nine batters she faced with a strikeout.
The Americans managed to put runners on early in the game with singles from Coffel and Keely Williams (Cibolo, Texas) and walks from Kinsey Fiedler (Summit, Mo.) and Maci Bergeron (Rayne, La.), but were unable to muster any runs until a wild pitch in the top of the fourth would allow Olivia Johnson (Pearland, Texas) to speed home for a one-run edge.
A fielding miscue by the U.S. defense would allow Mexico’s first baserunner of the game in the bottom of the frame, but three more K’s from Rothrock would keep her at bay.
Team USA would extend its lead in the top of the fifth with a one-out walk to Fiedler and back-to-back singles from Coffel and Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) plating one run to put the U.S. on top, 2-0.
A two-out single and walk from the Mexico offense would look to threaten the U.S. lead in the bottom of the frame, but Zavodnik ended the at-bat after tracking down a fly ball in centerfield.
A quiet sixth inning from both offenses would send the Red, White and Blue back to the plate for their final at-bat of the game with Williams sending a line drive to right field to lead off the inning.
A walk to Fiedler would put runners on first and second for Coffel who quickly cleared the bases with a sky-high home run over the left field fence to extend the U.S. lead, 5-0. A walk to Zavodnik and a single from Johnson would continue the seventh inning rally before a passed ball allowed another Team USA run to score for a 6-0 lead.
The final three outs of the game looked to be no issue for Rothrock, who quickly fanned three Mexico batters to seal the 6-0 shutout for the Red, White and Blue.
Tonight’s win concluded Super Round of the 2021 Junior Pan American Games with Team USA advancing to the gold medal game tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET for a rematch against Mexico.
The Red, White and Blue will look to stand atop the podium in America’s first-ever youth continental multi-sport event with the gold medal team earning a berth to the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games.
The U.S. enters the final contest of the tournament with an undefeated 5-0 record while combining for a total of 61 runs and 12 long balls with each U.S. batter recording at least one RBI.
