International News: Team USA Posts 10-0 Run-Rule Over Netherlands Behind Perfect Game from Alissa Humphrey at WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup

Behind a perfect game from Alissa Humphrey (Micanopy, Fla.) and two five-run innings from the U.S. offense, the U-18 Women’s National Team (WNT) posted a 10-0 (four innings) victory over No. 10 Netherlands to improve to 5-0 at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup.

After four days of competition, world No. 2 USA has secured a spot in the World Championship Final, while Chinese Taipei will be playing at least in the Bronze Medal Game on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams won their respective games Thursday to remain atop the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup standings, at 5-0.

Meanwhile, the fight for the two remaining spots in the medal games is heating up. Czech Republic split their doubleheader today and has 3-2 record, tied with Puerto Rico for third place. Mexico (1-3) defeated the Czech squad Thursday and is still in the hunt for a place in the Bronze Medal Game.

Day 4 results!!!! #U18SoftballWC pic.twitter.com/MMIS22ZLWG

— WBSC #Softball 🥎 (@WBSCsoftball) December 10, 2021

Here are the results from all the games on Thursday with links to info and pics from each contest:

• Mexico 3, Czech Republic 1 – Stats and photos
• Puerto Rico 7, Colombia 0 – Stats and photos
• USA 10, Netherlands 0 – Stats and photos
• Czech Republic 10, Colombia 5 – Stats and photos
• Chinese Taipei 8, Peru 0 – Stats and photos

Standings!!! #U18SoftballWC pic.twitter.com/bWlDzN3COx

— WBSC #Softball 🥎 (@WBSCsoftball) December 10, 2021

Along with Team USA, the only other undefeated team is Chinese Taipei which won its fifth game in the tournament as with an 8-0 victory over host Peru. Yi-Shan Chu shined from the circle with 11 strikeouts, while Chi-Yun Lin homered.

For the Americans, pitcher Alissa Humphrey shut out the Netherlands offense with four strikeouts while retiring all 12 batters she faced in order.  She delivered 52 pitches to complete the game, and it was her second four-inning perfect game, repeating her opening day gem against the Czech Republic.

Here is the broadcast of the complete game:

The U.S. offense combined for 11 hits in the win with a long ball from Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) and an inside-the-park home run from Karli Spaid (Chicago, Ill.). It was a true team win for the Red, White and Blue, all but two U.S. batters recorded a hit with Kinsey Fiedler (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) and Coffel leading the offense with perfect performances at the plate.

Team USA took an early five-run lead in the bottom of the first inning after back-to-back singles from Fiedler and Coffel put runners in scoring position for Johnson who sent a ground ball through the infield to plate the first run of the game.

A two-out triple from Megan Grant (San Bruno, Calif.) would tack on two more for the U.S. before Spaid blasted a ball to the fence for an inside-the-park home run, extending the U.S. lead 5-0. Joecellia Roberts (Modesto, Calif.) looked to continue the scoring with a single over the shortstop’s head, but a pop fly retired the at-bat.

The five-run lead would hold through the second and third innings before the U.S. offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth to tack on five more runs.

A leadoff single from Fiedler followed by a home run from Coffel would light the spark before back-to-back walks put runners on for Spaid who sent a line drive up the middle to put the U.S. on top, 8-0. With two outs and runners on second and third, Rylee Holtorf (Peoria, Ariz.) trickled a ground ball through the infield to plate one before a wild pitch allowed the final run of the game to speed home for the 10-0 run-rule victory.

The Red, White and Blue returns to action today (Friday) at 7 p.m. ET against No. 30 Peru before capping Opening Round on Dec. 11 against No. 6 Chinese Taipei.

🇺🇸🏆 @USASoftball qualifies for World Championship Final

🥇🥈🥉 Chinese Taipei secures a spot in medal games

Check the details, here: https://t.co/VhDKfwLbyS pic.twitter.com/W8y8ilEjg5

— WBSC #Softball 🥎 (@WBSCsoftball) December 10, 2021

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. Click here to view the full schedule.

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 & WBSC…

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