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One thing is for sure after the opening weekend of play at the Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Columbia: the USA team is not suffering any indications of jet lag.
At least that’s the takeaway based on the results from the opening two wins, both dominating shutouts, as Team USA knocked off Argentina 9-0 on Saturday and smashed Columbia on Sunday 29-0 .
Highlights are below as provided by USA Softball but the game stories were simple: in the opening contest on Saturday, a pair of US pitchers tossed a perfect game, and in the Sunday run-ruled, three-inning contest, the Americans blasted through for 26 runs in the second inning including 19 hits and five home runs.
Team USA concludes Opening Round early Monday, Nov. 29 at 10 a.m. ET against No. 30 Peru. Live stats will be available through USASoftball.com and click HERE to see our event preview including the Team USA Roster.
Following the conclusion of Opening Round, the top two finishers from each group will advance to the Super Rounds with the final two countries at the top of the leader board going head-to-head in the Junior Pan American Championship Final on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. ET.
The third and fourth-place teams will compete for the bronze medal earlier that day.
Team USA entered the tournament as the world-ranked No. 2 team and is competing 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 battle it out in Group B.
Here are more details from the weekend’s play for the Red, White & Blue…Â
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Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021: Valerie Cagle shines at the plate as Team USA claims 29-0 run-rule win over No. 40 Colombia in Day Two of Junior Pan American Games
The USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team shined in Day Two of the 2021 Junior Pan American Games as a 26-run second inning propelled them to a dominating 29-0 (three innings) win against No. 40 Colombia.
Combining for a total of 19 hits and five home runs, nine of the 11 U.S. batters recorded at least one hit in the win with five recording a multi-hit game.
Leading the U.S. offense with 10 RBI was Valerie Cagle (Yorktown, Va.), sending three balls out of the park in the second inning – two of which cleared the bases via a grand slam. Karli Spaid (Chicago, Ill.) also contributed to the long ball game, sending two over the fence with five RBI.
The U.S. wasted no time getting things started, plating two runs in the top of the first with a double from Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) to score Keely Williams (Cibolo, Texas) who walked earlier in the inning.
A deep sac-fly from Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) would advance Zavodnik to third before speeding home on a passed ball to put Team USA on top, 2-0.
Cagle got the start in the circle for the U.S., and allowed the first Colombia batter to reach base on a hit-by-pitch, but remained unfazed with a strikeout and two ground outs to retire the side.
The second inning saw a total of 16 hits from the Eagles, including home runs from Cagle (three) and Spaid (1) to score an explosive 26 runs. Megan Grant (San Bruno, Calif.) drew the walk to get things started before Cagle sent her first home run over the fence with one swing of the bat to score the first two runs of the inning.
Haidyn Sokoloski (Flower Mound, Texas) continued the rally with a single followed by a walk from Williams to set the stage for Spaid who blasted a ball over the center field fence to extend the U.S. lead, 7-0.
A walk to Zavodnik would put another U.S. runner on for Coffel who drilled a hard ground ball to right field for a triple followed by a fielding miscue from the Colombia defense to tack on two more runs to the lead.
The rally continued as Maci Bergeron (Rayne, La.) singled through the right side followed by a walk to Grant to load the bases for Cagle who quickly cleared the bases with a powerful grand slam off the scoreboard.
The U.S. lead would continue to grow after giving up their first out of the inning, with Williams re-sparking the rally with a walk followed by back-to-back singles from Spaid and Zavodnik to add one to the board.
After plating another run off a fielding error from the Colombia defense, another single from Bergeron and walk from Grant would once again prep Cagle for her third home run – and second grand slam – of the inning to put the U.S. ahead, 21-0. The U.S. offense would continue to dominate through the remainder of the inning with base hits from Zavodnik, Holtorf, Johnson, Bergeron, Grant and Sokoloski allowing seven more runs to score to put the U.S. ahead with a towering 28-0 lead.
Cagle and the U.S. defense remained solid in the bottom half of inning, retiring the side with two strikeouts and a ground out for a quick return to the plate.
Leading off the top of the third was Spaid, who crushed a ball over the left field fence for her second long ball of the game. The scoring ended there, though, as a ground out and two pop outs sent Team USA back to defense.
Alissa Humphrey (Micanopy, Fla.) took over pitching duties in the bottom of the frame and quickly took control with two strikeouts and a ground out to seal the 29-0 run-rule victory for the Red, White and Blue.
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Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021: Combined perfect game and three U.S. home runs earn Team USA first win of Junior Pan American Games
The world-ranked No. 2 USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team kicked off the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in dominating fashion with a 9-0 (five innings) run-rule victory over No. 32 Argentina.
The U.S. pitching staff of Mac Morgan (Garden City, Mo.) and Keagan Rothrock (Whiteland, Ind.) combined for a perfect game while retiring 11 of the 15 Argentina batters with a strikeout.
Home runs off the bats of Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.), Kinsey Fiedler (Summit, Mo.) and Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) fueled the U.S. offense in addition to base hits from Haidyn Sokoloski (Flower Mound, Texas), Joecellia Roberts (Modesto, Calif.) and Rylee Holtorf (Peoria, Ariz.).​
Morgan got the start in the circle for Team USA and quickly took control, retiring the side in order through the first three innings while fanning six Argentina batters.
The U.S. offense was silenced through the first two innings of the game, but a six-run third inning would propel the Eagles to their first win of the tournament. A leadoff single from Roberts followed by two walks to Keely Williams (Cibolo, Texas) and Holtorf would quickly load the bases for Team USA before a pair of wild pitches would plate the first two runs of the game.
With runners on second and third, Olivia Johnson (Pearland, Texas) stepped into the box to send a deep sac-fly to center field, extending the U.S. lead 3-0. The rally continued in home run fashion with Fielder and Zavodnick delivering back-to-back long balls to tack on three more runs for Team USA, now leading 6-0.
Rothrock took over pitching duties in the top of the fourth, continuing the dominance with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out for another quick 1-2-3 inning. The bottom of the frame would continue the scoring for the U.S. after a leadoff single from Sokoloski followed by a sac-bunt from Williams would quickly put a runner in scoring position for Holtorf who sent a ground ball through the left side to plate one.
With Holtorf on first, Coffel followed suit with a blast over the center field fence to put the U.S. on top 9-0 through four innings.​
With the run-rule in effect in the top of the fifth, Rothrock quickly took care of business with three-straight strikeouts to seal the 9-0 run-rule victory for the Red, White and Blue. Combining for the shutout win, Morgan retired six batters via a strikeout while Rothrock tallied five of her own.​