USA Softball International Cup: Extra-Inning Red, White and Blue Showdown Highlights Day 3

The Stars and Stripes put on a show in a highly-anticipated showdown between the USA Softball Women’s and U-19 Women’s National Teams (WNT) at the USA Softball International Cup.

The matchup showed that the future of the program is bright, as the game went into extras, the first for the USA Softball International Cup.

Ultimately, the WNT captured a 5-1 (10 innings) win to stay undefeated. The loss was the second of the tournament for the U-19 WNT, who suffered a 6-0 loss to Mexico earlier in the day.

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Mexico 6, U-19 WNT 0,

The U-19 WNT dropped their first contest of the USA Softball International Cup in a 6-0 loss to Mexico.

With two defensive miscues made by the U-19 defense, the Red, White and Blue was unable to overcome a five-run outing by Mexico in the top of the sixth inning.

Both sides kept the game scoreless as only three batters managed to reach base through the first three innings of play.

Mexico threatened to score in the top of the fourth as a double and single put runners on the corners with one out, but a grounder and snagged line drive by Kelley Lynch (Newnan, Ga.) at first base got the U.S. out of the jam.

The scoring started for Mexico in their next at-bat as back-to-back walks put two one with one out. A single to right field drove in a run, and a mishandled ground ball allowed the second run of the contest to score. Two more crossed the plate on a ground ball and a single up the middle, putting the U-19 team down by five.

Mexico capitalized on another defensive mishap by the U-19 defense in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 6-0.

With the Red, White and Blue up to their final at-bat in the top of the seventh, Jayda Coleman (The Colony, Texas) looked to start a rally with a leadoff single, but back-to-back fly outs and a ground out ended the game with Mexico handing the U-19 squad the shutout loss.

Kathryn Sandercock (McLean, Va.) suffered the loss after entering in the top of the sixth, allowing four earned runs with a pair of walks and one hit.

Montana Fouts (Grayson, Ky.), who started the game, tossed five scoreless innings with one strikeout, one walk and two hits allowed while Rylee Trlicek (Hallettsville, Texas) closed the game with two strikeouts and two hits.

.@ryleetrlicek records the first out of the seventh with a strikeout, her first of the game.#USASBIntCup 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dFkAGmepNX

— USA Softball (@USASoftball) July 3, 2019

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USA WNT 5, U-19 WNT 1 (10)

It was an all Stars and Stripes field as the USA U-19 WNT and the WNT faced off in a U.S. vs U.S. showdown.

While the U-19 WNT took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, it would be the WNT who walked away with the 5-1 (10 innings) win over their junior counterparts.

The U-19 WNT struck early in the bottom of the first as Skylar Wallace (Woodstock, Ga.) led off the with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a ground ball to the right side.

Shelby Pendley (Rio Rancho, N.M.) made a nice play on a sharply hit ball by Jasmine Sievers (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) to keep Wallace at third, but Bailey Dowling (St. Joseph, Ill.) delivered a line drive through the left side to give the U-19 team a 1-0 lead.

The WNT looked to even the score in the top of the second as a leadoff walk to Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) and single by Rachel Garcia (Palmdale, Calif.) put two on, but two fly balls and a strikeout by Megan Faraimo (Vista, Calif.) prevented a run from scoring.

Both sides only managed to get a few runners on through the next four innings until Arioto smashed a ball over the left field fence in the top of the sixth to tie up the game.

Each side was retired without any additional runs crossing the plate to force the game into extras – and then some with an additional two scoreless outings for both the U-19 roster and the WNT.

It wasn’t until the top of the 10th inning when an error on a sac bunt by Janie Reed (Placentia, Calif.) got a rally going for the WNT as Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.) scored from second as the International Tiebreaker (ITB) runner. Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) sent a ball out of the park in the same at-bat.

HOME RUN 💣 @stewartkels7 ‼️

Stewart’s two-run HR puts the WNT up, 4-1 in the T10.#USASBIntCup 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wABetWpBwK

— USA Softball (@USASoftball) July 3, 2019

A walk to Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) kept the offense rolling and McCleney would eventually score on a ground ball from Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) to make it a 5-1 lead.

Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.) got the win in the circle for the WNT after entering in the bottom of the sixth and striking out 12 with no hits allowed and two walks in the final five innings.

Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.) got the start for the WNT, issuing four strikeouts with one run allowed. Garcia tossed one and one-third innings in the circle, dealing two strikeouts.

For the U-19 WNT, Faraimo had a good day in the circle – holding the top-ranked team in the world to just five hits while striking out eight batters in nine and one-third innings. Trlicek entered for the final two outs in the top of the tenth.

Both teams return to action on July 4 with the U-19 WNT opening the day at 12:30 p.m. ET against Scrap Yard Fast Pitch. The WNT face off against Chinese Taipei in their first televised game of the USA Softball International Cup at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Tickets are still available for the USA Softball International Cup and can be purchased outside of South Commons Softball Complex at the ticket booth.  For complete coverage of the USA Softball International Cup, including rosters, live stats, streaming and results, visit USASoftballInternationalCup.com.

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USA Softball International Cup Results: