USA Softball: U-17 Women’s National Team Remains Undefeated with 17-7 Win Over Canada

Matched up with Canada, who earned the No. 1 seed in Pool B, the USA Softball U-17 Women’s National Team took the field at Edgardo Schemel Stadium Wednesday and scored 17 runs en route to a four-inning victory.

With the win, the U.S. squad improves to 5-0 and remains undefeated at the U-17 Women’s Pan American Championship.

“I’m very proud of our offense tonight,” said Head Coach Kyla Holas (Pasadena, Texas). “The team kept things going through every pitch, every at-bat and every inning. That is exactly what we needed and you could feel the energy tonight.”

Canada struck first in the top of the first inning, plating their leadoff hitter on a sacrifice bunt who had reached on a double to start the game.

Answering back in the bottom half of the frame, the U.S. tied up the ballgame when Avery Hodge (Fulshear, Texas) scored from third following a triple from Caitlynn Neal (Dewey, Ariz.). Jessie Blaine (Wentzville, Mo.) then grounded out which allowed Neal to cross home and put the U.S. up, 2-1.

An error by the centerfielder on a fly ball hit off the bat of Hallie Wacaser (Centerton, Ark.) allowed her to reach second. Kaci West (Liberty, Texas) followed with a single to left field to plate Wacaser and extend the lead by two runs. Tieley Vaughn (Tampa, Fla.) hit a two-out single but a pop out left the two runners stranded.

Cutting their deficit in half, Canada made it a 3-2 ballgame after a bases-loaded walk in the top of the second. Adding to the U.S. lead, Maddie Gallagher (Port Washington, N.Y.) drew a two-out walk before Neal stepped up to the plate and launched a fly ball over the outfield fence to make it 5-2.

Blaine then lined one to left field before switching places with Wacaser who hit a double and extended the lead, 6-2.

West entered the circle and replaced Madison Harris (Forest, Va.) to start the top of the third inning. Continuing the battle, Canada proceeded to plate five runs and take the 7-6 lead but the Red, White and Blue responded in the bottom half of the frame.

A leadoff single from Vaughn, who quickly stole second, and an error by the shortstop on a groundball from Casey Goguts (Reading, Pa.) put runners on the corners for the U.S. Rachael Jones (Bennington, Vt.) entered to pinch-run for Goguts and advanced to second on a wild pitch before the two scored on a single from Haidyn Sokoloski (Flower Mound, Texas).

Back in the lead, both Hodge and Neal reached on walks to load the bases. Blaine followed with a single and Wacaser grounded out, allowed two runs to score and give the U.S. a 10-7 lead.

A one-out walk and an error put two baserunners on for Canada but the U.S. kept them at bay after a groundout and fly out closed out the half-inning.

Making its third pitching change in the circle, the U.S. adjusted and quickly loaded the bases after an error, single and walk. After a fly out marked the first out, Neal singled to score the 11th run before Blaine cleared the bases on a double to centerfield.

Reaching third on the throw home, Wacaser plated Blaine on a fly ball to right field. After West singled, a sacrifice fly from Vaughn and RBI single from Goguts capped off the seven-run fourth inning and secured the 17-7 run-rule victory.

Harris pitched two innings and surrendered two runs on one hit and struck out three batters, while West allowed five runs on four hits in her two innings of work. Neal went 3-for-3 at the plate and collected four RBI while Blaine had a team-high five RBI.

Live stats are available through USASoftball.com while WBSC has provided streaming through Gametime.Sport.

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Road to the Championship

A total of 33 games will be played across nine days as participating countries battle it out to qualify for the 2020 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup.

The 10 participating countries were drawn into two groups.

Competing in Pool A, the U.S. is slated for additional matchups against No. 5 Mexico on October 13 at 4:30 p.m. CT and No. 25 Argentina on October 15 at 11:30 a.m. CT after improving to 2-0 in pool play.

Following the conclusion of pool play, the top three finishers will advance to the Super Rounds for a six-team, round-robin schedule.

The top two teams from the Super Rounds will compete for the Pan American Championship Final on October 19 at 6 p.m. CT while the third and fourth-place teams will compete for the Bronze Medal.

2019 U-17 Women’s Pan American Championship Results (USA)

October 11-19, 2019 | Barranquilla, Colombia