USA Softball: U-19 Women’s National Team Defeats Ireland in Atlantic Challenge Cup

In front of a standing room only crowd at Energia Park in Doonybrook, the U-19 Women’s National Team (U-19 WNT) defeated Ireland 13-0 in the 2019 Atlantic Challenge Cup.

Monday’s international contest made history becoming the first-ever fast pitch competition of its kind in Ireland.

“This is an amazing opportunity for our program, the women of the USA and Ireland to showcase the game at its highest level,” said U-19 WNT Head Coach Heather Tarr.

“We are grateful for the opportunity and for all the people that sponsored and supported this trip. We definitely did our best to honor their support and did some good will for the game to promote it in Europe.”

Charla Echols (Newnan, Ga.) drove in the game’s first two runs on a RBI single to center scoring Skylar Wallace (Woodstock, Ga.) and Taylor Pleasants (Houston, Texas) who each reached to start the game.

U-19 WNT | 🦅 strike first thanks to this ✌️ RBI single off the bat of @charlaechols

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Top 1st pic.twitter.com/n7XFrlHzCj

— USA Softball (@USASoftball) June 24, 2019

The 2-0 lead was kept intact through the first three innings of play thanks to the strong arm of starter Megan Faraimo (Vista, Calif.) Faraimo struck out nine of the first 10 Irish hitters that came to the plate.

The Red, White and Blue used the strong pitching performance to gain momentum at the plate. USA loaded the bases for Kelli Godin (Seal Beach, Calif.) where she connected on a 2-1 pitch driving in one. Back to the top of the lineup Wallace took three straight balls before blasting a grand slam over the left field fence opening up the U-19 WNT lead to seven.

Rylee Trlicek (Hallettsville, Texas) took over pitching duties in the fourth keeping Ireland off the scoreboard with a 1-2-3 inning. Pinch-hitter Jasmine Sievers (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) made it 8-0 in the fifth when her hard chopper snuck through the right side scoring Jadelyn Allchin (Huntington Beach, Calif.).

A five-run sixth was highlighted by Kathryn Sandercock’s (McLean, Va.) two-RBI double that bounced off the left-center wall, falling inches shy of a home run, making it 13-0.
Montana Fouts (Grayson, Ky.) picked up the win in the combined no-hit shutout. Fouts struck out seven through the final three frames.

“We are definitely not the same team that we were when we arrived in Houston,” said Tarr of the team’s growth during its time in Europe.

“We’re growing, learning and understanding how to build on what we’ve done. We’ve got an excellent opportunity for ourselves in Georgia against many of the international teams and we’re looking forward to more growth next week.”

Click here for box score

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The U-19 WNT heads back to the United States of America where it will turn its attention to the USA Softball International Cup July 1-7 in Columbus, Ga. Tickets for the event can be purchased here.

Prior to the International Cup the U-19 WNT will play exhibition games against the Georgia Impact and Birmingham Thunderbolts on June 30 at Georgia State University.