WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup Starts Today: Team USA in Irvine To Pursue 3rd Straight World Title

The 2019 USA Softball U-19 Women’s National Team (WNT) and coaches are in Irvine, Calif. for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup which starts today.

After a summer of travel and preparation, including stops in Paris and Dublin and a historic third place finish at the USA Softball International Cup in Columbus, Ga., the World Cup is the final destination for the 2019 U-19 WNT team.

“We feel like we have waited the entire summer to be at this event,” said U-19 WNT Head Coach, Heather Tarr (Redmond, Wash./Head Coach at Washington).

“I think a lot of them have been envisioning playing for USA Softball and have waited their whole life for this. We have prepared all summer for this event and we have worked really hard to grow as a group and become the best versions of our self.”

WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup

August 11-17 | Irvine, Calif.

• Group A: Team USA, Mexico, Czech Republic, Botswana
• Group B: Japan, Australia, Italy, South Africa
• Group C: Puerto Rico, China, Brazil, Ireland
• Group D: Canada, Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, New Zealand

Looking for the program’s record setting third straight WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup title, the U.S. will compete in Pool A and open play against No. 5 Mexico today at 8 p.m. PST. Rounding out pool play, the team will face No. 43 Botswana on August 11 at 8 p.m. PST and No. 15 Czech Republic on August 12 at 8 p.m. PST.

Click Here to see the official World Cup game schedule for all teams

The top two finishers from each group will advance to the Super Rounds for an eight-team, round-robin schedule. The top two teams from the Super Rounds will compete in the World Cup final while the third and fourth-place teams will compete for the Bronze Medal.

Team USA will enter the World Cup with seven players batting .300 or higher. Kelli Godin (Seal Beach, Calif.) leads the team with a .447 average followed by Jayda Coleman (The Colony, Texas) with a .429 average.

Once they get on base, the duo is deadly as Coleman leads the team with nine stolen bases and Godin follows with seven.

All five pitchers on the 17-person roster have recorded double digit strikeouts this season, Megan Faraimo (Vista, Calif.) has 53 while Kelley Lynch (Newnan, Ga.) follows with 22. Faraimo and Montana Fouts (Grayson, Ky.) lead the team’s depth in the circle each with four wins.

Click Here to see who is on the Team USA 17-player roster

USA Softball has a strong history of success at the WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup having medaled in every appearance since 1981 and having appeared in every championship game since 1987. Most recently the team brought home gold in both 2015 and 2017.

“We are well aware of our tremendous history in the U-19 WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup,” Tarr said. “We are aware that we have won four of the last five gold medals and that gives us a lot of pride in playing for our country.”

The pinnacle event for U-19 international play, the 2019 WBSC World Cup will feature teams from 16 different countries.

The United States, Japan and China combine for all 12 gold medals since the event’s beginning in 1981. The U.S. leads with six world titles while Japan follows with five. Sixty-two games will take place over the tournament’s seven day span with an eventual champion being crowned on August 17.

Free live streaming of all games and live stats will be available throughout the WBSC U-19 World Cup and fans at home can follow along with recaps and more at USASoftball.com.

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USA Softball Notes and Story Lines for the WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup

• Eight (8) states are represented on the 17-person roster as California (6), Texas (2), Oklahoma (1), Illinois (1), Georgia (3), Kentucky (1), Florida (1) and Arizona (1) are represented.
• Eight (8) members of Team USA are entering their sophomore year of college while seven (7) are entering their freshman year of college and two (2) are entering their senior year of high school.
• Two (2) members of the U-19 Women’s National Team won an NCAA National Championship in 2019 as Freshmen with UCLA: Megan Faraimo and Kelli Godin. Three other members of the team competed at the NCAA Women’s College World Series: Madison Huskey with the University of Washington and Montana Fouts and Skylar Wallace with the University of Alabama. Two members of the U-19 WNT coaching staff lead their teams to the WCWS this year in Head Coach Heather Tarr with the University of Washington and Assistant Coach Tim Walton leading the University of Florida.
• Two (2) members of the U-19 WNT were invited to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team tryouts. Pitchers Montana Fouts and Megan Faraimo will vie for a spot on the 15-person roster for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the first time Women’s fast pitch softball will be played at the Olympic Games since the 2008 Beijing games. The dueling aces are coming off historic seasons in their first year of collegiate play where Fouts of Alabama and Faraimo of UCLA both picked up Freshman of the Year, First team All-Conference and All-Conference Freshman team in their respective conferences; Fouts in the SEC and Faraimo in the PAC-12.
• Team USA has captured six of the 12 U-19 World Titles since the event began in 1981 with Japan following with five World Titles and China rounding out the count with one.
• Team USA will go for a historic third-straight World Title at this year’s event. The U.S. had the opportunity to win three-straight titles once before after winning in 2007 and 2011 but Japan broke the streak by taking Gold in 2013. Japan also had the opportunity to win three-straight titles after winning Gold in 1999 and 2003 but the U.S. took back the title in 2007. The two programs have met in every championship game at the World Cup since 1991.
• The U.S. has made the finals in every U-19 World Cup since 1981 except in the tournament’s second year when the team brought home Bronze in 1985.