26/11/2022 - 04/12/2022

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XVII Men's Softball World Cup 2022 - Official Payoff

Brad Kilpatrick’s shutout gives USA bronze medal at XVII WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup

Brad Kilpatrick’s shutout gives USA bronze medal at XVII WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup
04/12/2022
It’s USA’s first medal in 22 years. The last time the US squad reached the podium in the Men’s Softball World Cup was also a bronze in East London, South Africa, in 2000.

Brad Kilpatrick pitched a gem today to give USA their first WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup medal in 22 years. The left-handed pitcher tossed a complete-game shutout against Argentina to lead his team to a 2-0 victory in the Bronze Medal Game in the competition. Center fielder Yusef Davis hit a clutch go-ahead homer in the fifth inning to give USA the lead.

Argentina had some chances to score in the game, but none of them like their first at bat. The defending world champions loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first, with a pair of singles by Alan Peker and Teo Migliavacca, and a walk by Ladislao Malarczuk. However, Kilpatrick escaped unscathed with three consecutive strikeouts to keep Argentina scoreless. The South American squad left seven runs on base in the game, and failed to score a run for the first time in the tournament.

Roman Godoy started for Argentina, keeping USA away from scoring in the first three innings of the game. He tossed 59 pitches, 30 for strike, while giving up two walks and one hit, against three strikeouts. 

He was replaced by Mata in the fourth inning, but the Argentine ace couldn’t avoid the damage. In the top of the fifth, Yusef Davis connected a rise ball off Mata and sent it into the center field bleachers, to give USA a 1-0 lead. Blaine Milheim and Erick Ochoa followed him with back to back singles, and then Milheim scored the insurance run on a grounder to second base.

It was all Kilpatrick needed to win the game. He tossed seven quality innings for USA, striking out 13 batters while giving up six hits and three walks. The loss was charged to Mata.

It’s USA’s first medal in 22 years, and their 10th in total. The five-time world champions reached the podium for the last time in East London, South Africa, in 2000, when they won the bronze.

For Argentina, it’s the third time they finished in fourth place after doing it in 2013 and 2017. Their only medal in the event is the world championship won in 2019.

Quotes - USA Coach Ron Hackett

“Even after the two early losses in the tournament we always believed. Every day you come out and it is another challenge. They are all great teams. It felt like we were a great team all the time.

"All the games we played were extremely tight, even the ones we lost. Things did not go our way sometimes but we never lost confidence in ourselves. And we showed today that we can play and beat anyone in the world.

"Today Brad Kilpatrick was amazing. We rode him the last two days. We had a philosophy of how we were going to play this tournament, and one was not to over-burden him early on. That worked for us early on and we stayed in touch with where we wanted to be, and then we unleashed him yesterday and today. He has a great future. We have some more coming behind him and we are excited about what the future brings for him.

"It is our first podium for 20 years and it is not a one-off for USA Softball. With the age of the guys we have, the commitment they have, I think we are on the up."

Argentina Coach Julio Gamarci

"The week was amazing. The only regret I have is that I could not make them play better and that’s all on me. They couldn’t score a run for the last 15 innings. I didn’t have the knowledge to make them score. You always say you win as a team and lose as a team, but I am taking these two losses on me. They gave everything but I could not guide them to something better.

"That is the finish for coaching this team for me. What is ahead is my family, coach my kids. I have a 14 year boy and 13 year old girl who both love the game. I will coach them. Julia, the youngest five year old – she does not want to play ball, but I am going to convince her.

"This is my last tournament as the head coach and it has been a ride."