The World Games 2022 softball event will open on Saturday, with the top eight teams in the world playing in two groups for the gold medal and the title of world champion. All six participating nations in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will play at Hoover Met Stadium’s diamond, in addition to entrants Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei.
World No. 1 USA, No. 3 Canada, No. 6 Chinese Taipei and No. 7 Italy will face off in Group A; while No. 2 Japan, No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 Puerto Rico and No. 8 Australia will compete in Group B. The top two teams in the groups final standings will move to the semifinals on Tuesday. 12 June, and the medal games on Wednesday, 13 July.
See the full schedule here and see the full WBSC Women's Softball World Rankings here.
Most of the teams have updated their rosters, with some veterans showing the way to newcomers in the National Teams. After the Olympic cycle finished last year, teams are looking to combine the desire to win today, with the goal of building the program for the long term.
Group A
USA and Canada start are likely favourites to advance from Group A, after winning a silver and bronze medal, respectively at the Tokyo 2020 Games. However, we can expect a high level of parity between teams with Chinese Taipei and Italy having experience under their belts.
USA lost some of their most experienced players after Tokyo 2020, like Cat Osterman and Valerie Arioto, but they still have a strong veteran presence in Monica Abbott, Ally Carda and Haylie McCleney. Host team USA Softball opens the event as the defending World Champions, and their victory at this year’s Canada Cup (with a slightly different roster) makes them potential favourites to win The World Games 2022.
Softball Canada is coming off a bronze medal performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, the red and white will go down to Birmingham with a completely different pitching staff, after the retirement of Lauren Bay, Jenna Caira and Danielle Lawrie. However, most of their core position players remain on the team and will play under former teammate and new head coach Kaleigh Rafter. Their fate in the tournament will depend on the performance of their young pitching staff.
Chinese Taipei came just short of qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the Asia Oceania Olympic Qualifier. This year, they posted a 4-4 record at the Canada Cup, with right-hander Hsia-Ai Ke (the rising star who led Chinese Taipei to silver medal at the U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup 2021) likely to absorb most of the workload.
Italy, the lowest-ranked team in the group, arrives as the reigning European champions. Even if they couldn’t record a win at the Tokyo 2020 Games, they competed in every game, suffering the lack of run production. If their lineup clicks and start producing runs, they could be in medal contention this week.
Group B
Competition will be fierce in Group B, with Japan maybe a step ahead of their three other rivals after winning the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on home soil. However, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Australia have strong national team programmes and can surprise their opponent at any time.
The Tokyo 2020 gold medal winner Japan is the likely favourite to win Group B. Even with the absence of the veteran ace Yukiko Ueno, Japan has a strong pitching duo in Miu Goto and Yamato Fujita to lead the team. And with the JD.Diamond league first half of the season just finished, Japan players are in top shape for the international competition.
Mexico will head into The World Games with a young roster, led by Olympians Sierra Hyland and Stefania Aradillas. The core of the team that lifted Mexico to fourth place in the Olympics will not be in Alabama, with head coach Nancy Prieto turning to young talent to build the foundation for future success.
Puerto Rico officially returns to the international stage after coming just short of earning an Olympic ticket at the Americas Qualifier in 2019. Some veterans on that team, like Aleshia Ocasio, Karla Claudio or Jenna Cozza will lead youngsters like Esperanza Coe and Tatiana Roman who starred on the junior teams in 2019 and 2021. The Puerto Rican team is looking to compete for a medal in Birmingham.
The lowest-ranked team in the competition, Australia has historically always been a medal contender in women’s softball events. The green and gold team features many players who have extensive international experience coming off the Olympics, like Michele Cox, Ellen Roberts, Taylah Tsitsikronis or Jade Wall.
