British star Georgina Corrick homered in the top of the third, and tossed her second shutout of the tournament to top No. 3 Chinese Taipei, 2-0, on Day two of the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Group A. The Asian team outhit the Europeans 7-3, but stellar defence and clutch pitching from Corrick kept Chinese Taipei scoreless through the game.
Chinese Taipei left eight runners stranded in the game, five of them in the first two innings. In the first frame, a bunt-single by Yi-Ting Yang and a ground rule double to right-center field gap off the bat of Feng-Chen Lin put two runners in scoring position for the Asian squad. However, Corrick escaped the jam with back-to-back strikeouts and a grounder to third base to get her team out of the inning unscathed.
In the second, Chinese Taipei loaded the bases with one out, but a Corrick strikeout and a spectacular sliding catch in shallow left fielder Tia Warsop kept the game tied 0-0.
In the bottom of the third, Corrick helped herself in the batting box. With a runner on second and two outs, she smashed a home run over the batter’s eye to take a 2-0 lead. This was all she needed to get her second win of the tournament.
Great Britain lead the standings with two wins in as many games.
Corrick spoke to the WBSC after the game about the mood in the camp after two wins: "It's super exciting. There's a real electric energy that the team has got right now."
On beating two of the top teams in 24 hours: "As a pitcher, sometimes you go into every game throwing a no-hitter until someone breaks it. I think we're kind of going on the same trail. We came in here with no expectations because our standard is to be the best all the time. Beating some of the best teams comes with being a high-performing team. If you want to be the best, you have to believe that you can beat the best. We came into this tournament really trying to do that."
Challenge of Chinese Taipei compared to Australia on opening day: "It's very comparable. All of the teams here come from different regions. I'm a big nerd of softball, I like learning all of the new and exciting ways that people play. I think it was very different today but still very exciting to come out on top. The aim now is to keep winning. You're winning as long as you don't lose."
Third base for Chinese Taipei Hsuan Liu spoke to the WBSC after the game:
Experience of playing in the World Cup: "All the teams are so good. Of course, we definitely want to win but also want to get a lot of experience from playing different national teams."
After two defeats, how do you prepare to face the Group A hosts: "We will continue to do our best (against Ireland this evening). We just need to hit the ball well and do our best."
Time in Ireland: Compared to our country, the weather is totally different. You can experience four seasons in one day in Ireland! It's a little bit cold today but we can handle it."
