On 20 October 2003, the VII WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship came to an end in Nanjing, China, with an electric final between Japan and USA. The Japanese team successfully defended their title with an eight-inning, 3-2 victory over rivals USA, taking home their fourth world title.
The novelty of this event was the first-ever implementation of the 20-second pitching clock to increase the pace of play, a change that still remains in the game today and also has been adopted in several baseball leagues and international events.
Nanjing University of Technology built a brand new softball stadium to host the VII Junior Women’s Softball World Championship, which was first softball world championship that took place in China.
A total of 14 teams took part in the event: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and USA. The event marked the first and only participation so far for Thailand.
THE FINAL
After a 2-2 deadlock in the seventh, Japan took the lead in the top of the eighth on Yuri Masuyama’s RBI single. In the bottom of the eighth inning, USA was retired in order, leaving a runner on third base.
Yuir Kashima pitched the first two innings for Japan, with Moe Yamazaki going the rest of the way. Monica Abbott, who has since turned into a softball superstar, went the distance and took the loss for the US squad.
Japan finished the event with an undefeated record of 9-0.
Softball Australia picked up their second junior world championship bronze medal by virtue of their 7-0, six-inning loss to USA in the second semifinal.
