Puerto Rican pitcher Esperanza Coe threw a 6-inning, 1-hit shutout and homered in the sixth inning to guide her team to victory in the first day of competition of the WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup. Puerto Rico defeated Brazil, 8-0, in six innings to open the action in Group C.
During the first four innings of play, the starters Coe and Thais Suzawa controlled the game and didn’t allow a single run.
However, Puerto Rico jumped ahead in the top of the fifth inning and never looked back. Coe singled to the right side of the field with one out, and two pitches later pinch-runner Tatiana Roman stole second base. Then Aminah Vega connected a solid line drive to left field that Alissa Usami couldn’t glove, allowing Roman to score the first run of the game easily from second. Later Lillyana Travieso walked and Ariella Jackson tripled to right-center field with a solid line to produce two more runs for Puerto Rico.
One inning later, the Caribbean team exploded with five runs, with a 2-RBI single by Karina Ortiz and back to back homers by Coe and Vega.
Coe claimed the win pitching a 1-hit ball game, with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk; with the bat, she went 2 for 3, with 1 homer and 2 RBI.
Tomorrow Puerto Rico will take on China at 8 p.m., while Brazil will face Ireland at 5:30 p.m.
