The USA Women’s Softball National Team came from behind yesterday to claim the second USA International Cup in a row, with a nail-biting win over Japan, 2-1, in the final of the WBSC-sanctioned event. The host team scored twice in the sixth inning to clinch the victory.
Cat Osterman, Ally Carda and Monica Abbot combined to pitch a two-hit game on a great outing for the pitching staff. However, in the top of the second inning, Japanese clean-up hitter Yu Yamamoto led off with a solo homer to left field off USA’s starting pitcher Osterman, to give the No. 2 team in the world the 1-0 lead.
USA had to wait till the bottom of the sixth inning to cross the plate. Young reliever Misaki Katsumata got into trouble early with a walk and a single and then surrendered an RBI single to Delaney Spaulding and a sac-fly to Hailey McCleney. The loss was charged to Katsumata in two innings of work (3 H, 2 R, 1 K, 2 BB).
With the score 2-1, Monica Abbot took the ball in the seventh and closed the door with a perfect inning to clinch the title.
Carda was awarded the win as she struck out 3 in 3 innings, with only 1 hit.
For the bronze medal, USA U-19 National Team defeated Scrap Yard Fast Pitch 8-0 and clinched the third place. The junior team is tunning-up for the U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup, to be held in Irvine, California, USA, from 10-17 August.
Final standings
1. USA (9-1)
2. Japan (8-2)
3. USA U-19 National Team (7-3)
4. Scrap Yard Fast Pitch (5-5)
5. Mexico (5-4)
6. China (4-5)
7. Puerto Rico (4-5)
8. Chinese Taipei (4-5)
9. Philippines (1-8)
10. Peru (0-9)
