The 12th Women’s Softball World Championship in Caracas, Venezuela is entering its final stretch. On Thursday Team USA shut out Japan to reach today’s championship game. The Olympic champion gets another shot for the finals, when they are playing Canada in the bronze medal game. The maple leafs had defeated Australia and China to stay alive.
Results July 1:
Venezuela – China 1-6
CHN 020 400 0 6 7 0 VEN 000 010 0 1 6 3
China eliminated host Venezuela with a 6-1 win on Thursday. Four runs in the top of the fourth blew things wide open. Yi Lu doubled and drove in two. Jia Guao scored twice. Wang Lan allowed one run on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Johanna Gomez took the loss.
Canada – Australia 3-2
AUS 100 100 0 2 8 0 CAN 000 000 3 3 6 0
Canada stunned Australia with a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh winning by a score of 3-2. Melanie Matthews cut the 0-2 deficit to a run with a RBI single. The next batter Caitlin Lever completed the comeback with a walk-off two-run double. Brenda De Blaes and Danielle Stewart had scored in the first and the fourth to put Australia in front. Jenna Caira received the win after 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Justin Smethurst pitched 6 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Canada – China 1-0
CHN 000 000 0 0 2 3 CAN 000 000 1 1 8 0
Canada again showed a lot of heart in their matchup against China. A walk-off RBI single by Sheena Lawrick in the bottom of the seventh sealed a 1-0 win. This time Caitlin Lever scored the winning run. Danielle Lawrie issued just two hits in seven scoreless innings for the win. She struck out five. Wang Lan took the loss. With the victory Canada at least has secured third place in the tournament.
USA – Japan 4-0
JPN 000 000 0 0 1 1 USA 300 010 X 4 5 0
In a duel of undefeated teams in the Softball World Championship Team USA shut out Japan 4-0. Three runs in the opening period put them en course towards winning lane. Caitlin Lowe, Jessica Mendoza, Mary Haber and Andrea Duran scored the runs for Team USA. On the mound Cat Osterman gave up just one hit and a pair of walks in seven scoreless innings for the win. She struck out twelve. Yamane Sayuri settled in after the rough beginning, issuing five hits, four runs (1 ER) and four bb in six innings. With the win the USA reached the championship game. Japan gets a second chance in the bronze medal game against Canada.
Schedule July 2:
- Bronze Medal Game: Japan – Canada
- Championship Game: USA – Japan/Canada