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USA Softball Continues Win Streak with 10-1 Victory Over Chinese Taipei
By Brian McCall // USA Softball // July 5, 2007
Surrey, B.C. –Chinese Taipei broke the USA Softball National Team’s five-game shutout streak at the 14th Annual Canada Cup International Fastpitch Softball Tournament in Surrey, B.C. but the result was still the same, a 10-1 victory. Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.) earned her second win of the tournament with Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.) and Jenny Topping (Whittier, Calif.) both going 2-for-2 with three RBI a piece.
Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.), who has hit safely in four of her five first at bats, singled to second to start the rally. Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) and Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.) hit back-to-back single, with Mendoza’s single scoring Lowe and giving the U.S. the first run of the six-run inning. Kretschman cleared the bases with a stand up double to left center field giving the team a 3-0 lead. Singles by Topping and Lovie Jung (Fountain Valley, Calif. ) and a groundout RBI by Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) plated the remaining three runs.
Abbott made her first start of the tournament and her second appearance in the circle. Abbott hit the lead off batter in the first but responded with three strikeouts to close out the first inning.
After running through the lineup in the first, Watley started off the second inning with a single down the middle. Mendoza, with her second extra base hit of the tournament, rocked a triple to left center field that fell just short of going over the wall to score Watley. A sac fly by Kretschman plated Watley and gave the team an 8-0 lead heading into the third.
After throwing two complete innings with six strikeouts, Abbott left the game with Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) coming in to throw the remainder of the game. Chinese Taipei broke the USA’s shutout streak as the first batter Osterman faced, Hueng Hui Wen, hit a homerun over the left field fence.
The offense put up two more runs off three hits in the fourth. Topping gave the team what it needed to end the game in five innings with a two-RBI single that scored Mendoza and Kretschman, who both singled to left and right field respectively.
Osterman issued two walks in the fifth but left two stranded as she threw three strikeouts to end the game, a U.S. win of 10-1.
The U.S.A will play its final pool play game tomorrow against the White Rock Renegades at 8:30 p.m. PT. In pool standings, Team USA is currently in first place of the white pool. A win tomorrow would give them a game time of 1:00 p.m. PT on Fri., July 6 to kick off Championship play.
Stay tuned in to www.usasoftball.com for continuing coverage of this event including box scores, recaps, player journals and photo galleries.
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