Samantha Finlay's one-out single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth scored the winning runs for Team USA as it rallied from a 3-2 deficit to beat Team Taiwan by a final of 4-3 in the title game of the 2006 World University Softball Championship at Tainan yesterday afternoon.
The ladies from the US successfully defending their title from 2004 with a valiant effort that included two comebacks in a hard fought match before clinching the title in extra-innings against the previously-unbeaten Taiwanese.
The highly anticipated showdown between the top two squads in this year's competition was every bit as exciting as it had been billed to be, with the staff ace for each team, Jennifer Ritter (USA) and Chueh Ming-hui (Taiwan), taking the mound in search of the victory.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CTUSF
After a scoreless first two innings in which Taiwan wasted a golden scoring opportunity with two on and no outs in the top of the first, Team USA was able to strike first with a lining double to left by Lindsay Schutzler that scored the game's first run in the bottom of the third.
Trailing 1-0, Tung Yun-chi led off the Taiwan fourth with a single to left before being replaced by pinch runner Lin Hsiu-min, who would score one out later on an RBI single by Chen Po-Lung.
Another run also crossed the plate on the same play as the right-fielder for Team USA's throw to home was mishandled by the catcher to make it 2-1 in favor of the home team.
Taiwan's lead would last for less than two innings as the US answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth on Schutzler's run-scoring single off right-hander Lai Sheng-Jung, who entered the game earlier in the inning as relief for Wu Chia-yen.
Lauren Lappin's one-out single in the bottom of the seventh, followed by a fielding error by pitcher Lai Sheng-Jung on the ensuing sacrifice bunt attempt and Christina Boutelle's infield single had Team USA threatening with the bases loaded.
But a re-entering Chueh Ming-hui (who started the game and left in the fourth), managed to induce a fly-out to shallow-right against Brianne McGowan for the second out of the inning before right-fielder Lai Meng-ting gunned down the runner at the home plate to end the US seventh, setting the stage for the late-game drama
"It took a total team effort for us to win the game," US head coach Carol Hutchins said after the game.
Picking up her second win of the day (she was also the winning pitcher in the game against Japan earlier yesterday) was Ritter.
The right-hander out of the University of Michigan allowed three runs (only one earned) on five singles while fanning four and walking two.
The five errors committed by her defense nearly cost Ritter the win, but in the end, it all worked out.
Taking the disheartening loss for the home team was Chueh, who could not escape her second base-loaded jam of the game as she surrendered the game-winning hit to Finlay on a clean shot to left.
Japan 2, USA 3
It was Samantha Finlay's liner to left off Japan's Makiko Fujiwara in the eighth that earned Team USA a 3-2 win and the right to play Taiwan in the title game earlier yesterday.
The Americans also drew first blood in this game with Christina Boutelle's one-run single off Japanese starter Fujiwara in the bottom of the third for a 1-0 lead, only to find themselves behind by a run in the fourth when a past ball by the American catcher coupled with a one-run single by Kaoru Oyanagi secured two quick runs for Japan.
Kristie Fox's hard double to left would force a 2-all tie in the bottom of the fourth, where the score stayed deadlocked until Finlay's game-winner.
Final Standings
1st: USA, 2nd: Taiwan, 3rd: Japan,
4th: Australia, 5th: Thailand,
6th: South Africa
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
RSS