Team USA wins second game
12/9/2011
CAPE TOWN — A no-hitter from Ally Carda helped the USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team to a 5-0 win over China at the 2011 International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Women’s World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa. With the Friday shutout, the No. 1 seeded Americans improve to 2-0 in pool play.
“I was extremely impressed with our defensive performance today especially with how well Ally Carda pitched,” Head Coach Karen Johns (Whippany, N.J.) said. “To be honest, I was not sure the team could emotionally recharge after playing so late last night and having to come back 12 hours later. But they were ready to play today.”
Carda, who struck out the first six batters she faced, was on track for a perfect game until the fourth when she issued consecutive walks to Xu Ying and Yu Xiaotong. No other Chinese batters reached base throughout the seven inning contest. Carda struck out two in the fifth, all three batters in the sixth and one in the seventh, bringing her total to 14.
“I felt really strong today,” said Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.). “I just tried to get ahead of batters and throw first pitch strikes and I did that.”
While Carda steadied the defense, designated player Lauren Haeger led the Red, White and Blue offensive charge with a 2-for-3 performance that scored three. In the top of the third, Haeger singled to left center to score Lauren Chamberlain (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) and Kylee Lahners (Laguna Hills, Calif.), both who singled to center field. Another Haeger single in the fifth scored Lahners, who led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a Cheyenne Coyle (West Hills, Calif.) sacrifice bunt.
"She [Chang Hongwei] was throwing a lot of off speed at me in my first at-bat. I swung at some pitches that I really didn't want to," Haeger said. "In my next two at-bats, with runners in scoring position, I was a little more patient and made some adjustments. I took some good swings at balls in breaking position."
Hallie Wilson (North Tustin, Calif.) led off the game with a triple to left field. China’s starting pitcher Jia Yingling later threw an illegal pitch to Lahners that advanced Wilson home. Cheyenne Cordes (Fairfield, Calif.) scored in the second on a passed ball.
Team USA returns to action Saturday against New Zealand at 12:30 p.m. South African Standard Time/4:30 a.m. CT. Live stats for all of the U.S. games in Cape Town are available at USASoftball.com.
Note: The box score and play by play from the United States’ Dec. 8 game against Canada incorrectly listed the number of earned runs for U.S. pitcher Nyree White (Eugene, Ore.) Click here for the updated box score.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as claimed five World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.