USA
DEFEATS
GUATEMALA
21-0
Lisa Dodd led the
USA
team to a 3-inning 21-0 defeat of a very game but over-matched Guatemalan team
on Tuesday in the Pan Am Junior World games.
Dodd drove in 5 runs with a 3-run homer, and a 2-run single, as she went
3-3.
The
USA
sent 29 batters to the plate in the first two innings, 33 for the game, which
was stopped in the bottom of the 3rd after the
USA
scored its 20th run. Under
ISF rules, the mercy rule goes into effect 20 runs after 3 innings; 15 runs
after 4, and 10 runs after 5.
The
USA
had 15 hits, four for extra bases, including triples by Tina Boutelle and Anna
Beardman. Down the roster: Jodie
Legaspi had a single and walk, scoring twice; Boutelle scored twice and drove in
2 runs; Lauren Lappin was 2-2, both singles, driving in 2 runs and scoring two;
Christina Clark drove in a run and scored; Mallorie Lenn had two singles and a
walk in four at-bats, driving in 2 runs and scoring two; Dodd scored twice and
was perfect at the plate with 3 hits; Beardman drove in run with that triple,
walked twice, and scored twice; Kristen Vesely had a single, a walk, an rbi and
a run scored; Caitlin Lowe singled and scored; Emily Zaplatosch had an rbi
single, a double, and scored twice; Norelle Dickson reached twice on errors,
driving in two runs and scoring twice; Monica Abbott reached on a single and an
error, driving in two runs and scoring one.
Laura Ferriera pitched 3 innings of shutout ball, and one
was batter away from a perfect outing when the ninth batter, Cindy Benavides,
walked on four pitches. Ferriera
then struck out Walkira Gonzalez, her 4th K of the game.
Guatemala
used four pitchers: Karen Castro
started and was relieved by Flor Gomes in the 1st; Gonzales relieved
in the 2nd and Jessica Jiminez finished the game.
The
USA
scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 1st and was ahead 5-0 before
making the first out. Legaspi led
off with a single to left; Boutelle’s attempted sacrifice was misplayed;
Lappin singled to left;
Clark
’s deep fly was dropped in center; and Lenn hit an rbi single to left, for the
first five runs. After an out, Dodd
crushed a homer over the left field fence, for 3 more runs.
After a second out, Legaspi walked and scored on Boutelle’s triple.
Lappin drove in Boutelle and scored herself on a single by Lenn.
Dodd started the 2nd by singling to left and
scoring on Beardman’s triple to center. The
USA
then began substituting. With one
away, Kristen Vesely hit an rbi single to right, followed by singles from Lowe
and Zaplatosch.
Clark
reached when her fly ball to left was misplayed, and Lenn followed with a walk,
and Abbott reached on an error at 1st.
All six scored, two on Dodd’s rbi single and the 8th on a
popup (run scored when the infield fly rule was called).
The
USA
added two more runs in the 3rd.
Zaplatosch led off with a double to left and scored on an error at short
on a grounder by
Clark
. With one away, Abbott drove in the
run-rule score with a single to right.
The win boosted the
USA
to a 3-0 record, with games remaining against
Mexico
on Wednesday night, and
Jamaica
and undefeated
Canada
on Thursday.
Guatemala
dropped to 1-3 and must defeat
Argentina
on Thursday to have any hope of securing one of the five berths to the 2003
Junior Olympic championships in
China
.
Still to Come
Today
SPY will report later today on the contests matching
Antilles
vs
Jamaica
, and
Mexico
vs
Canada
in the nightcap. If
Mexico
loses tonight and to the
USA
tomorrow, it would be 2-4 and possibly out of the championship round.
On the other hand, the
Antilles
could win a coveted 3rd game and, if it splits its games with
Argentina
and
Canada
,
Antilles
could be 4-2 and well positioned for the championship round.
Christmas
Largesse
USA
coaches will conduct a pitching clinic tomorrow morning for
Guatemala
and others who choose to attend.
USA
parents are planning a Christmas surprise for
Argentina
, which bought one-way tickets to the Pan Am games, and now cannot get a flight
home until December 29.
SPY’s Rayburn Hesse, who donated a $1600 two-wheel Atec
Casey pitching machine to the International Softball Federation, reached
agreement Tuesday morning with ISF officials that the machine would be donated
to
Guatemala
, which does not have a pitching machine. (
Guatemala
is offering to pay a
US
pitching coach to come to
Guatemala
for a week to conduct a clinic.)
End
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