The U.S. Women’s National Team took on China in the USA Softball International Cup on Saturday at Devon Park. The Eagles did not need a comeback, as they defeated China 10-1 in six innings. Montana Fouts took the win with four innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts.
Alyssa Brito and Jocelyn Erickson homered for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Erickson’s grand slam in the sixth gave the U.S. their nine-run lead.
China started Yinan Chai in the circle, and she began the day with a strikeout of Janae Jefferson on an eight-pitch at-bat. Chai went on to retire the side in order and recorded her second strikeout.
Fouts had a tough start on Friday night and didn’t make it out of the first inning. She got right back in the circle on Saturday and began her day with a strikeout of Siyu Yan. Fouts did give up a walk but responded with back-to-back strikeouts to finish the inning.
Maya Brady was the first runner to get on for the U.S. She led off with a walk in the top of the second inning. After making her way to third on a groundout and passed ball, she was left stranded. Chai survived some tough at-bats from the U.S. Women’s National Team and recorded 2 more strikeouts looking in the inning.
China struck first with a Huiqi Yang leadoff solo home run to right field in the bottom of the second. Fouts bounced back to retire the side in order after that and recorded her fourth strikeout of the game, fanning Xintian Li.
In the top of the third, Jefferson recorded the first hit for the U.S. with a two-out single. Then, with Skylar Wallace up to bat, she stole second to get in scoring position. Wallace and Tiare Jennings followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases. Chai faced pressure with Brady coming to the plate. But she escaped the jam with a deep flyout.
Fouts remained poised in the circle and struck out the side in the bottom half of the third to move her total to 7 on the day. Yan gave her a tough showing at the plate, fouling off six balls before striking out on a foul tip.
Chai’s command continued to waver into the fourth inning. Erickson led off the top of the fourth with a five-pitch walk. Then, with one out, she moved to second on a wild pitch to get into scoring position. That worked in the U.S.’s favor as Aubrey Leach lined a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 1. Leach made it to third on a throwing error but would not score.
After Fouts retired the fourth in order and recorded her eighth strikeout of the game, the U.S. took the lead in the fifth. With one out, Wallace reached via a hit by pitch and stole second. Then, Jennings brought her home on an RBI single to make it 2-1. China then made the move to Xiaoyi Ding in the circle.
After an Erickson single put two on, Megan Grant brought Jennings home with a two-out RBI single to make it 3-1. Then, the U.S. opened it up with a Brito three-run home run to left-center to push the lead to 6-1.
Fouts’ day ended as Kelly Maxwell took the circle in the bottom of the fifth. Maxwell gave up a single but engineered a double play as Xiaoyan He lined back to her, catching Xintian Li off first base.
Yue Sun took the circle for China to begin the sixth inning, and Hannah Flippen led off with a single. After Jefferson reached on a fielder’s choice with Flippen forced out, Wallace put two on with a single to center.
Then, with two outs after Jennings grounded into a fielder’s choice to eliminate Wallace, Brady worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases. That set up Erickson for the grand slam to put the game in run-rule territory, with a 10-1 lead.
Maxwell returned for the bottom of the sixth and, after 2 one-out singles, struck out the last two batters to seal it. The U.S. Women’s National Team finished group play undefeated. They will face the loser of the U.S. Women’s Elite Team and Japan on Sunday.
