The USA Softball International Cup came to a close for the U.S. Women’s Elite Team and Canada in the third-place game. U.S. Elite took the run-rule win, 7-0 in five innings. Kendall Wells walked off with an RBI double to score Aleena Garcia. Ally Carda picked up the win, and Taylor Shumaker went 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
Carda started sharp for the Elite Team, as she opened with a strikeout of Erika Polidori. She gave up a two-out walk to Logan Forman but finished off the side with her second strikeout of the inning.
Aleena Garcia made Annabel Teperson pay with a two-out RBI single to score Bubba Nickels-Camarena. The U.S. Elite took a 1-0 lead, and that sequence was set up with Canadian miscues. After Nickels-Camarena reached on a fielder’s choice, she advanced on a wild pitch into scoring position.
Carda retired the side in order in the second and picked up her third strikeout of the game, and Ana Gold finished it with a diving catch to line out Callum Maskill.
Sahvanna Jaquish led off the bottom of the second with a single. Then Gabbie Garcia reached on a fielder’s choice after a Baylee Klingler flyout. That gave Shumaker a runner on, and she capitalized with an RBI double out to the center-field wall. Then Morgan Zerkle followed up with an RBI single to score Shumaker, making it 3-0 U.S.
Carda had good command of the zone throughout the day. In the top of the third, Natasha Limbani led off with a single for Canada, but that was it for the inning. Carda worked vertically and side to side to force weak contact. She also recorded her fourth strikeout of the game.
Sara Groenewegen took the ball for Canada to begin the bottom half of the third. Teperson’s day finished with 2.0 innings, 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits. Groenewegen retired the side in order.
Carda came right back with a clean fourth inning to put the U.S. back in the batter’s box. Next, Jaquish reached on a dropped third strike to lead off the side. With two outs, Jaquish took second as Forman at catcher dropped a Groenewegen pitch. Shumaker then took a 3-1 pitch out to right center for a two-run home run to extend the U.S. Elite’s lead to 5-0.
Carda started the fifth inning with her fifth and final strikeout, as she got Caitlyn Wong looking. Patty Gasso then went to Teagan Kavan after a fantastic outing from Carda. She finished the day with 4.1 innings, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk. Kavan went on to finish the inning scoreless and recorded a strikeout.
Morgan Rackel took the ball for Canada to begin the bottom of the fifth and ran into Gold. On a 2-1 pitch, Gold demolished one to left for a solo home run to extend the lead to six. Aleena Garcia reached on a one-out error and moved to third on a Sharlize Palacios single to left. To cap it off, Wells stepped to the plate and sealed it with an RBI double to right field.
