FINAL POOL STANDINGS
| Pool A |
|
|
| Team |
W |
L |
| California Grapettes |
3 |
2 |
| Orlando No Fear |
3 |
2 |
| Pittsburgh Power Black |
3 |
2 |
| Venezuela |
3 |
2 |
| Bartow Intimidators |
2 |
3 |
| China |
1 |
4 |
|
| Pool B |
|
|
| Team |
W |
L |
| Davie Power Purple |
5 |
0 |
| Hershey Barracudas |
4 |
1 |
| Canadian Northern Ice |
2 |
3 |
| Sarasota Quicksilver |
2 |
3 |
| Zephyrhills Blaze |
2 |
3 |
| Twilight Twisters |
0 |
5 |
|
| Pool C |
|
|
| Team |
W |
L |
| Garland Nitro |
4 |
1 |
Plantation Fast Pitch
|
4 |
1 |
| Indiana Magic |
3 |
2 |
| Mexico |
2 |
3 |
| Tampa Mustangs White |
2 |
3 |
| Ecuador |
0 |
5 |
|
| |
|
|
| Pool D |
|
|
| Team |
W |
L |
| St. Louis Lightning |
5 |
0 |
| Philippines |
4 |
1 |
| West Orange Lady Hawks |
3 |
2 |
| Davie Power Black |
2 |
3 |
| Lakeland Lady Cobras |
1 |
4 |
| Great Britain |
0 |
5 |
|
| Pool E |
|
|
| Team |
W |
L |
| Tampa Mustangs Red |
5 |
0 |
| Chinese Taipei |
4 |
1 |
| Palm Beach Cool |
3 |
2 |
| Fairfield Shamrocks |
2 |
3 |
| Pittsburgh Power Red |
2 |
3 |
| Texas Sox |
1 |
4 |
|
| Pool F |
|
|
| Team |
W |
L |
| California Cruisers |
5 |
0 |
| Manitoba Gators |
4 |
1 |
| Clearwater Bombers |
3 |
2 |
| Clearwater Lady Shockers |
1 |
4 |
| Czech Republic |
1 |
4 |
| Rhode Island Raiders |
1 |
4 |
|
PLAYOFF RESULTS
| INTERNATIONAL DIVISION |
DOMESTIC DIVISION |
| China 3, Ecuador 0 |
Texas Sox 8, Twilight Twisters 0 |
| Mexico 5, Great Britain 0 |
Tampa Mustangs White 12, Pittsburgh Red 4 |
Canadian Northern Ice 8,
Czech Republic 7 |
Sarasota Quicksilver 3, Lakeland Lady Cobras 2 |
| Philippines 6, China 5 |
Pittsburgh Black 4, Clearwater Shockers 2 |
| Mexico 2, Manitoba Gators 0 |
Indiana Magic 4, Davie Black 0 |
| Chinese Taipei 6, Venezuela 0 |
California Grapettes 5, Zephyrhills Blaze 1 |
| Canadian Northern Ice3, Philippines 2 |
Fairfield Shamrocks 5, Rhode Island 0 |
| Chinese Taipei 8, Mexico 0 |
Bartow Intimidators 4, Hershey 1 |
| Chinese Taipei 10, Canadian Northern Ice 0 |
Garland Nitro 1, West Orange Lady Hawks 0 |
|
Palm Beach Cool 2, Clearwater Bombers 1 |
|
Orlando No Fear 5, Texas Sox 0 |
|
Tampa Mustangs White 2, Plantation 1 |
|
Sarasota Quicksilver 8, Pittsburgh Black 0 |
|
Sarasota Quicksilver 8, Pittsburgh Black 0 |
|
Indiana Magic 1, California Cruisers 0 |
|
Davie Purple 4, California Grapettes 2 |
|
Bartow Intimidators 4, Fairfield Shamrocks 1 |
|
Tampa Mustangs Red 5, Garland Nitro 4 |
|
St. Louis Lightning 3, Tampa Mustangs White 0 |
|
Indiana Magic 5, Sarasota Quicksilver 4 |
|
Bartow Intimidators 1, Davie Purple 0 |
|
Tampa Mustangs Red 2, St. Louis Lightning 1 |
|
Orlando No Fear 3, Indiana Magic 0 |
|
Tampa Mustangs Red 2, Bartow Intimidators 1 |
|
Tampa Mustangs Red 2, Orlando No Fear 1 |
FINAL RESULTS
SEMIFINALS
Chinese Taipei 10, Canadian Northern Ice 0 (International)
Tampa Mustangs Red 2, Orlando No Fear 1 (Domestic)
FINAL
Orlando No Fear 6, Canadian Northern Ice 2
GRAND FINAL
Tampa Mustangs Red 4, Chinese Taipei 0
MEDAL WINNERS
Gold: Tampa Mustangs Red
Silver: Chinese Taipei
Bronze: Orlando No Fear
Fourth Place: Canadian Northern Ice
2001 Junior Girls' WORLD CUP (16 & under)
November 17-23, 2001
Call it a stampede. Call it whatever you want, but when the dust settled after the International Softball Federation's inaugural Junior Girls' WORLD CUP, only the Tampa Mustangs Red were left standing. The Mustangs had demolished the international field of 35 other teams and, with Chinese Taipei the last to fall - a 4-0 victim of powerful pitching and timely hitting - it was over. The team that had proved its domination of USA teenage softball with six national championships staked their claim to be the world's best 16-year-old team.
Nobody seemed to object after watching them run roughshod over the field by winning all ten of their games."They have been here,'' said Coach Ray Seymour. "They know how to play in a big game.''Yes they do, and now they can someday tell their grandchildren of the role of a true champion they played in Florida way back in 2001. So can the other 700 players who came to Plant City to bring some brighter sunshine to a land in dire need of friendly competition.Beth DiPietro's clutch pitching kept Chinese Taipei off the scoreboard at the huge ISF Stadium at its world headquarters in Plant City. Although Taipei threatened on several occasions, DiPietro kept them at bay. The Mustangs' defense that had thrown out four runners at the plate in two games was in control.
The big inning for the Mustangs came in the fifth with they scored three runs on two hits, including a long home run to left by Kaycie Maines.
The Mustangs had ousted Orlando, 2-1, in the finals of the domestic division while Chinese Taipei, led by sterling pitcher Hui Ming Chueh and power hitting Hsiu Min Lin, raced past Canadian Northern Ice, 10-0 in the international division finals. All of their runs were scored in the fourth inning when Chinese Taipei sent 16 batters to the plate. Chueh was the winning pitcher and Hsiu Min Lin led the hitting with two hits.
With Michelle Grinage leading the way with a one-hitter, Orlando defeated Canadian Ice, 6-2 for third place in the tournament. The only hit allowed by Grinage was a single by Holly Kitchen in the fourth inning. The pitchers dominated the WORLD CUP as three perfect games were reported and eight other no-hitters logged.Grinage was perfect in her 3-0 victory over the Indiana Magic. In a five-inning game, Cheuh struck out eight in defeating Mexico, 8-0. Rachel Sillechia of Plantation (Fla.) needed only four perfect innings to polish off Ecuador, 13-0. She struck out seven.
The eight other no-hitters included:A three-inning job by China's Zhang Yachen in a 25-0 victory over Ecuador.Quicksilver's Jordan Keen struck out five in defeating Pittsburgh Power Black, 8-0, in a five-inning game.Melissa McSheffery of the Texas Sox stymied the Pittsburgh Power Red, 2-0. Garland Nitro's Meagan struck out the first 12 West Orange Lady Hawks batters to face her (total of 16) in a 1-0 thriller.Manitoba Gator's Ashley Lanz joined the no-hit club with a 2-0 hitless triumph over the Rhode Island Raiders. Mandy Stophlet of the California Cruisers also no-hit Rhode Island, 4-0, and struck out six.
Mexico's Mariam Patraca stopped Great Britain, 5-0, and struck out five.
Lakeland's Lady Cobras joined the no-hit roster when Cassie Christianson, Peggy Hunt, and Erica Sanders combined for a 6-0 no-hitter against Great Britain. But the game that caught the most attention, other than the championship battle, was a 17-inning tug-of-war in which Davie Purple Power emerged a 4-2 winner over the California Grapettes. It was the longest game among females in ISF history. It was a five-hour marathon when Davie staged a two-run outburst off Julianne Cree who had relieved the tiring California "Iron Lady'' Katie Cotta who had pitched 16 innings.Winning pitcher Angel Shamblin scored one of the runs. The old record of 14 innings was set at the Sydney Olympics when China defeated USA, 2-0. The record for male competition in the ISF history belongs to New Zealand and USA. They took 20 innings to complete a game. Davie and the Grapettes also set another record. Cotta struck out 27 and Kreske combined with Angel Shamblin for 23 strikeouts. The total of 50 is a new world standard. Cotta also turned in a sparkling performance in a four-innning 10-0 victory over Pittsburgh Power. She struck out 11 of the 14 batters who faced her. As his Tampa Mustangs basked in the glory of winning a world championship, Coach Seymour said, "We didn't know what to expect from the national teams. We're just the team from the neighborhood.''
Not anymore.
EXTRA INNINGS…
It seemed that every day someone would announce "The Russians are coming,'' but due to some problems at the U.S. Embassy in Russia, they didn't arrive until after the tournament had ended, and it was then that the ISF's event coordinator Laurie Gouthro and some of the area coaches and teams gave the team a most memorable visit.
The Russian Carrousel played eight games against Sarasota's "Quicksilver," Orlando's "No Fear,'' the Twilight Twisters, and the newly-crowned world champion Tampa Mustangs even joined the party. The Russians won a couple of games and went home happy.
ISF Director of Development Cindy Bristow conducted a special clinic for them and so did the University of South Florida's coach, Ken Eriksen. It was an outstanding display of sportsmanship by both youth and adults in the afterglow of the Junior WORLD CUP and that brought praise from Ivan Samchuk, Secretary General of the Russian Softball Federation.
ISF President Don Porter said, "We were just trying to make something good out of a bad situation.''
(This article appeared in the Jan.-April 2002 edition of World Softball magazine, Volume 30, Number 1.)
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