The Shamrocks had lots of fun wearing their gold medals - and big smiles - after winning the III Jr. Girls' World Cup. (Photo by Jeff Fay/Hollowtree Images)

SHAMROCKS EDGE CHINESE TAIPEI FOR WORLD CUP
2005-11-27

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA – The Shamrocks (Fairfax, Virginia) defeated Chinese Taipei, 2-1, in eight innings on Sunday in Plant City Stadium to claim the III Jr. Girls’ World Cup (16-and-under). The event, which had started on Wednesday and featured 20 teams from five different countries, took place at the International Softball Federation’s (ISF) world headquarters complex.

Outfielder Reba Tutt, who’d scored in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at one, came home with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth on a throwing error to give the Shamrocks a trip home with gold medals around their necks. Tutt had started the inning on second base under the international tiebreaker rule and advanced to third on an illegal pitch. When Chinese Taipei first baseplayer Kuan Tin Wang fielded Dorian Shaw’s ground ball and threw to Hsiao Tung Lin at third base to keep Tutt in check, it was off the mark and as the ball headed for the wall, Tutt headed home to secure the win.

Karla Powell and Diondra Fryer each went 2-for-4 at the plate in the victory.

Chinese Taipei had opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, but only had four hits for the game and ended up with their third straight Jr. Girls’ World Cup silver medal (also finished second in 2003 & 2001).

The victory for the Shamrocks was their ninth in a row after having opened on Wednesday with what would be their only loss of the tournament. Over the course of their nine victories, the Shamrocks outscored their opponents 81-8.

Prior to the gold medal game, the Auburndale (Florida) Maniacs won the bronze medal by defeating the Winnipeg Lightning (Manitoba, Canada), 8-1.

The Lightning jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when a double from left fielder Jessica Dyck – who finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate – drove in centerfielder Lorissa Klopak, who had singled. But, the Maniacs came right back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first, got two more in the fourth, and then saw the game stopped due to the international run rule after they’d scored their third run of the sixth inning with one out. (Under ISF rules, if a team is leading by 20 runs after three innings, 15 after four, or seven after five, the game is considered complete.) Three different Maniacs players had three hits each.

Chinese Taipei had advanced to the gold medal game by defeating the Lightning, 2-1, in the first game this morning. In the top of the first inning, Kuan Ting Wang singled, followed by a walk to designated player Yu Lin. Catcher Shu Fei Hsiao then tripled to score them both for all the runs Taipei would need. The Lightning countered with a run in the bottom of the first, but would go three-and-out in every inning thereafter except the fourth. Hsiao finished 2-for-3 at the plate while right fielder Breanne Head led the way for Winnipeg with the same numbers.

The Shamrocks had advanced to the gold medal game when they beat the Maniacs today, 9-6 in eleven innings. Dorian Shaw smacked a three-run home run in the top of the eleventh and Auburndale went three-and-out in the bottom half of the inning to end the longest game of the III Jr. Girls’ World Cup. Teammate Diondra Fryer finished 5-for-6 with three runs scored as the teams combined for 33 hits. Kendall Dawson led the way for the Maniacs, going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Auburndale had been leading the game, 4-2, after four innings. The game was tied at five after seven innings, and each team scored once in the eighth, with no other runners crossing the plate until Shaw’s second big home run in less than 24 hours.

The other two countries that had participated in the tournament (besides Canada, Chinese Taipei, and USA) were Great Britain and Ukraine.