USA CAPTURES CANADA CUP TITLE
2007-07-09

The USA women’s softball national team came out on top, defeating Japan 5-0, in the championship game yesterday at the 14th (annual) Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia. The winners went undefeated in this ISF-sanctioned event, posting a 10-0 won-lost record, beating out challenging competition such as the national teams from Venezuela and Japan, among others. They also stopped Australia’s quest for a third straight Canada Cup tournament title.

Team USA had previously shut out Japan, putting the latter into the loser’s bracket, where Japan eliminated the defending champion Aussies from the tournament with a 7-0 victory. The Americans won big in their meeting with their next opponent, Japan Elite, a club team.

Japan’s national team only lost twice in the tournament, with both coming at the hands of this year’s Canada Cup champion.

The title game remained close in the beginning of the matchup. Team USA took an early lead, with an RBI single by Tairia Flowers in the top of the second inning putting the first run on the scoreboard. The score stayed that way until the top of the sixth inning when Crystl Bustos hit one out of the park, adding on another single run for USA. A three-run rally in the top of the seventh inning fueled by Jessica Mendoza’s double and right fielder Kelly Kretschman’s two-run home run secured the team’s Canada Cup Championship win, 5-0.

Jennie Finch, who received the Lori Sippel Award for the tournament’s best pitcher, made her fourth start in the tournament, helping her team to victory by allowing no hits through four innings with four strikeouts. Monica Abbott closed out the game after relieving Finch at the top of the fifth, making her fourth appearance as well.