OKLAHOMA CITY — The retirement of seven gold-medal winning Olympic veterans hasn’t slowed the U.S. softball team one bit.
Ashley Hansen became the latest rookie to come through, hitting a grand slam as the United States completed an undefeated run to the World Cup of Softball championship game with an 8-0 win over Australia on Sunday.
It was the 19th straight win for a young American squad that features 10 rookies.
“I’m really happy with how we did, but I’m really not that surprised,” said Alissa Haber, who also homered and is Hansen’s Stanford teammate. “The first day we were at the tryout, they said, ‘This is a family. Now you’re part of our family.’ And I 100 percent see how that works out. Everyone is really coming together really well.”
Jennie Finch (2-0), one of the few veterans left, struck out eight and allowed only two singles in her second spotless outing at the World Cup, where U.S. pitchers have yet to allow an earned run.
Despite losing veterans Laura Berg, Crystl Bustos, Stacey Nuveman, Lovieanne Jung, Kelly Kretschman and Jenny Topping to retirement, the U.S. went 14-0 in winning the Canada Cup this month and has hardly been challenged so far at the World Cup. The Americans have outscored opponents 48-3 and won three of their five games by the mercy rule.
The game against Australia was called after five innings.
The teams will meet again in the championship game Monday night after Australia (3-2), the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, bounced back to beat Italy 8-0 in five innings later Sunday.
“The young girls are full of talent, and it’s exciting to see them wear the red, white and blue for the first time and do so well,” Finch said. “It’s an intimidating factor coming into this program, especially following in the shoes of people like Crystl Bustos and Kelly Kretschman. Some amazing hitters left our game, but they’re filling in just great.”
Hansen broke open the game in the third inning with her first home run as a member of the national team.
Australian starter Aimee Murch (1-2) had already forced in runs by hitting Haber and then walking Andrea Duran before Hansen pulled a 1-1 pitch from reliever Kaia Parnaby just over the fence in right field for a 7-0 U.S. lead.
Haber added a solo shot as the Americans (5-0) completed a perfect run through round-robin play. At Stanford, Hansen and Haber are referred to as the twins for their uncanny ability to match each other’s performances.
“That’s our ongoing joke at Stanford is that whatever I do, she does or whatever she does, I do,” Haber said.
With softball being left out of the 2012 London Games and a decision still to come on whether the sport will get back in for the 2016 Olympics, there has been a youth movement across the sport.
Olympic veterans have stepped aside to make room for the next generation of softball players to represent their country and perhaps start preparing for the Olympics seven years away.
“It’s just a little bit different stage than they’re used to, but you’ve still got to throw and catch and you’ve still got to hit and run. The fundamentals of the game are the same, no matter where you’re at,” first-year U.S. coach Jay Miller said.
“Their ability is what brings them here, and then they’ve just got to trust that.”
The fact that some of the best U.S. players seemed to come in pairs has helped, too. Of the rookies, two are from Stanford, two from Arizona State and two from Alabama. Rookie Jenae Leles also has a former Arizona teammate on the team in Caitlin Lowe.
“It made the transition a lot easier,” Haber said. “She’s my roommate, so I can always go back to her and we can reflect on the day and we know each others’ strengths and weaknesses.”<
Australia 8, Italy 0, 5 innings
Chelsea Forkin had a bases-loaded triple in a five-run first inning as Australia jumped on Italy (0-5) early and never looked back.
Brenda De Blaes added a two-run double in the fourth inning to put the Aussies in position for the mercy rule win.
Sara Avanzi had a one-out single in the fifth to break up a no-hit bid by Justine Smethurst (2-0).
Japan 5, Canada 4
Haruna Sakamoto hit a grand slam off college softball player of the year Danielle Lawrie to knock Canada (2-2) out of contention for the title game.
Lawrie came into the game with runners on first and second and one out in the third. Japan (3-2), the gold medal at last summer’s Olympics, protested that she was not on the Canadian lineup card, but the umpires ruled she could pitch because she was on the roster.
The pitching change worked out just fine for Japan.
Lawrie’s first pitch hit Satoko Mabuchi to load the bases, and Sakamoto then unloaded to center field to make it 5-4.
Lawrie, the star in Washington’s run to the NCAA title, has given up seven runs — including three home runs — in eight innings at the World Cup.
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