The fourth day of the Olympic softball tournament is in the books! There were 3 games on the schedule that had major implications for the rest of the tournament. Let’s get started!
Australia 1 vs United States 2
The Australian squad was coming off of a 7-1 loss from the hands of the Canadian squad and were looking for their second win of the tournament. The Aussie’s were taking on the undefeated Americans who were looking to go 4-0 in regulation play. The two teams were equally matched and needed extra innings to decide a winner. In the top of the 8th inning, Belinda White of the Australian squad made it 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 8th. The Americans did not want to break their winning streak and came out with their bats flying. Haylie McCleney singled to the shortstop and was advanced to second base when Janie Reed hit a sacrifice bunt. Ally Carda, who was the pinch runner for Aubree Munro who hit to second on the first batter of the inning, advanced to third base. Amanda Chidester singled to left field which brought Haylie Mc Cleney and Ally Carda in to score, giving the US the win.
The United States will meet the Japanese on the final day of the opening round of softball competition while Australia will face off against Mexico on day 5.
Canada 0 vs Japan 1
The Canadian squad was coming off of a demanding 7-1 victory over the Australians in day 4 of Olympic Softball action. In day 5 action, they were looking for a win over the undefeated Japanese squad. Just like the Australia and United States game, the Canadians and the Japanese were closely matched. The two squads needed to go into extra innings to decide on a winner. Despite the Canadians best efforts, their bats could not connect to bring someone in to home to score. In the bottom of the 8th, Kawabata Hitomi was brought into home after Eri Yamada singled to center field. The Canadian squad should not be disappointed with this final result against the Japanese. The Japanese squad is one of the best teams in the world and the Canadians were able to hold them off to only one run and brought them to extra innings; something they did earlier in the competition when they faced off against the Americans. Canadian softball has a bright, bright future.
The Canadian girls will face off against Italy on the final day of the opening round in Tokyo while the two undefeated powerhouses, Japan and the United States, face off in the first game of day 5.
Italy 0 vs Mexico 5
In the final game of day 4, the Mexico squad’s bats were hot. To make up for the lack of scoring in the earlier two games, the Mexican squad brought in 5 runs against Italy. Suzannah Brookshire, Sydney Romero, Nicole Rangel, Anissa Urtez, and Brittany Cervantes all scored for Mexico to give them a 5-0 win over Italy.
Italy will be looking for their first win of their tournament when they face off against Canada on day 5 while Mexico will be looking to win two games in a row when they take on Australia.
Day 5 of Olympic Softball action will be the final day of the preliminary round. With three games on the schedule, this will be the last chance for all of the teams to figure out their final standings heading into the bronze and gold medal games. Keep coming back to Unbenched for more Tokyo 2020 coverage and softball updates.
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