Japan defeats US for 7th straight Women's World Cup title
Julia Kreuz
@juliackreuzTHUNDER BAY, Ont. -- Everything is connected, every moment is precious.
Generations of Japanese baseball powerhouses have been built on that understanding. Ultimately, it¡¯s what led the Samurai to a seventh straight Women¡¯s Baseball World Cup title.
Japan¡¯s 11-6 win over the United States at Port Arthur Stadium on Saturday afternoon made a few things very clear: For one, it will take a true generational shift to dethrone this team. For another, there¡¯s power and freedom in working as one.
¡°Each of us is thinking about the others,¡± right-hander Ayami Sato, now a six-time WBWC champion, said through an interpreter. ¡°How do I make my work help the other [players]?¡±
Discipline and fundamentals are only part of what has made Japan great for this long, an unstoppable force for seven editions after falling to the States in the first two WBWC events in 2004 and ¡®06. The true difference-maker is the collective mentality, the willingness to move in unison.
Don¡¯t mistake it for the old ¡°next man up¡± clich¨¦. The Samurai don¡¯t have to focus on the next player up, because they are one entity.
¡°They¡¯re so connected in the way of culture,¡± said Shae Lillywhite, a longtime Team Australia infielder who joined Japan manager Risa Nakashima¡¯s staff for the final round of the 2024 WBWC. ¡°I think their culture is an easy path for them to connect through. But Risa really brought the old style into the new style. There's a lot of young ones coming through now, but she kept a lot of the core group that had been to World Cups before.
¡°I think that was really the key for this new team coming forward. A lot of them have been here before and they knew how to win, and that sort of carried them through.¡±
The championship game was a quintessential display of that -- starting with the diligent pregame routines all the way to the final out.
After losing to the U.S. in the final day of group play on Thursday -- Japan¡¯s first WBWC defeat since 2012 -- the Samurai didn¡¯t panic, but they did take the time to look inward and rediscover their collective identity. They came back stronger for it, riding three multi-run innings to a win in the final.
Most of it was what we¡¯re used to seeing from Japan: small ball, solid pitching, sound defense. That included three runs on three safety-squeeze bunts in the fourth inning to increase the lead.
In the spirit of fusing the old with the new, Japan also forayed into the long-ball game in the form of a two-run homer from Yuki Kawabata to open the floodgates in the third inning.
They needed all of it.
¡°We have this very strong teamwork,¡± said Sato. ¡°Otherwise, I don¡¯t think we could have won this game.¡±
That¡¯s because for all the success Team Japan has found, the gap between the Samurai and the rest of the playing field is narrowing -- a quantifiable indication that women¡¯s baseball is growing around the globe.
The U.S. leads the way on those efforts, in no small part due to MLB initiatives such as the Trailblazer Series and Breakthrough Series. Six years after a fourth-place finish at the previous WBWC in Viera, Fla., Team USA now looks like a powerhouse of its own, led by veteran talents such as Meggie Meidlinger and young stars like Kelsie Whitmore.
That 4-3 win over Japan in the group round put the baseball world on notice: Don¡¯t expect more of the same. There¡¯s another main character on the scene.
¡°They played hard,¡± said Nakashima. ¡°They want to win more, they want to beat us, and we can feel it. That¡¯s a really good thing. ¡ We could not stop scoring. We never felt safe.¡±
The U.S. fought back with a pair of multi-run innings of their own later in the game, highlighted by a three-run homer by Alex Hugo in the fifth.
But the rally fell short, delaying their ultimate mission until 2026 at the earliest.
¡°We¡¯ll just keep building off of this,¡± said U.S. manager Veronica Alvarez. ¡°Take the feeling of disappointment and keep applying ourselves like we've been doing the last six years, so we keep improving.¡±
Heartbreak can be a powerful unifier.
As Japan players posed for photos with fans and spoke to media members in the outfield, all smiles and kind words, U.S. athletes found support in one another a few steps away from their dugout. Parents and family members joined the silver medalists, hugs and words were shared, plenty of tears were shed.
In the end, sorrow led to solace, which in turn bred pride.
¡°They give me that peace of mind, they give me that fire in my soul,¡± Whitmore said of her teammates, welling up as she looked on toward the field. ¡°That¡¯s what I learned about them. They inspire me a lot.¡±
A lot is said about what the Whitmores and the Satos of the world can do for younger female players who now have reference points as they move through stages of life and sport. Very little is said about how these icons have found a home on their National Teams, and how much that feeds their spirits.
¡°It¡¯s different,¡± said Whitmore, one of many U.S. players who spends most of her time on men¡¯s teams. ¡°You play your game, and you have younger girls that look up to you and they¡¯re inspired, but you don't really know how it feels, because you get told it all the time, so it just feels like something you¡¯re told all the time. Then, you're playing with a bunch of girls that inspire you, and they're your same age or [a little] older or even younger, and they inspire you and motivate you. Now you really know what it means, what it feels like. That's what they do.¡±
Every moment Whitmore gets to spend with these girls is precious. All of them are connected through a common goal.
That bond doesn¡¯t end here.