'We're coming for the championship': Team USA cruises past Canada
Americans remain undefeated after riding homers to third finals win
Julia Kreuz
@juliackreuzTHUNDER BAY, Ont. -- This is what they came for.
Team USA captain Alex Hugo has said it time and again: they¡¯re not here to make friends. That¡¯s probably why she and her teammates had so much fun silencing a packed crowd at Port Arthur Stadium on Tuesday night when the U.S. blew past Canada for a 13-4 win during Day 3 of the Women¡¯s Baseball World Cup.
It was the latest statement in what has shaped up to be an obstinate quest. Team USA wants the gold -- no other result will do.
¡°We¡¯re here on a business trip,¡± Hugo said. ¡°We are ready to handle what we need to handle.¡±
Hugo showed similar surgical precision at the plate in the win over Canada, pushing past boos and chants to crush a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, opening the scoring and signaling what was ahead.
All of Team USA¡¯s starters reached base at least once on Tuesday. They only struck out once. By the time the fourth inning rolled around and Denae Benites added a two-run homer, it looked like the visitors were on their way to another mercy win after breezing past Mexico, 11-1, in five innings the day prior.
But Team Canada wasn¡¯t going to make it easy, the sting of a 23-0 defeat to the U.S. in the preliminary round last year still very much alive in everyone¡¯s memories.
Tension mounted with every pitch. Bat flips were frequent. Players on both sides celebrated two-out singles like they were Game 7 home runs.
They loved every second of it.
¡°I think that we're making a really strong statement, that we're steamrolling through these teams,¡± said right-hander Olivia Pichardo, who pitched four scoreless innings with four strikeouts in the win. ¡°Yeah, we're coming for the championship.¡±
Pichardo heard the boos, too. After a particularly controversial strike-three call, she allowed herself to look up from the mound and gesture back toward the home crowd: ¡°Keep going, she¡¯s out.¡±
¡°I came into the game with confidence,¡± Pichardo said. ¡°I liked that there was a big crowd and I got to start under the lights.¡±
The lights are only getting brighter from here.
Team USA had a sobering experience in 2018, the most recent edition of the WBWC, settling for fourth place after an 8-5 loss to Canada in the bronze-medal game. The six years that followed changed everything, though, as the U.S. used the long COVID-induced break to overhaul its program and invest in its talent.
The product of that is reflected in a 3-0 start to the final round.
¡°Our confidence never wavered,¡± manager Veronica Alvarez said after the win. ¡°It's not like an arrogance thing. It's more just confidence toward each other and their ability to kind of come together for the win.¡±
Still, they know that what awaits them down the line is a powerhouse Japan team that has won the WBWC five times in a row. Confidence -- or arrogance, depending on who you ask -- can only take you so far.
¡°One of our strengths is [power], but we don¡¯t always rely on it,¡± Alvarez said. ¡°They kind of [went] back to the basics and played the game as a team, and not just trying to be the hero.¡±
That was evident when Hugo and Benites reached home plate after their homers, their entire team waiting to salute them in celebration.
¡°I love it,¡± Hugo said. ¡°I think that the energy from both sides is great for us and our morale, and it kind of makes us lock arms a little more and have each other¡¯s backs.¡±
The way Alvarez sees it, her team is ¡°a combination of a lot of good parts of the game of baseball.¡± If you¡¯re on the mound, trust the defense behind you. If you¡¯re in the box, exercise discipline. If you¡¯re on the basepaths, show off your wheels and move with purpose.
And if all else fails, just hit dingers.
Day 3 at Port Arthur Stadium
Mexico picks up crucial win: Marlen Lagunes homered and picked up four RBIs in Mexico¡¯s 9-3 win over Chinese Taipei, its first victory of the final round.
Japan cruises past Venezuela: It was small ball at its best once again as Japan picked up a five-inning, 11-0 win over Venezuela to move to 3-0 in the tourney. Iori Miura continued to shine, collecting two hits and three RBIs. Miu Shiraishi had a three-hit, three-RBI game, and Akino Tanaka struck out four over four scoreless frames. Japan and the U.S. are the only remaining undefeated teams in the final round.