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11:15 am Central: A long day of World Cup softball is just beginning, as the US game against Australia has just gotten underway. Cat Osterman is the starting pitcher for the Americans. Last night, the US defeated Canada 6-1, but many would consider the game closer than the score would indicate. Four of the Americans' runs came on a grand-slam homer, where all of the runners got on base after there were two out in the inning. The US has a second game today, against China at 7:00 pm Central.

12:40 pm Central: New opponent, same old result. The US gets a 9-0, five-inning run-rule victory over Australia.

9:00 pm Central: Yet another lopsided, premature end, with the US routing China 14-0 in five innings. I got home a bit after the game started, but heard the TV announcer say later on that the US scored 10 runs just in the first inning!

The Americans next face last year's World Cup champion Japan, tomorrow at 12 noon Central. Whether Japan will use star pitcher Yukiko Ueno on Sunday, or save her for a potential championship game match-up against the US Monday night, remains to be seen. Japan is currently 3-0 in the tournament, and is playing Australia in the late game tonight. As shown on this World Cup results page, Japan has been squeaking by teams that the US has been destroying.

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A US team of collegiate players (or those who were in the recent past) is in Taiwan to compete in the World University Softball Championships (which is not the same thing as the World University Games). Play begins tomorrow, after a one-day delay. The leading players for the US team are discussed in my June 19 entry below.

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