2012 Annual Report - Softball Australia

High Performance
Elite competition
2011 ISF IX Junior Women’s World
Championship
The Australian U19 Women’s Team, Aussie Pride,
finished 4 th at the IX ISF Junior Women’s World
Championship held in South Africa from 7 -17
December 2011. It was a closely contested competition
with the team only losing games to the three eventual
medal winners – USA, Japan and Chinese Taipei.
Australia commenced the World Championship
campaign with a 12-1, 5 innings victory against Russia in
front of a strong crowd of Aussie Pride supporters. The
match was highlighted by a 3 run home run hit by
Jessica Meyers (NSW) in the 3 rd innings.
The following day saw an unpredictably tight
encounter against Brazil, with Australia winning 3-0.
The team was defeated on day 3 by the 2 nd ranked
Japanese team 7-2, the second innings proving to be
the difference between the two teams as Japan scored
4 runs from 5 hits. Australia went on to win the final
three round games, with a 10-0 win over Germany, a
spectacular 9-4 win over Chinese Taipei and 7-0 win
over Argentina.
Stacey Webber (Qld) was one of the standouts for the
Aussie Pride team with impressive statistics that
included a batting average of 0.556, a huge 14 RBI
display from 6 games (6 singles, 1 double and 3 home
runs) and a slugging average of 1.111. Lana Tye (NSW)
also displayed exceptional pitching form throughout
the World Championship, notably striking out 12
batters in the semi-final against Chinese Taipei.
2011 Canadian Open Fastpitch International
Championships and World Cup of Softball VI
The Australian Open Women’s Team, Aussie Spirit,
competed in the Canadian Open Fastpitch
International Championship in Vancouver from 9-17
July 2011 and the World Cup of Softball VI in Oklahoma
from 21-25 July. The team finished 3 rd and 4 th
respectively, playing 19 games over 15 days and
completing a vital part of their preparation for the 2012
XIII ISF Open Women's World Championship.
Australia finished in second position of pool B, earning
a double chance in the finals series where they met the
defending champions, the USA. Although defeated by
the USA, there were a number of noteworthy
performances from the Aussie Pride defense,
committing only one error all game. Pitchers Lana Tye
(NSW) and Ellen Roberts (NSW) combined for 5 strike
outs.
With a second chance on offer and progression to the
final four at stake, Australia defeated New Zealand 7-0
in 6 innings.
Australia was courageous in the play-off for the bronze
medal, going down 3-2 in the 9 th innings to a stronger
opponent in Chinese Taipei.
Vanessa Stokes (SA) pitches at Round 1 Gilley’s Shield
Image courtesy Neil Medland
SOFTBALL AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2012 Page | 18