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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Marco Stoovelaar)
  Japanese team closes Down Under Series with two wins
Nederlands
 BLACKTOWN, Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) -
Toyota Red Terriers from Japan closed the 7-game Invitational Down Under Series on Sunday (February 21) with two small victories against the Australian Open Women's Squad.
With that, the Japanese team won the Series 4-1.
One game ended in a tie, one was cancelled by rain.
Last year, the Red Terriers won all six games played in the first edition of the Series.
On Sunday, the Red Terriers won the first game with a 4-3 score, then won the next one, 6-2.
On Friday, the two teams split their first double-header.
The Japanse squad, which is widely considered to be one of the best professional women's softball teams in the world, won the opener with a 9-8 score.
Hereafter, Australia won the next match-up 5-1 in eight innings on a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam homerun by Erin Thras.
On Saturday, the Red Terriers opened with a 2-1 victory, then the next game was halted by rain in the fifth inning, just after Australia had come alongside, resulting in an 1-1 tie as final score.
The game scheduled to be played on Saturday-evening was then cancelled due to heavy rain.
All games were being played at Blacktown International Sportspark in Blacktown, near Sydney.
This Sportspark also was the site of this year Australian Softball Championship-tournament in January and the World Baseball Classic Qualifier earlier this month.
For the National Team Australia, this Series was part of its preparations for this year World Championship in Canada.
(February 21)
Related Articles:
 Day 2 Down Under Series bothered by rain. (February 20)
Australia splits with Japanese Team on Day 1 Down Under Series. (February 19, 2016)
Australia wins first World Baseball Classic Qualifier. (February 14, 2016)
Queensland Heat wins Australian Softball Title. (January 9, 2016)
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Game Five
In the first game today, the Red Terriers led 4-0 after five innings.
Australia then staged a late comeback, scoring three runs in the sixth inning, but ended up just short and lost 4-3.
Both teams collected seven basehits.
Haruna Sakamoto and Taylah Tsitsikronis led their teams with two basehits.
Sayuri Yamane and Sandra Holden were the starting pitchers.
In the first three innings, Yamane didn't allow an Australian runner to second base.
In the top of the fourth, with two outs, Australia got two baserunners when Erin Thras and Stacey McManus walked, but they stranded.
In the fifth, with Australia now trailing 1-0, Clare Warwick reached on an infield-hit with two outs and then Janice Blackman reached on an error, but they also were left behind, as Yamane closed by striking out Stacey Porter.
Holden retired the side in the first and third inning.
In the second, she gave up a lead-off single to Haruna Sakamoto, who then stole second base, but was left behind.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Red Terriers opened the score off of Holden.
Midori Kamiyama led off with a single and stole second base.
She then advanced on a grounder and scored on a single by Haruna Sakamoto.
...Haruna Sakamoto won the World Championship-...
...title with Japan in 2014 in Haarlem (Neth.)...
...Here, she receives the Don E. Porter Championship...
...Trophy from former ISF-President Don Porter...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the fifth, the Red Terriers took more distance, scoring three runs off of Vanessa Stokes, who had taken over for Holden in the previous inning with two outs and a runner on second base.
Stokes then successfully closed the at bat, but in the fifth, she gave up three consecutive basehits, including two triples.
First, Mami Tanaka led off with a single.
Hereafter, Rira Yamashita and Haruna Furusawa connected for back-to-back triples that led to two runs.
Stokes was replaced by Kaia Parnaby, who got a groundout.
She then saw Furusawa score the next run on a squeeze sacrifice bunt by Mana Atsumi.
That was to be an important run, as it would be the difference in the final score.
In the top of the sixth, Australia also rallied for three runs to narrow the deficit to 4-3.
Yuka Nakamura took over the Japanese pitching, but was greeted with a lead-off double by Taylah Tsitsikronis, who advanced on a passed ball and scored on a following single by Erin Thras.
Hereafter, the bases got loaded when Stacey McManus singled and Georgia Blair walked.
Thras then scored the next run when Blair was forced out at second base on a grounder by Jordyn Christensen.
Moments later, McManus scored the third Australian run on a wild pitch.
Pinch-hitter Brenda De Blaes then singled to put runners on first and third base, but Nakamura then closed the at bat by striking out Clare Warwick.
Japan got close to adding an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Nozomi Nagasaki tripled with one out, but she stranded on third base.
In the top of the seventh, Australia got another scoring opportunity off of new pitcher Kasumi Hirahara
With one out, Stacey Porter walked and Taylah Tsitsikronis singled.
Erin Thras followed with a line drive, but that was caught by Hirahara.
A flyout then ended the game.
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Game Six
In the final game of the Series, the Red Terriers won 6-2.
Kasumi Hirahara, who closed the previous game by pitching the seventh inning, started for the Red Terriers and this time, she threw five hitless innings.
Australia collected only three hits in this game, while the Japanese squad registered eleven, including three by Nozomi Nagasaki, who also batted in two runs and scored once.
American Nathasha Watley, who was the designated player for the Red Terriers, was 2-for-3, scored once and batted in one run.
The final score appears to be comfortable, but the Red Terriers led only 2-0 after five innings.
The team then added three in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Australia scored its two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
In the first inning, the Red Terriers opened the score off of starter Amelia Cudicio.
She hit lead-off hitter Natasha Watley with a pitch, then walked Saki Yamazaki with two outs.
A double by Nozomi Nagasaki followed, enabling both runners to score.
For the Australian squad, Stacey McManus led off the first inning with a walk, then Stacey Porter walked with one out.
The two moved on a grounder, but a strikeout ended the at bat.
In the next four innings, Kasumi Hirahara retired the side and with that retired the last 14 batters in a row she had faced, before being relieved.
Fromt he second inning on, Amelia Cudicio held Japan scoreless in the next three innings and retired the side in the third at bat.
...Natasha Watley playing for Team USA at...
...the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China)...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
In the top of the fifth, Sandra Holden took over for Cudicio.
She gave up singles to Naomi Nakagawa and Natasha Watley, who then advanced on a wild pitch.
But they stranded, as three grounders followed.
In the top of the sixth, Vanessa Stokes became the new pitcher for Australia, but ran into problems.
With one out, Ayumi Suzuki singled and Mayu Hayashi doubled.
The first then scored on a grounder by Kana Kurosawa.
Hereafter, Natasha Watley followed with an RBI-double and Yukimi Chikyu added a runscoring single to increase the lead to 5-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Akari Tanai took over the pitching for the Red Terriers.
She hit lead-off hitter Katherine Tye with a pitch, but she was later forced out.
The Red Terriers took more distance in the top of the seventh, adding a run off of Justine Smethurst.
Nozomi Nagasaki was on third base and Mayu Hayashi on first base with two outs when the latter got in caught stealing-rundown and was eliminated.
However, before she was tagged out, Nagasaki had scored to make it 6-0.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Japanese No-Hitter ended.
Brenda De Blaes led off with a single, then Jade Wall homered to give Australia its two runs in this game.
Chelsea Forkin followed with another single and moved on a wild pitch.
Nex batter Georgia Blair was hit by a pitch and replaced by pinch-runner Janice Blackman.
A force out at third base followed on a grounder by Jordyn Christensen.
But with two outs, the bases got loaded when Stacey McManus also was hit by a pitch.
However, more runs were prevented by pitcher Akira Tanai, as a flyout ended the game.
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