OKLAHOMA CITY — The United States’ new era of softball stars now have a title of their own.
Replacing the Olympians of America’s past, Taylor Hoagland hit a two-run home run, Valerie Arioto and Megan Langenfeld had RBI singles and the U.S. beat rival Japan 6-4 Monday night to win its fifth straight World Cup of Softball championship.
Jordan Taylor (1-0) retired the first eight batters she faced and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, never letting the Americans fall behind after they grabbed a 2-0 lead without needing a hit in the first inning.
“It feels amazing, just because nobody really knew who this group of girls was,” said Taylor, who just finished her college career at Michigan.
“We were just kind of underground a little bit. It definitely felt good to come out and still show that USA softball is staying strong.”
Many of the familiar faces were missing in this World Cup, with no Olympic veterans on the U.S. roster as the sport won’t be played on that stage until at least 2020 — if then.
Jennie Finch and slugger Crystal Bustos are among the veterans who have retired since the 2008 games, and others decided to play pro ball instead of continuing on Team USA. Click here to read the complete story on ESPN.