PARANA, Argentina – The USA Softball Men’s National Team completed round robin action at the IX Conpasa Men’s Fastpitch Panam Championship on Thursday evening with a 1-0 shutout win over Guatemala, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. With the win, the USA Men locked up a spot in the playoffs and qualified for both the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario Canada and the XIV International Softball Federation (ISF) Men’s World Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
“Tony pitched another great game,” said Head Coach Denny Bruckert (Gillespie, Ill.). “Our bats aren’t exploding but we’re playing really great defense. Today is a new day and we’re going to have a tough rematch with Argentina tonight.”
Click here for coverage throughout the IX Conpasa Men’s Fastpitch Panam Championship
Team USA struck early in the game against Guatemala, scoring the sole run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Frank DeGroat Jr. (Ringwood, N.J.) led off the at-bat with a single to left field and advanced to second base on a sac bunt from Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.). With a runner in scoring position, Derrick Zechman (Watsontown, Pa.) sent a line drive to center field to plate DeGroat Jr. and give USA the 1-0 lead.
“It felt good to finally contribute and help the team,” said Zechman. “I’ve been struggling at the plate the whole tournament, so to help our team secure a playoff game meant a lot. It was a great team win to get us in the playoffs.”
The contest stayed at a 1-0 U.S. lead throughout the remainder of the game, with neither side failing to put runners in scoring position until the bottom of the sixth inning when the U.S. would load the bases. Chase Turner (San Jose, Calif.) got a leadoff single and was followed by a walk to Matt Palazzo (Pleasant Hill, Iowa). A walk to Mancha loaded the bases for Team USA with two outs, but a strikeout kept the runners from doing further damage.
Mancha got the win in the circle for Team USA and threw lights out throughout the contest. In his seven innings pitched, Mancha issued 15 strikeouts, giving up just one hit and one walk to Guatemala. Mancha also retired at least two batters per inning via the strikeout.
With the win over Guatemala, USA secured their spot in the playoff rounds at the IX Conpasa Men’s Fastpitch Panam Championship and are set for a rematch with Argentina tonight at 7 p.m. CT. In their last meeting earlier this week, USA defeated host country Argentina in a 1-0, shutout win. The win also qualified Team USA for both the 2015 Pan American Games, which will be held July 15-26 , and the ISF Men’s World Championship, which will be held June 26 – July 5, 2015. You can follow all of the USA Men’s National Team action at www.USASoftball.com.
P