USA men win slow pitch Border Battle 30-23 over Canada

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — When’s slow pitch softball's version of the Dream Team—the USA Men's Slow Pitch National Team—is losing 16-8 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, some people might have wondered what was going on Saturday at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.,in the inaugural Border Battle, a game televised by ESPN.

Head Coach of USA Men's National Slow Pitch Team Steve Shortland (Overland, Kan.) was not one of them, however.

"But I was a little bit concerned," Shortland said after watching his team, comprised of the best players in the USA, rally from eight runs down to defeat Canada 30-23 in a game that took only one hour and 36 minutes.

Shortland figured his team needed to get in the "groove, relax and play" the game they are capable of. But that didn’t happen until the fourth inning. By that time Canada, which jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, continued to add to its margin and by the bottom of the fourth had built its margin to eight runs, 16-8.

Then the USA, which had used the big inning in winning three exhibition games, scored 17 runs on 17 hits in the bottom of the fourth to turn the game around and move into a comfortable 25-16 lead.

If Canada, which collected 27 hits to 37 for the USA, was to stay in contention it needed to come right back and score some runs in the top of the fifth. Canada went scoreless, however, against USA winning pitcher Andy Purcell (Naples, Fla.) and never recovered from the USA onslaught. Losson White (Omaha. Neb.) pitched the final two innings for the USA to earn a save.

In a big game, it pays to use your home runs wisely, considering each team was allowed only ten. That strategy paid off for the USA in the fourth inning with the USA having hit only two homers through the first three innings.

But in the fourth, the USA took seven balls out of the yard with Jason Kendrick’s (Naples, Fla.) three-run blast over right field tying the score at 16-all. Although the USA scored only once in the bottom half of the fifth after Canada went scoreless, the big inning proved to be the difference as the USA added four more runs in the sixth and didn’t have to bat in the bottom of the seventh as Canada scored three in the sixth and fourth in the seventh.

Losing pitcher Brian Higginbotham (Orleans, Ontario) went four-for-four and had three of his team’s eight homers, driving in six runs.

For the USA, which finished undefeated in the Border Battle series of games, Brett Helmer (Cicero, N.Y.) also had six RBIs on three homers. JD Genter (Chickamauga, Ga.), Rusty Bumgardner, (Gastonia, N.C.) and Dennis Rulli (Moorpark, Calif.) all had four hits a piece for the USA. Rick Baker (West Harrison, Ind.), who had a three-run shot in the fourth, finished with five RBIs. All of the USA starters had at least two or more hits.

While some people might have figured the USA would roll over Canada, considering it had beaten them 17-1 in an earlier exhibition game, Shortland "never thought that," he said. "We had to come to play and I knew Canada would give us a competitive game."

It was indeed competitive and helped sell the abilities of the athletes who enjoy playing slow pitch softball at the top level.

Canada assistant coach Jeff (Bug) Seguin (Windsor, Ontario) knew the task Canada faced playing the USA.

"We knew we would have to play a perfect game to beat them," said Seguin. "The fourth inning was the difference. If we had held them to only seven or eight runs in that inning, it might have been a different game. And we didn’t make an error in that inning. The game showed people that we (Canada) play a pretty good game of slow pitch. We aren’t there yet with the USA, but we can play a good game.

"The ASA (Amateur Softball Association) and Softball Canada did a fabulous job in putting this (Border Battle) together," continued Seguin. "We hope everyone enjoyed it. And I hope ESPN enjoyed it also. Hope we can do it again."

About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.

About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visithttp://www.usasoftball.com/.

Tags: Men’s Slow Pitch National Team