Parma, Italy-May 4, 2016-It took eight innings for the USSSA Florida Pride to beat Italia Softball 2-0 in the third game of the series. Hannah Rogers pitched eight shutout innings holding Italy to four hits while striking out seven. Amanda Kamekona’s RBI triple in the eighth inning proved to be the game winner.
International tiebreaker rules were applied in the top of the eighth. Hallie Wilson started the inning at second base and was sacrificed over to third by Courtney Ceo. Two batters later Kamekona laced the first pitch she saw down the right field line to score Wilson. GiOnna DiSalvatore then recorded her fifth RBI of the series with a single past the first baseman that scored Kamekona.
Rogers went the distance in the circle. Italy threatened in the fifth when Alice Parisi led off with a triple. Rogers then struck out Sheldon Kell and forced two ground balls to end the threat.
The Pride hitters were kept off balance throughout the game as Italia used four different pitchers who allowed a total of five hits. Wilson ended the game 2-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases.
The fourth and final game of the series will take place on Thursday in Verona at 1:00 est. All games are being live streamed on usssalive.com/usssapride and on Facebook. You can also follow the USSSA Pride throughout their trip on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.
This exhibition series in Italy marks the first time a National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) team has traveled to another country to play a National Team. The entire Italy trip is an effort by USSSA to help grow the sport of softball internationally.
Game Stats
http://cnc.fibs.it/cnc/softball/2016/IPS/confstat.htm
About USSSA Florida Pride
The USSSA Florida Pride is a professional franchise in the National Pro Fastpitch League that is owned and operated by USSSA. The amateur organization of USSSA has multi-sport coverage and encompasses teams and players from the United States and abroad.
About USSSA
USSSA is headquartered in Osceola County, Florida. USSSA is the World’s Largest Multi-sport Athletic Organization. Founded in 1968, USSSA has grown to over 3.7 million participants, competing in 13 nationally sanctioned sports including Baseball, Fastpitch, Slow Pitch, Karate, Basketball, Soccer and more! For more information on USSSA and to register your team visit USSSA.com. Also be sure to visit USSSAToday.com for the latest USSSA.
About National Pro Fastpitch
National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, TN. The league, created to give elite female fast pitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fast pitch softball since 2002 www.profastpitch.com.