East shuts down Latin America
By John Denny
Staff Reporter

Arielle Cooper makes it safely to base in East's win over Latin America on Thursday. Photo by RUSLANA LAMBERT

“We know we’re a good team,” USA East third baseman Arielle Cooper said. “We should’ve finished higher, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”

Maybe tournaments are like watching good pitches go by — you realize afterwards that you should’ve or could’ve hit it, but are better prepared for the same pitch later in the count.

“We plan on coming back next year,” USA East Manager Joel Borden said. “Sometimes you need to come and lose it [before you improve].”

Borden noted that his team missed out on making the Senior League World Series final rounds because of a 2-2 record, but was able to get over the hump this year to compete and with a slew of returning players — the opportunity to improve is there for the taking.

As for the game, USA East didn’t hit as well as they’d like, but they were able to score enough runs and were protected by dominating pitching performances by starter Elysa Parrilla and reliever Aubrey Latham.

USA East left the bases full twice and left nine base runners in scoring position throughout the game. Cooper got USA East on the board, giving her team a 1-0 lead on a RBI double in the top of the fourth. And Kirstyn Tracey belted in the remaining two runs on a RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the fifth and seventh inning respectively.

Latin America, only two years removed from playing the championship game, stalled at the plate and mustered only one hit in the game — a leadoff single by Richmari Solivan. Parrilla and Latham each worked three, three-up three-down innings. And Latham struck out five of nine batters she faced.

USA East will play the third-place team from Pool B for fourth place in the Senior League Softball World Series tonight at 8 p.m. on Connie Mack Field. Latin America plays the fourth-place team from Pool B for fifth-place in the preceding game on the same field.