Gators Haeger, Damico & Coyle Suit Up for Team USA at IX ISF Junior Women's World Championship Dec. 8-17
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 | Softball
Just over a month after Gator senior Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) claimed Gold with the USA Softball Women's National Team at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, three younger classmen are set for competition at the Junior World Championships this month in Cape Town, South Africa, with the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team. Sophomore Cheyenne Coyle (West Hills, Calif.) and freshmen Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, Mo.) and Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) will all suit up for the Red, White and Blue from Dec. 8-17 overseas at Junior Worlds.
The squad arrived last Thursday in Cape Town for the IX International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Women's World Championship (19-Under), participated in opening ceremonies Wednesday evening and is slated to open pool play Dec. 8 against Canada at 7:30 p.m. South African Standard Time, which is seven hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Team USA is seeded No. 1 heading into the tournament and is aiming for the Dec. 17 Gold Medal Game.
Following the contest with Canada, the United States is scheduled to play six other Pool A opponents: China on Dec. 9; New Zealand on Dec. 10; South Africa on Dec. 11; Botswana on Dec. 12; Czech Republic on Dec. 13; and Puerto Rico on Dec. 14. Playoffs are Dec. 15-16 with the medal games scheduled for Dec. 17. Team USA defeated Canada, Botswana and Puerto Rico among others at the last Junior Women's World Championship in 2007.
Updates from Cape Town, including photos and video, will also be posted on the official ASA/USA Softball Facebook (www.Facebook.com/ASAUSASoftball/) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/ASAUSASoftball/) pages. You can follow all of the Gators on Twitter @GatorZoneSBall.
More information is available at the IX ISF Junior World Championship site (http://jwwc2011.co.za/), including the complete game schedule, live scoring and some live streaming. The local organizing committee for the Junior World Championship announced that five of the 2011 USA Softball Junior Women's National Team's pool play games will be webcast live through the official tournament website.
The top ranked Americans open the tournament Thursday against Canada at 7:30 p.m. South African Standard Time. Team USA's opener and pool play games against China (Friday at 2:30 p.m.), New Zealand (Saturday at 12:30 p.m.), Botswana (Monday at 12:30 p.m.) and Czech Republic (Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.) will be streamed live from Turfhall Softball Stadium. Live stats for all USA Softball games will also be available through Gametracker at USASoftball.com. In addition to the games that are scheduled for live streaming, Team USA will play host country South Africa on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. and Puerto Rico Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. The playoffs and medal rounds are Dec. 15-17.
For all 66 games played at the Junior Women's World Championship, the tournament website will also be updated at the end of each half inning with the current score. Team and tournament statistics will also be posted on the tournament website at the end of each day.
Team USA enters the competition as the reigning Junior Women's World Champions, having gone 10-0 at the 2007 tournament in Enschede, The Netherlands. In the Championship Game, the U.S. topped Japan 3-1. Team USA has played in each of the six previous Championship Games held, defeating China for the inaugural title in 1987, losing to Japan in 1991, defeating Japan in 1995 and losing to Japan in 1999 and 2003 before reclaiming the top spot from the Japanese in 2007.
Japan plays in Pool B with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Russia and Zimbabwe. The Aussies won the Bronze Medal at the 2007, 2003 and 1995 ISF Junior Women's Worlds.
The U.S. qualified for the Junior Women's World Championship in August 2010 by winning the III Pan American Championships (18-Under) in Bogota, Colombia, with a 9-0 record that included two wins against Canada and another against Puerto Rico. In the Championship Game, Team USA defeated Canada 3-1. The two teams also met in pool play during that event with the U.S. claiming a 3-0 victory. In the semi-final, the Americans defeated Puerto Rico 6-1.
Since competing in Bogota, the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team played in a summer exhibition series against the 2011 USA Softball Women's National Team in Tampa, Salem, Va., and Bowie, Md. The team rejoined in Cape Town for the first time since early July.
The members of the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team hail from seven states and 11 universities, while the squad is coached by former Florida head coach Karen Johns. Team members are Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif./UCLA freshman), Lauren Chamberlain (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Oklahoma freshman), Cheyenne Cordes (Fairfield, Calif./California freshman), Cheyenne Coyle (West Hills, Calif./Florida sophomore), Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, Mo./Florida freshman), Escobedo, Amber Freeman (Lakewood, Calif./Arizona State freshman), Erin Gabriel (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary High School senior), Goodacre, Lauren Haeger (Phoenix, Ariz./Florida freshman), Kylee Lahners (Laguna Hills, Calif./Washington freshman), Destinee Martinez (Corona, Calif./Oklahoma sophomore), Kourtney Salvarola (Arnold, Md./South Florida sophomore), Cheyanne Tarango (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Tennessee freshman), Nyree White (Eugene, Ore./Stanford freshman), Hallie Wilson (North Tustin, Calif./Arizona freshman) and Chelsea Zgrabik (Nokomis, Fla./Florida Gulf Coast sophomore).
The Junior Women's National Team is coached by Johns with assistants Suzy Brazney (Huntington Beach, Calif./head coach Golden West College) and Tony Rico (Huntington Beach, Calif./coach Worth Firecrackers). Joe Salvatore (Monroe Township, N.J./coach New Jersey Breakers) serves as the volunteer assistant coach. Michael White (Eugene, Ore./head coach Oregon) is the batting practice pitcher.
