Chris DeLarwelle hit .333 with 12 RBI and two home runs in the American Challenge Series

From USAsoftball.com:

USA Men’s National Team takes home inaugural American Challenge Series title

Oklahoma City — USA Softball Men’s National Team won the inaugural KFC American Challenge Series on Sunday by defeating Japan 7-0 in the championship game.

Team USA rode the bat of Chris DeLarwelle (Forestville, Wisc.) to the championship. DeLarwelle went 2-3 with three RBI. For the tournament, DeLarwelle hit .333 with 12 RBI and two home runs.

“I saw that the umpires were giving the pitchers a bit on the outside of the plate,” DeLarwelle said. “So I adjusted and challenged the Japanese pitchers to pitch me on the outside half of the plate.”

DeLarwelle’s adjustment paid off when he blasted a two RBI single down the left-field line in the third inning to start the scoring for Team USA.

DeLarwelle, the MVP for the ISF Men’s World Cup last month in Prague, struck again in the fifth inning with an RBI single to centerfield.

“I had worked on hitting prior to Prague and continued so after I returned from the World Cup,” DeLarwelle said. “I found what worked for me and it helped me to be consistent.”

The win marked a reversal of fortune for Team USA against Japan. The Americans had lost four straight, including two in the ACS, before winning the championship game against them.

“We were trying to find a line-up that worked against Japan,” Coach Peter Turner said. “Plus, the more we play together, the better we get.”

Japan was never able to find a rhythm against pitcher Terry Luster (Bunceton, Mo.). He allowed only two hits in five innings of work.

“Terry just hit his spots and made it easy for me,” USA catcher Frank DeGroat Jr. (Ringwood, N.J.) said. “When a team like Japan has a lot of team speed and likes to bunt, you have to try and change the locations quite frequently.”

After taking the lead off DeLarwelle’s two RBI single in the third, Team USA struck again in the fourth. Sonny Perkins (St. Michaels, Ariz.) hit an RBI single to put them up by three.

Omar Moraga (Tucson, Ariz.) started things off in the fifth inning with an RBI triple. After an RBI single by DeLarwelle, DeGroat knocked in another run with a single. Nate Devine (Merced, Calif.) hit a walk off single that scored DeGroat from second to end the game after five innings due to the international run rule.

Team USA advanced to the championship game by surviving a late rally by Argentina during the play-in game earlier in the day.

Team USA started strong, jumping out to 11-3 lead after four innings, including a grand slam by DeLarwelle. However, Argentina had a six-run rally in the fifth to pull within two.

Argentina captured third place in the inaugural KFC American Challenge Series.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 4:47 pm and is filed under ASA, ISF. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.