<html><head></head><body lang="en-US" link="blue" vlink="purple" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: initial;"> <div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="display:initial"></div> <div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="display:initial"></div> <div style="font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.</div> <table width="100%" style="background-color:white;border-spacing:0px;"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: initial; text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> <div style="border-style: solid none none; border-top-color: rgb(181, 196, 223); border-top-width: 1pt; padding: 3pt 0in 0in; font-family: Tahoma, 'BB Alpha Sans', 'Slate Pro'; font-size: 10pt;"> <div><b>From: </b>Codi Warren <cwarren@usasoftball.com></div><div><b>Sent: </b>Saturday, August 5, 2017 11:54 AM</div><div><b>To: </b>Codi Warren</div><div><b>Subject: </b>Chidester plates four runs as Women's National Team bests Curacao 14-0 in four innings</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="border-style: solid none none; border-top-color: rgb(186, 188, 209); border-top-width: 1pt; font-size: initial; text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><br><div id="_originalContent" style=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">August 5, 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Chidester plates four runs as Women’s National Team bests Curacao 14-0 in four innings<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic — Team USA’s bats continued to stay hot as the USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) picked up a 14-0 (four innings) win over Curacao at the Pan American Championship. The U.S. combined for 11 hits in their early morning matchup, including home runs from Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.), while Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) and Danielle O’Toole (Upland, Calif.) combined for a no-hitter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">“Wake up and hit, that’s what the team did today,” said Head Coach Ken Eriksen. “After a late night and Opening Ceremony, for us to come out today with no pregame batting practice and knock out a bunch of hits was pretty impressive to me. You have to give a lot of credit to Ally for knocking out the first inning and giving our team a chance to score in the first inning.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><a href="https://gc.com/game-5983910ea569bb001e339c0a/stats">Click here for a box score</a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Carda brought the heat in the top of the first, retiring three batters with a strikeout despite a one out, hit batter. The U.S. put five runs up on the board in the bottom of the first with the help of two home runs. Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) picked up the first RBI of the game after singling to right field to bring home Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.). Moultrie would come around to score off a misplayed ball that allowed Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.) to reach safely and advance to third. With one runner on, Arioto sent the ball out of the park on a 1-2 pitch to plate two runs, and Aguilar followed suit with a solo home run to make it a 5-0, U.S. lead.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">The Red, White and Blue would add to that lead in the bottom of the second inning. Tacking on two runs in their at-bat, McCleney led off with a triple and Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Two batters later, Chidester doubled on a line drive to left field to extend the lead to 7-0.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Seven more runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the third inning. A single from Jazmyn Jackson (San Jose, Calif.) brought Hannah Flippen (San Diego, Calif.) home and a fielding error on the right fielder allowed Jackson to advance to second base. With a runner in scoring position, McCleney singled to make it a nine run lead. The bases would become loaded after a single from Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calf.) and a walk to Moultrie. Chidester picked up another pair of RBI with a hard hit ball to left field, and Arioto drove another ball to left field to bring in another run. A sac fly from Aguilar pushed across another U.S. run and a double from Flippen gave Team USA a 14-run edge over Curacao. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Needing just three outs to end the game via run-rule, O’Toole entered the circle in relief for Carda and dished out three ground outs to give Team USA the 14-0 (four innings) win.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Chidester led the U.S. offense, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored while Arioto also had a 2-for-3 showing with three RBI and two runs scored. Carda earned the win in the circle, pitching three complete innings with six strikeouts and no hits while O’Toole pitched the final frame.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"">Up next for the USA Softball WNT is a 6:30 p.m. ET contest against Peru tomorrow evening. Fans can watch Team USA throughout the tournament with live streaming through<a href="https://www.internetv.tv/#Softbol"><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span>InternetTV</a> for an $11.95 (USD) subscription. Live stats will also be available for fans to follow along through <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Events/2017/August/04/Womens-Pan-American-Championship-Qualifier">USASoftball.com</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:black">About USA Softball<br></span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:black">USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:black">As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.USASoftball.com&d=DwMFAg&c=7ypwAowFJ8v-mw8AB-SdSueVQgSDL4HiiSaLK01W8HA&r=cm8_WM3btABXTCY67UDGqA&m=CcbThcSrZ0qGj2_IWnFHio-qx1dW5mfgmLUBjPXtj5M&s=DLpEEBrnwOwfS_2jxSieQcVn0jg4VeXM8OMMVMjNBjs&e=" target="_blank"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">www.USASoftball.com</span></a>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666"><img border="0" width="120" height="66" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D30DD6.7CF3A0E0" alt="cid:image001.png@01D2B2E2.3B7F57C0"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666">Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666">USA Softball</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666">2801 NE 50th Street</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666">Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111<br>405-425-3431 (O)</span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666">Visit Us Online:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666"> </span><a href="http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:blue">USASoftball.com</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#666666"><br>Follow along with USA Softball National Championships across the country!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#666666"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";color:#666666">Find a list of <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Play-USA-Softball/National-Championships-and-Qualifiers/2017-USA-Softball-National-Championships"><span style="color:blue">2017 #USASoftball National Championships</span></a> today!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><br><!--end of _originalContent --></div></body></html>