News
Spirit still in the fight
Published Sat 24 Jul 2021
The Aussie Spirit softball team are still in the medal hunt following a disappointing 7-1 loss against Canada this morning.
Gold medal chances have taken a blow as they fall to one win and two losses for the week, placing them precariously in fourth position.
After a blistering start that saw back-to-back hits from Leigh Godfrey (single) and Stacey Porter (double), Australia had Canada well and truly on the ropes.
But converting runs again proved to be an issue for the four-time Olympic medallists, who despite putting five runners on base in the very first inning, could only bring in the single scoring play.
“That was an opportunity to put our hand up for the Gold Medal match, which is what we set out to do, so that’s something we’ll reflect on a little bit,” said Porter, who was the Aussie Spirit’s sole scorer.
“But we’re still a medal chance and there was plenty of quality ball in that game and we just need to take out what we need to work on.”
Check out this run-down play from the skipper 💪🙌#Tokyo2020 | #7Olympics | @SoftballOz pic.twitter.com/UHON2OnVt6
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The Aussie’s did record six hits against Canada and will look to build on those positive at bats for tomorrow’s match up against a powerhouse USA outfit headlined by their world-class pitcher Monica Abbott.
Taylah Tsitsikronis’ hitting streak at the Olympics also continuing with another solid outing.
“We did have some really quality at bats, we put six or seven hits on the board, so we were happy with that.
“We just needed that timely hit when we had runners on bases.”
Two errors in defence were costly again for the Australians, both leading to runs for Canada, a similar tale of the tape to the Spirit’s opening game against Japan.
Porter has faith in her charges to again bounce back and secure a top four finish and spot in the medal matches come Tuesday.
“We were just untidy again, which is what happened in the first game as well,” added Porter.
“We know that when we play defence we can win ball games.”
Australia line up against USA Sunday 25 July, 10:00am (11:00am AEST) again at Yokohama Baseball Stadium.
Tournament standings available here.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Schedule available here.
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