(Tucson, AZ) Kim Doss
Last week, USA Softball held its first International Cup featuring national and independent teams from around the world. Those teams featured six different former and current Arizona Wildcats, including Danielle O’Toole, the starting pitcher for gold medal winners USA Red.
Other Wildcats who traveled to Irvine, California to compete for teams from around the world were Mo Mercado, Dejah Mulipola, Brigette Del Ponte, Katiyana Mauga and Michelle Floyd.
USA Red: Danielle O’Toole
Danielle O’Toole (Courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
USA Red went 6-0-0 to take home the gold medal. They wrapped up a successful week by beating Japan 10-5 on July 15. Both teams were undefeated entering the game.
O’Toole pitched 3.1 innings in the gold medal game, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks. She struck out one.
O’Toole gave up several baserunners in the opening inning, but was able to keep Japan from scoring. Her team gave her a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.
Japan would chip at the lead, scoring runs in the second, third and fourth innings, but USA Red was able to answer each time their opponent put a run on the board. When O’Toole was replaced by Keilani Ricketts in the top of the fourth, USA Red was still leading 4-3.
USA Red marched out a who’s who of top pitchers from the professional and college ranks, with Monica Abbott and Rachel Garcia following O’Toole and Ricketts. The four-woman staff gave up a total of five runs on 10 hits and three walks to seal the gold.
In two appearances over the week, O’Toole pitched 6.1 innings and earned a win against Scrap Yard Fast Pitch in a relief appearance. She posted a 5.526 ERA and 1.579 WHIP, giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks. She struck out four.
Mo Mercado (Courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
Dejah Mulipola (Courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
USA Blue: Mo Mercado and Dejah Mulipola
Mercado and Mulipola took home bronze medals with USA Blue, who went 6-1-0 over the week.
Unlike their fellow USA Softball representatives, USA Blue was unable to overcome Japan.
The single loss moved the team down in the standings, but they were able to edge out Canada’s 5-2-0 record for third place. Both Wildcats saw playing time in the final game, an extra-inning 7-6 win over China that clinched the bronze.
Starting shortstop Mercado went 2-for-4 at the plate in the game that sealed the bronze. She hit two singles and knocked in a run, as well as striking out once.
Mulipola took over for starting catcher Amanda Chidester in the bottom of the third, entering the game as a pinch runner. She stayed in until the bottom of the seventh, reaching on an error in the fifth in her only plate appearance.
Over the course of the week, Mercado appeared in six of the team’s seven games. She went 7-for-
17 with a .412 average and on-base percentage. Her six singles and one double gave her a .471 slugging percentage to go with an .882 OPS.
Mulipola went 1-for-3 in four games. She also earned two walks and reached on an error. She ended her week with a slash of .333/.600/.667 and a 1.67 OPS.
Brigette Del Ponte (courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
Mexico: Brigette Del Ponte
Del Ponte’s Mexico team played well against the teams they should have beaten and lost to the teams that they were expected to lose to, ending the weak with a 3-4 record. Del Ponte’s struggles at the plate were just one of the reasons Mexico couldn’t beat the top-tier teams.
Appearing in six of her team’s seven games, Del Ponte put up a line of .176/.222/.176 and a .399 OPS. She went 3-for-17, with all three hits being singles. She did reach on an error and draw a walk, as well as batting in one run, but her offensive struggles stretched through all six games.
Venezuela: Michelle Floyd
Michelle Floyd (Courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
While Michelle Floyd’s Venezuela team won only one game, she provided effective pitching in her six
appearances. Floyd had a respectable 3.170 ERA in 17.2 innings, including three starts. Twenty-two hits and five walks gave her a 1.528 WHIP.
She struck out more than one batter per inning, sitting down 19 in her 17.2 innings. She put up her highest strike-out totals against Mexico and the Czech Republic, totaling six in six innings versus Mexico and seven in four innings against the Czech Republic.
Floyd also got a chance to swing the bat, going 1-for-2 with a double against the Czech Republic on Sunday.
Scrap Yard Fast Pitch: Katiyana Mauga
Katiyana Mauga (courtesy of Arizona Athletics
While most of the teams competing in Irvine were national teams, Mauga appeared for independent Scrap Yard Fast Pitch out of The Woodlands, Texas (part of the Houston metro area). Scrap Yard won the Cowles Cup last year in National Pro Fastpitch, but left the league this past January. Their sister team, the Texas Charge, drafted Mauga out of college, but folded shortly after.
Mauga and her teammates didn’t let the instability get to them, though. Their highly-paid starting pitcher, Abbott, was pitching for USA Red in this tournament, but Scrap Yard still went 3-3. Their three losses came against three of the better national teams in the tournament—USA Red, China and Canada.
Mauga was effective in all six games. Even an 0-for-2 night against Puerto Rico to open the tournament wasn’t without bright spots. She still reached on a base on balls in that game and knocked in a runner.
Mauga hit .400 or better against three of the six teams she faced, ending the tournament with a .300/.462/.400 slash and .862 OPS.
Visit our sponsors!
Click the logo!
