The Aussie Spirit recorded their first win of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a nail biting 1-0 shutout over Italy to close out the opening two rounds of softball in Fukushima.
It was a pitcher’s duel between Australian Kaia Parnaby and Italy’s Greta Cecchetti both looking in control from the circle at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.
Australia capitalised off a Taylah Tsitsikronis double into left field in the bottom of the second inning, and advancing to third off a grounder.
Queenslander Jade Wall brought in the only run of the game home with a shot to second base, bringing Tsitsikronis in.
Parnaby looked poised and in control, recording two strikeouts in six innings of work.
“I think defensively we were a lot better today,” said Parnaby, who plays professionally in Japan.
“I like to let my defence do the work and I think today my defence had my back. I think we had a really good outing.”
The New South Wales native almost completed the shutout herself, however, after allowing her first walk of the day in the top of the seventh, leading to runners on first and second for Italy with two outs, Head Coach Laing Harrow made the decision to sub in Ellen Roberts to make her Olympic debut.
Roberts took her opportunity with both hands and iced the game with a strikeout to hand Australia their first win of the tournament.
On the offensive end, the Aussie Spirit continue to battle at the plate, taking their opposing pitchers the distance, but will need to begin converting runs in the coming matchups.
“Our plan every game is to have quality at bats so that was our job today, but also to stay aggressive,” said Tarni Stepto, designated player for the second time the Games.
“I feel like we had the quality at bats but could have pulled the trigger a few more times and get those runners on base.
“But overall we made her (Cecchetti) work hard, and made her throw lots of pitches and I think that worked in our favour today.”
Coach Harrow says the close scores across the opening two rounds of Olympic softball speaks volumes of the quality of competition in the tournament.
“If you look at today’s scores they were quite close, Japan going extra innings against Mexico and the US only up two nil against Italy yesterday,” said Harrow.
“I think what it is at the moment, we haven’t seen a lot of each other over the last two years and haven’t had the opportunities to see these pitchers.
“It’s taken a bit for the girls to adjust, from my point of view I’d like to see more runs on the board, but I guess it just shows the quality of pitchers we have in this competition, they’re world class and hitting is not easy against them.”
The Aussie Spirit currently sit third in the tournament behind the undefeated USA and Japan teams, with tomorrow being a rest day.
Australia is back in action Saturday, taking on Canada in what will be a crucial match-up to determine final placings as both nations currently sit with a 1-1 record.
They’ll take to Yokohama Stadium at 10:00am (11:00am AEST) for game three.