BATON ROUGE, La. – Since the end of the 2016 softball season, current and former members of the LSU softball program have still been hard at work taking part in world tournaments with national teams, along with the current National Pro Fastpitch season also in full swing.
On Sunday, the 2016 World Cup of Softball wrapped up in Oklahoma City, a six-day event featuring 13 national teams from across the globe. Taking part in the events were current Tigers Emily Griggs, Carley Hoover and Bailey Landry with the USA Women’s Elite Team, while Sahvanna Jaquish and Shemiah Sanchez competed for Puerto Rico. Former LSU All-American Bianka Bell and current assistant coach Howard Dobson were both members of the USA Softball Women’s National Team.
Bell and Dobson finished pool play with a perfect 6-0 record in pool play as the United States was looking to earn consecutive titles after winning the event last summer, qualifying for the tournament title against Japan, unfortunately falling 2-1 in a tense battle in the finale Sunday night to earn silver medals.
The USA Elite team finished second in their pool behind eventual winners Japan with a 4-1 record during round-robin competition, earning a date with Australia in the third-place game. In a thrilling back-and-forth contest, the USA tied the game in the sixth but fell in a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh, as Australia plated a single run to win 4-3 and take home the bronze medal with the USA finishing fourth.
Jaquish, Sanchez and Puerto Rico won four of its first five games at the tournament, earning wins over Venezuela, China, the Philippines and the Netherlands in order, with their only losses until the final day coming against the United States.
The USA Softball Women’s National Team and Puerto Rico will now travel to Surrey, British Columbia, to take part in the WSBC Women’s World Softball Championship July 15-24. 31 teams will participate with round-robin play taking place over the first three days, with tournament-style play remaining for the rest of the event.
For information on following the event, visit ASAUSASoftball.com.
The NPF had an off day on Sunday as the league continues to motor through the season, as five former LSU players are currently on team rosters midway through the season. Three of the four are a part of the Akron Racers in A.J. Andrews, Sandra Simmons and Rachele Fico, while Kellsi Kloss is a member of the Chicago Bandits.
The Racers are currently second in the league behind the USSSA Pride, holding a 14-11 overall record just four games back. The Bandits are fourth overall with a 12-16 record, eight games out of first place.
Andrews has played in 21 games for Akron, while Simmons, who wrapped up her four-year career at LSU has played in six and started four. Fico is in a stable of pitchers for the Racers and has appeared in three games, making two starts in the circle. For the Bandits, Kloss has played in 11 games, earning 10 starts.
The NPF regular season runs through August 14, as five days later in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the NPF Championship Series takes place at Rhodes Stadium August 19-23.
Select NPF games are televised by CBS Sports Network, while all contests will be shown by NPF TV, a streaming service that offers daily, monthly and yearly packages for the rest of the season. More information on the league schedule and NPF TV can be found at profastpitch.com.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.