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Japan All-Star Series Diary: Celebrating a Win, Riding a Bullet Train

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The USA Softball Women’s National Team is in Japan for the Japan All-Star Series at Azuma Stadium (Fukushima, Japan) and Yokohama Stadium (Yokohama, Japan). No. 1 Team USA beat No. 2 Japan 3-2 on Sunday to even the series at a game apiece. The final game will take place on Monday.

Team USA and University of Tennessee assistant coach Chris Malveaux has been providing his insight throughout the stay:

Day 6

We had a little earlier morning today. 2 PM game in the afternoon. Left mid-morning and checked out of our hotel, as it’s our last day in Fukushima. What an incredible city with incredible people. We’ve definitely appreciated our time in Fukushima!

We went into warm-ups and again there was a home run derby. Unfortunately, we did not come out on top. But maybe that was reversing our luck on the field for the game. Our game with Japan was another exciting one. It was a scoreless game going into the fifth inning. Up until this point, we had hit a lot of balls hard and had nothing to show for it. Baylee Klingler hit a HUGE two-out three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth with Jada Cody at third and Kayla Kowalik at second base. This proved to be all we needed as we held on for a 3-2 win. Megan Faraimo was outstanding in the circle the whole game. Ally Carda came up big with the save.  

Baylee Klingler getting interviewed after the game

After we finished, it was time to head to Yokohama. It would normally be about a four-hour bus ride. Instead, we took a bullet train – and cut the trip to a little over an hour. A pretty cool experience!

We will play the third and deciding game tomorrow evening here in Yokohama at Yokohama Stadium. Excited to see what the environment will be like!

The view leaving Azuma Stadium

Previous Diary Entries

Day 1

Day 2-3

Day 4

Day 5

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