Scaglione Helps USA Win Gold Medal

MADRID, Spain --The USA Elite National Team defeated Italy 6-0 tonight to capture the 2005 Intercontinental Cup. Marissa Nichols (Diamond Bar, Calif.) was 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBI to lead the offensive effort for the U.S. squad.

“This team did an incredible job of coming out and being aggressive early against a very good Italy team,” said head coach Teresa Wilson. “I'm really pleased with the way they came together and got the job done here in Madrid.”

Heather Scaglione (San Diego, Calif.), who singled with one out in the second inning, scored on a single by Nichols to center field to give the U.S. an early 1-0 lead.

With one out in the third, Lindsay Schutzler and Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich.) laced back-to-back singles to start a rally that would produce three runs. Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill.) singled to right field to score Schutzler and Mackenzie Vandergeest (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), who was named as the top hitter in the tournament, doubled to right field to score two more runs.

Box Score | Intercontinental Cup Central

The lead off home run by Nichols and a double by Merchant that scored Schutzler who walked with two outs accounted for the final two runs of the game.

Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich.) was named as the “Top Pitcher of the Tournament” after tossing five shutout innings against Italy in the final game to pick up her second win of the week. Dana Sorensen (San Diego, Calif.) pitched the final two innings to close out the game.

“I was excited about getting the start in the championship game today and wanted to do everything I could to give the team a chance to win,” said Ritter. “It makes it a lot easier to go out and pitch when you have the type of hitters we have on this team. I knew they would score the runs so I just needed to do my job in the circle.”

Merchant was named as the Most Valuable Player after hitting .500 (12-for-24) with six doubles, eight RBI and a perfect fielding percentage at shortstop.

Scaglione hit .533 (8-for-15) during the tournament with two RBI and four runs scored. Scaglione came on strong during the later portion of the USA's last tournament (Canada Cup) and established herself as the go-to catcher on the squad. She started and played in six of seven games during the Intercontinental Cup and was the primary catcher during five of the contests.

The USA Elite Team wraps up the 2005 season with 16-2 overall record after finishing second at the Canada Cup and winning the Intercontinental Cup.

USA Game-by-Game: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Semis

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