The US Women’s National Softball Team completed yet another successful gold medal campaign
at the 2025 World Games on Sunday, Aug. 17 in Chengdu, China. After shutting out Taiwan 5-0 in the finals, USA defended their title since their first place finish in the Birmingham 2022 edition of the quadrennial niche sport festival.
Breezing through the competition with an undefeated five-game run, the Americans began in Group A where they defeated eventual silver medalists Taiwan 4-0 on Thursday then overpowered Netherlands on Friday and host China on Thursday in two straight 8-1 victories. The first true test for the red, white, and blue happened in the semi-finals on Sunday, when USA went the distance against arch-rival and bronze finisher Japan, yet prevailed 7-6 after ten innings of a nail biter between the top two countries. With the pressure taken off from defeating the 2020 Olympics gold medalists, the finals against Taiwan were a repeat of the opening game where USA blanked the runner-up again.
The victory marks the fourth time that USA has won in the women’s softball event (Santa Clara 1981, London 1985, Birmingham 2022, and Chengdu 2025), which is the most in World Games history.
Legendary Oklahoma coach reunites with program alumni in international debut
A major factor in USA’s consistent dominance on the global diamond has been the abundance of professional experience and college pedigree, which continued with head coach Patty Gasso whose first outing on foreign soil adds to her resume as the owner of eight national championships at Oklahoma. Catcher Kinzie Hansen, infielder Tiare Jennings, outfielder Jayda Coleman, and pitcher Kelly Maxwell were a part of the Sooners’ four-peat from the 2021 to 2024, making the event an overseas reunion with their former college coach.
The pitching staff combined for a total of 41 strikeouts throughout the event. Megan Faraimo, a member of the AUSL inaugural championship-winning Talons, led with seventeen strikeouts and 12.0 innings in the circle. Rachel Garcia, the current AUSL All-Star Cup points leader, is a close second with fifteen strikeouts in 11.1 innings on the mound.
Jennings and infielder Janae Jefferson led the batting lineup with eight hits each, while Jennings also scored the most runs with seven and was awarded the MVP for her effort. The team as a whole had 10 players score 32 runs across the five games.
The US national team now has sights set on the 2026 WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup and the 2027 Lima Pan-American Games, in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games where softball is being held in Oklahoma City. For fans wanting to see the team back in action sooner, 11 members will resume their participation in the AUSL All-Star Cup beginning on Sunday, Aug. 24.
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