South African team achieves historic win
It was a historic day for South Africa at the ISF Women's World Championship on Wednesday.
It was a historic day for South Africa at the ISF Women's World Championship on Wednesday.
The team picked up their first ever win at a world tournament, a 6-5 upset over Puerto Rico.
"We pretty much won the World Series,鈥� said an elated Candice Stephens after the game.
"We made history today. This was a big one for us,鈥� added the first baseman and outfielder.
"We finally pulled everything together. This is something that's never been done before and we did it. We did it for South Africa.鈥�
The fact they achieved their first ever win on Nelson Mandela's birthday was certainly not lost on them 鈥� or on the crowd, who witnessed the team sing Happy Birthday to the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
"We dedicated this game to him today, and we got this result,鈥� said team manager Thelma Achilles, holding back tears.
"It's making me very emotional right now.鈥�
South Africa jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, then tacked on five runs on three hits in the third to make it 6-0. But with Puerto Rico coming off a major upset over Venezuela on Tuesday, South Africa wasn't taking anything for granted.
They dug in their heels and held on, as Puerto Rico attempted their second comeback in a row.
Constant chants were heard from the South Africa dugout, and at one point the team sang a rendition of the inspirational song, "I believe I can fly鈥�.
Puerto Rico came close to the comeback, with both Aleimalee Lopez and Charlise Castro socking balls over the fence, but they fell short in the end.
As the players rushed the infield on the final out, it was clear this day belonged to South Africa.
"It was relief, it was a release, and we felt like we had belief in ourselves,鈥� said Achilles.
"It was confidence and it was attitude 鈥� that fighting spirit. We were saying 鈥榳e can do it', and believing we can.鈥�
While today's game brought their first win, Achilles believes South Africa came close in earlier round-robin games against Argentina and China. She said those two losses taught her team many lessons.
We were almost there with Argentina. That should have been our game. Against China鈥� that was a good defeat. We learned a lot in that game.鈥�
Watch out, she added. This team believes anything is possible now.
"Our confidence is back and we are ready for war against Czech Republic tomorrow.鈥�
Be the first to comment