The Red, White and Blue swept the final day of Border Battle XIV, including victories from the Men’s and Women’s Futures and two U.S. victories in the Men’s and Women’s Border Battle contests against Canada.


U.S. Women’s Futures Slow Pitch National Team
The Women’s Futures capped the weekend with back-to-back wins over JMI Sports and Tolbert’s All-Stars to end Border Battle XIV with a 4-2 record, falling only to JMI Sports and the U.S. Women’s Slow Pitch National Team (WSPNT). Scoring in the final two innings, the Women’s Futures tabbed a narrow 6-4 win over JMI Sports in their first matchup of the day behind a combined 12 hits and multi-hit performances from Ta’Shelya Bynum (2-for-3), Alyssa Derrick (2-for-2) and Pam Usry (2-for-3). In its second matchup of the day, the Women’s Futures team faced off against Tolbert’s All-Stars as the U.S. pulled ahead in the fourth inning, holding the lead to edge out the All-Stars, 17-9 – highlighted by a perfect 4-for-4 performance from Randi Pauly and seven additional multi-hit performances from the U.S. offense. The Women’s Futures close out the event with a combined 88 hits and a .486 team batting average.
U.S. Women’s Slow Pitch National Team
The USA Softball Women’s Slow Pitch National Team opened day three of Border Battle XIV in dominating fashion, posting an impressive 28-4 run-rule victory (four innings) over Tolbert’s All-Stars behind an 11 run second inning followed by a 10 run third inning. Team USA combined for 24 hits in the win with seven batters recording a multi-hit game – including a perfect 4-for-4 performance from Ashley Langoni.
Women’s Border Battle
Solid at-bats and a strong defensive showing helped the U.S. WSPNT claim the program’s fifth-consecutive Border Battle title as the Eagles outscored Canada 12-0 (five innings) to improve to a 5-0 overall record in the annual event. Tylia Sylestine led the U.S. offense with two singles, a triple and three runs scored followed by Megan Baltzell with a single, a home run – her fifth of the tournament – and four RBI. Closing out the weekend, the Red, White and Blue combined for 19 hits in the win with seven batters recording a multi-hit game.
Scoring in every inning, the U.S. got on the board early with four runs crossing the plate in the bottom of the first to get the lead, 4-0, thanks to a two-run blast from Megan Baltzell – her third of the tournament – and a pair of singles from Meagan Pearson and Ruby Richie. Baltzell tacked on one more in the bottom of the second with a base hit, before two triples and a series of singles plated four more for the Eagles in the bottom of the third. Keeping the momentum, five base hits and two sac-flies in the bottom of the fourth set the U.S. up to tab the final three outs in the bottom of the frame to seal the shutout win in five innings, 12-0.
The U.S. offense combined for a .613 batting average through five games with 95 hits and 91 total runs. Leading the Eagles with a .833 batting average was Baltzell, followed by Pearson (.818) and Ruby Richie (.778). Baltzell led the U.S. WSPNT in home runs with three over the fence, while Alyssa Schreiner recorded two and Fiana Finau posted one.
U.S. Men’s Futures Slow Pitch National Team
Putting up 27 runs in their first game of the day, the Men’s Futures claimed a 27-11 run-rule win (five innings) over GGC/TWP before also defeating Elevate & Celebrate 40-25 (five innings) to close out its Border Battle XIV run with a 5-1 record – losing only to the U.S. MSPNT in the 2024 Slow Pitch Showdown. The U.S. dominated at the plate with a total of 67 runs scored on 58 hits while posting 17 home runs through two matchups. Mitchell Lendenski led the Red, White and Blue at the plate throughout the weekend with a .800 batting average, followed by Kyle Overstreet (.773) and Terry Lambright (.679). Lambright led the team in home runs with nine sent over the fence, while Tyler Storey blasted five out of the park, followed by Michal Rainer with seven.
U.S. Men’s Slow Pitch National Team
A total of 10 home runs – including three off the bat of Kyle Pearson – lifted the U.S. MSPNT to a 37-8 run-rule win (four innings) over Elevate & Celebrate in day three of Border Battle XIV. The Eagles combined for an impressive 41 hits in the win including four five-hit performances and three four-hit showings at the plate.
Men’s Border Battle
The U.S. Men’s Slow Pitch National Team (MSPNT) proved dominant in the 2024 edition of Border Battle with a 21-14 win over Canada’s Men’s Slow Pitch National Team to clinch its 12th overall Men’s Border Battle title. Combining for 21 hits in the win, the Eagles sent seven home runs out of the park with Ben Dunn and Phil Matte tallying two and Heath Barnes, Kyle Pearson and Everett Williams each tabbing one. Ten U.S. batters collected at least one hit in the win with eight posting multi-hit performances.
Canada took the early lead with two runs on the board in the top of the first due to two solo shots, while the U.S. bats broke open in the bottom of the second after back-to-back home runs from Barnes and Dunn pushed four runs across, putting the U.S. ahead, 4-2. Canada quickly answered back with two home runs to regain the lead, 5-4 before a string of hits and a two-run blast from Matte put the Eagles on top once again, 9-5, in the bottom of the third. In the same inning, a base hit from Travis Clark and a grand slam from Dunn strengthened the U.S. lead, 14-5. Four home runs from Canada in the top of the fourth narrowed the U.S. lead, 14-12, while a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the frame pushed one U.S. run across before Canada sent a solo shot to right field to bring the score to 15-13. Quiet through the fifth inning, the U.S. bats came alive once again in the bottom of the sixth with home runs off the bats of Pearson, Matte and Williams along with a double from Jason Matusik widened the U.S. lead to 21-13. Team Canada managed to score one in the top of the seventh before the U.S. offense recorded the final out to end the matchup and seal the 21-14 Border Battle win.
Combining for a .709 batting average and 151 hits through five games, the MSPNT offense was led by Josh Riley (.833), Jason Matusik (.810) and Jeremy Yates (.810), while Barnes sent seven balls deep followed by six from Dunn and Pearson en route to a combined total of 47 long balls from Team USA.