International Teams Take Center Stage on Day 3 of Senior League Softball World Series
A four-game slate at the Senior League Softball World Series on Wednesday allowed international teams to break out and show spectators that they will have much to say about who wins the 2026 championship.
Game 11: Europe-Africa 10, West 1
Czechia played its second Pool B game of the tournament a day after losing a nail-biter to South Carolina.
For a second straight game, Europe-Africa displayed strength in the circle and a hard-hitting offense as they dominated the West.
Lucie Halamkova threw a complete game, scattering six hits and three walks, while striking out 10 batters. Halamkova, a tall, right-handed pitcher, worked up and down in the zone as she controlled the Hawaii hitters. Her performance followed an equally impressive performance by Nela Svestkova on Tuesday.
The Europe-Africa offense had 14 hits, including three doubles. Leadoff batter Andela Jirotkova went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, while shortstop Bara Jedelska was a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs scored and an RBI.
Czechia moved to 1-1 in Pool B and plays two games on Thursday, including one against the Pool B leader, Michigan.
Game 12: Central 12, Canada 1
Quebec and Michigan faced each other in Pool B competition on Wednesday evening, with both teams unbeaten with 2-0 records.
Michigan, the Central Region representative from Grand Blanc, won the 2025 Senior League Softball World Series and is making a bid to repeat. They won their first two games via run rule, and their offense has been explosive as they hit eight home runs in the first two games.
The Canadians, represented by Royal On Field Little League of Quebec, were impressive during their first two games of the World Series. Quebec rode stellar pitching and a fast, smart and efficient offense to carry them to the top of Pool B after two games.
In yesterday's game, neither team showed all of their cards. Canada rested their top pitcher, Kassandra Turmel, while Central gave some of their other players a chance to start in place of offensive stars from the first two games. The game was competitive through four innings.
Down 4-0, Canada had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Michigan pitcher Addison Taylor escaped the jam with a strikeout. Taylor allowed only two hits during her four innings of work and had four strikeouts. She walked four batters, however, and she struggled with several illegal pitch calls that were made due to her losing contact with the pitching plate.
Michigan is now 3-0 in Pool B play and is in the driver's seat for the number one seed heading into elimination play. Canada dropped to 2-1, but should make it to elimination play on Friday.
Game 13: Delaware 6, Latin America 5
The Host Team, Delaware District 3, moved to 3-0 in Pool A play, but did so after escaping an upset bid by Brazil on Wednesday night.
Delaware built a 6-2 lead in the game on the strength of two line-drive home runs from Adeline Lutz and Journey Hearne. Pitcher Cierra Lewis seemed to be in control heading into the sixth inning, but she ran into trouble after walking the first two batters, who both scored on a fielding error to make the score 6-4.
Delaware went quietly in their half of the seventh inning, giving Brazil its last shot to tie or win the game. Mariana Sonoda led off with a double, which was followed by a single by Rafaela Nakamura. A fielder's choice scored Sonoda, making it a 6-5 game. After a walk, Brazil then had the tying and winning runs on base.
Relief pitcher Makenna Blades pulled off the escape act by inducing a pop up to left field and a grounder to third baseman Jordynn Bowe to end the game.
Brazil dropped to 1-2 in Pool A play. The first-time World Series entrants from Sǎo Paulo appear to be in line to make it to elimination play on Friday.
Game 14: Asia-Pacific 18 , Southwest 1
The team from Malolos, Philippines, representing the Asia-Pacific Region, has been very impressive in the circle, limiting their competition to only four runs in the first three games of the World Series. They have also averaged nine runs per game on offense.
In their matchup against Texas, Asia-Pacific amassed 11 hits and took advantage of eight walks issued by Southwest pitching to blow the game open. The backbreaker for Southwest was an 11-run second inning that put the game away.
The bottom of the Asia-Pacific batting order did most of the damage. Melisa Evangelista was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs, while pitcher Carlene Jade Santos went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Santos also threw 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four.
Delaware and Asia-Pacific are scheduled to meet on Thursday at 2 p.m. EDT, in a game that will decide the Pool A winner. It will be the first of six games played as pool play wraps up.
All of the action can be watched on ESPN+.
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Thomas Carey was born and raised in Delaware and is a graduate of both the University of Delaware and Wilmington University. He has spent his career as a legal writer. He played competitive modified softball for ten years and has been an assistant coach for girls fastpitch since 2017. For the past several years, he served as a recruiting coordinator at the 18-and-under travel ball level.
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