July 6, 2014
General Tire World Cup of Softball
-Link includes team information, live stats & live streaming details.
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV softball will be well represented at the General Tire World Cup of Softball IX in Irvine, Calif., this week. Four members of the program will participate at Bill Barber Park in the seven-day competition in either a coaching or playing capacity for three of the seven nations (United States, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Mexico, Philippines and Venezuela).
Lisa Dodd, who just completed her second season as the Rebel head coach, will serve as an assistant on Team USA's staff. This will be Dodd's second stint with the Red, White & Blue after she initially served as an assistant coach with the 2013 USA Softball Junior Women's National Team that went 9-1 en route to a silver medal at the ISF World Championships in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
Moving from the dugout as one of Dodd's assistant coaches and back out onto the diamond will be Caitlin Lever, a 2008 Olympian, for Softball Canada. Lever has spent the past seven years playing for the Red & White.
Juniors to-be Garie Blando and Francesca Foti will round out the quartet of Rebels in Irvine. The pair are two of six Filipino-Americans that include Cal's Alleah Laxamana, San Diego State's Leia Ruiz, Oregon State's Dani Gilmore and Cal State Fullerton's Gabrielle Rodas playing for the Philippine Blu Girls. Those six, as well as, former Rebel Jaexie Balilea will use this week's tournament and the rest of the summer as a tryout for a spot on the team at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea (Sept. 14-Oct. 4).
The General Tire World Cup of Softball begins the summer's slate of competition and it's the first of three tournaments that Dodd and Lever will represent their respective countries. The two will then travel to Surrey, British Columbia for the Scotiabank Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship from July 15-21. The XIV ISF Women's World Championship in Haarlem, Netherlands (Aug. 15-24) will round out the trio of events. Dodd will also assist Team USA at the Italian Softball Week in Azzano, Italy (Aug. 6-10).
This week's action - primarily Team USA - will be aired live on the ESPN networks. All telecasts will be aired in HD and available for live streaming via WatchESPN.
Photos courtesy of Reginald Blando
