Cheyanne Tarango's grand slam leads Team USA

On Saturday during the championship game of the ISF IX Junior Women's World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa, Tennessee Lady Vol freshman Cheyanne Tarango blasted a vital grand slam during the fourth inning to help power the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team to its fourth all-time world title with a 4-1 victory over Japan.

"This is one of the greatest days of my life," designated player Cheyanne Tarango said. "Honestly in my head, I was just thinking about a base hit. I thought that if I could just get the first RBI, (my teammate) Lauren Haeger would be able to take care of the rest."

With the contest still scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, Tarango stepped to the plate with the bags packed and one out and blasted her first Team USA home run to left field, granting the Americans a decisive 4-0 advantage.

The Anaheim Hills, Calif., native hit .400 (4-for-10) at the dish over six appearances (three starts) while totaling four runs, two doubles, a grand slam and six RBIs. In the circle during the event, the right-handed pitcher made two appearances, allowing just two hits while striking out three over 2.1 innings of effort.

After rolling to a perfect 6-0 record in Pool A action and then topping Australia in the quarterfinals, the U.S. lost to Japan in the semifinals by a 9-0 (5 inn.) count. Team USA earned the opportunity to battle the Japanese for the gold by rebounding earlier on Saturday to top Chinese Taipei in the Bronze Medal contest, 12-3.

"It is always tough to take a loss like we did to Japan last night, but I think that it was good for them (the U.S.)," Team USA Head Coach Karen Johns said. "It showed them how much they wanted to have a Gold Medal around their neck and gave them the motivation to fight for it. I am so proud of them, and how they performed today. Without a doubt, they deserve to be called Junior Women's World Champions."

Team USA entered this year's competition as the reigning ISF Junior Women's World Champions, having posted a perfect 10-0 mark at the 2007 event in Enschede, The Netherlands. Former Lady Vol standout Tiffany Huff was a part of that gold medal-winning American squad, hitting .440 (11-of-25) overall with two doubles, a triple, eight runs scored and six RBIs. Team USA had also played in each of the six previous world championship games, defeating China for the inaugural title in 1987 while going 2-3 against Japan in the other finals (losses in 1991, 1999 and 2003; wins in 1995 & 2007).

The American squad qualified for the 2011 ISF IX Junior Women's World Championship by virtue of its gold medal run in August of 2010 at the III Pan American Championships (18-Under) in Bogota, Colombia. While representing the U.S. at the Pan Ams alongside current Lady Vol teammate Madison Shipman, Tarango was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored and three RBIs while posting a 1-0 record in the circle, picking up her pitching victory during a 15-3 (6 inn.) rout of Mexico. Shipman was forced to relinquish her spot on the squad prior to the ISF IX Junior World Championship because of on-going post-surgery rehab for an injury suffered during Tennessee's 2011 softball campaign.

Recent Lady Vol softball signee (2012) pitcher Erin Gabriel was 1-0 in the circle (win over South Africa) with a 3.00 ERA, allowing two earned runs on three hits with seven K's over 6.0 innings of work.