June 30, 2025
By Alissa Noe
WESTMINSTER — For Japan head coach Shannon Mortimer, a nightmare leading into the final day of the Triple Crown International Challenge transformed into something she’ll never forget.
As the sun set on Christopher Fields on Sunday night, she and her assistant coach, with tears in their eyes, handed out the 18U championship medals to each of their star players in attendance. The ladies put together highlight reel after highlight reel to defeat Italy with a 6-2 showing in the title game.
“Me and my assistant coach had food poisoning yesterday, so we were up all night and not feeling too well,” Mortimer explained. “Before we started warm-ups this morning, I told the girls our situation and they literally looked at me and said, ‘We have your back. We'll pick you up.’ It's a feeling that you can't even describe, because when they said that, it was with true conviction.”
That conviction shone the brightest in the third inning, first off of a glittering defensive play from right fielder Peyton Stokes, who made a diving catch to rob Italy’s chances at scoring, before Japan itself stepped up to the plate.
Izzy Cacatian led off with a solo home run over the centerfield wall and then, two batters later, Avary Stockwell followed her lead, launching the ball nearly to the same spot. That gave Japan a 4-2 advantage before the inning wrapped up, then Stockwell propelled another moonshot over the center field wall in the bottom of the fifth for good measure.
She’ll head to the University of Tennessee after one last high school season.
“There's just so many girls with a lot of talent, and you play for something bigger than yourself,” said Stockwell, whose grandmother hails from Japan. “You're playing for your heritage, and it just comes down to competing and who wants it more, so it's always a good experience coming out here.”
Japan ended the contest with 10 total hits, three each of which came off of the bats of Stockwell and Tamryn Shorter, who knocked in a couple runs herself on a base hit in the second inning. Pitcher Katia Nesper threw all five frames and yielded six strikeouts and just two earned runs off of two hits.
Mortimer said it all boiled down to the foundation she and her assistants have been laying since the team’s inception in 2020.
“It wasn't even just the skill, it wasn't the bombs, it wasn't the ESPN plays,” Mortimer said. “It was the leadership, it was the camaraderie, it was the unity, it was the culture. It was everything we represent. We're very prideful people. We're big on respect and just trying to do the right thing, and they've done that.”
