Zavodnik scores game-winning run in U-18 Softball World Championship, brings home two gold medals

LIMA, Peru – BYU sophomore Violet Zavodnik scored the game-winning run to give the U-18 USA Women's National Team a 1-0 walk-off gold medal victory over No. 6 Chinese Taipei to claim the 2021 World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 World Championship title on Sunday.

In the bottom of the seventh, a walk to Zavodnik would put another runner on base before a fielder’s choice would cause an out at third, leaving the U.S. with runners on first and second with one out. Named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Valerie Cagle from Clemson University drove the first pitch she saw to the left-center gap, allowing Zavodnik to speed home and score the game-winning run for Team USA to claim the 2021 U-18 World Championship title.

Following the world championship win, Zavodnik will now return to Utah with two Championship titles, having also claimed the 2021 Junior Pan American Games gold medal in Barranquilla, Colombia earlier this month.

Zavodnik is the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. She finished last season with a .513 batting average in conference play, the highest average in the WCC. The center fielder also tallied 64 hits, 44 runs and 48 RBI with a 0.834 slugging percentage in the 2021 spring season.

For more details on Zavodnik's trip with the U-18 Women's National Team, go to teamusa.org.