Both men's and women's softball tournaments were conducted during World Games I. The games were played July 30 - August 2, 1981 at Central Park in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

. Teams from the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and Chinese Taipei participated in the women's event, while in the men's event, the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and Mexico were initially slated to appear. As the time of the Games approached, the Mexican team withdrew for financial reasons and was replaced by a second team from the United States. All three U.S. teams were intact successful high-level softball teams, well known in the U.S. softball community. The Raybestos Brakettes club from Connecticut was the women's team. United States I, the original selection for the Games, was the Peterbilt team from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. After Mexico's decision, the Guanella Brothers team from

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

was engaged in the role of United States II. Kathy Arendsen pitched four shutouts for the U.S. women, culminating in a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

in the championship final.

Women

Medalists

Standing

Round-robin phase:

Details

Each team played two games per day for three days, followed by a championship game between the top two teams in the standing. Thursday, July 30, 1981: :Canada 4, Bahamas 3
United States 1, Chinese Taipei 0
United States 4, Bahamas ?
Chinese Taipei d. Canada Friday, July 31, 1981: :Bahamas 5, Chinese Taipei 2
United States 3, Canada 0
Canada 2, Bahamas 1
United States 2, Chinese Taipei 0 Newspaper source had the winning and losing pitchers switched, incorrectly. Saturday, August 1, 1981: :Canada 2, Chinese Taipei 1
United States d. Bahamas
United States 8, Canada 0
Bahamas d. Chinese Taipei Sunday, August 2, 1981: :Championship game -- United States 3, Canada 0 (perfect game by Arendsen) Other known individual participants: TPE – Feng-Yuan, Lih-Ju, Sub-Shain

Men

Medalists

Standing

Round-robin phase:

Details

Each team played two games per day for three days, followed by a championship game between the top two teams in the standing. Thursday, July 30, 1981: :United States II 3, Bahamas 0
United States I 2, Canada 1
United States I 8, Bahamas 0
United States II vs. Canada Friday, July 31, 1981: :Canada 4, Bahamas 3 (9 inn.)
United States I 3, United States II 1
United States II 3, Bahamas 1
United States I 4, Canada 3 (10 inn.) Saturday, August 1, 1981: :United States I 5, Bahamas 1
United States II vs. Canada
United States II 3, United States I 1
Canada d. Bahamas ''Note: Canada and United States II split the two games between them.'' Sunday, August 2, 1981: :Championship game -- United States II 3, United States I 0 Other known individual participants: BAH –

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, Russell, D Smith

References

{{EventsAt1981WorldGames

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1981 World Games 1981 in softball