# Softball at the 2022 World Games

The softball competition at the 2022 World Games took place from July 9–13, 2022, in Birmingham in United States, at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Originally scheduled to take place in July 2021, the Games were rescheduled for July 2022 as a result of the 2020 Summer Olympics postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Softball returned to the official programme of the World Games after nine years of absence.
This tournament also served as the world championship for softball.

## Format

A total of eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams each. In each group, teams played against each other once in a single round-robin format, for a total of three matches per team. The top two of each of the two groups advanced to the knockout stage.

## Qualification

Eight teams qualified, including United States, which, as host nation, qualifies automatically. Qualification places were primarily based on national softball ranking. The last berth was awarded at the European Softball Championship, which was scheduled to take place in 2020 but have been moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Qualified teams

| Team | Date of qualification | Method of qualification |
| United States | 22 April 2020 | Host |
| Japan | 22 April 2020 | Finished 2nd in WBSC ranking |
| Canada | 22 April 2020 | Finished 3rd in WBSC ranking |
| Mexico | 22 April 2020 | Finished 5th in WBSC ranking |
| Chinese Taipei | 22 April 2020 | Finished 6th in WBSC ranking |
| China | 22 April 2020 | Finished 7th in WBSC ranking |
| Australia | 22 April 2020 | Finished 8th in WBSC ranking |
| Italy | 3 July 2021 | Finished 1st at the 2021 Women's Softball European Championship |
| Puerto Rico | 24 March 2022 | Wildcard |

#### Notes

* ^ China originally qualified by virtue of their WBSC ranking. However, China withdrew due to COVID-19 travel restrictions by the Chinese government on March 24, 2022. WBSC replaced China with Puerto Rico on March 24, 2022.

## Competition schedule

The match schedule of the softball tournament was unveiled on 24 February 2022.
| G | Group stage | C | Classification matches | ½ | Semi-finals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
| 9 Sat | 10 Sun | 11 Mon | 12 Tue | 12 Tue | 13 Wed | 13 Wed | 13 Wed |
| G | G | G | C | ½ | C | B | F |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | United States (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 2 | +21 | 1.000 | — | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 12 | +1 | .667 | 1 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 23 | −7 | .333 | 2 | Advance to classification stage |
| 4 | Italy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 20 | −15 | .000 | 3 | Advance to classification stage |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 1 | +21 | 1.000 | — | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 10 | +2 | .667 | 1 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Puerto Rico | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | −7 | .333 | 2 | Advance to classification stage |
| 4 | Mexico | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 17 | −16 | .000 | 3 | Advance to classification stage |

## Classification stage
### Bracket

| 5th–8th Classification | 5th–8th Classification | Fifth place play-off | Fifth place play-off |
| July 12 – Birmingham | July 12 – Birmingham |
| Canada (6) | 8 |
| Canada (6) | 8 | July 13 – Birmingham | July 13 – Birmingham |
| Mexico | 1 | July 13 – Birmingham | July 13 – Birmingham |
| Mexico | 1 | Canada | 0 |
| July 12 – Birmingham | July 12 – Birmingham | | Canada | 0 |
| July 12 – Birmingham | July 12 – Birmingham | Puerto Rico | 1 |
| Puerto Rico (5) | 7 | Puerto Rico | 1 |
| Italy | 0 | | |
| Italy | 0 | Seventh place play-off | Seventh place play-off |
| | | July 13 – Birmingham | July 13 – Birmingham |
| | | Mexico | 1 |
| | | Italy | 4 |

### Seventh place play-off

July 13 11:00 (CDT) Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 31 °C (88 °F) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Mexico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Italy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| WP: Alexia Lacatena LP: Sierra Hyland Boxscore |||||||||||

### Fifth place play-off

July 13 02:00 (CDT) Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 32 °C (90 °F) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| WP: Aleshia Ocasio LP: Jorde Madison Chartrand Boxscore |||||||||||

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| July 12 – Birmingham | July 12 – Birmingham |
| Chinese Taipei | 0 |
| Chinese Taipei | 0 | July 13 – Birmingham | July 13 – Birmingham |
| Japan (6) | 7 | July 13 – Birmingham | July 13 – Birmingham |
| Japan (6) | 7 | Japan | 2 |
| July 12 – Birmingham | July 12 – Birmingham | | Japan | 2 |
| July 12 – Birmingham | July 12 – Birmingham | United States | 3 |
| Australia | 0 | United States | 3 |
| United States | 5 | | |
| United States | 5 | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| | | July 13 – Birmingham | July 13 – Birmingham |
| | | Chinese Taipei | 6 |
| | | Australia | 0 |

### Semi-finals

July 12 05:00 (CDT) Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 33 °C (91 °F) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Japan (6) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | X | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| WP: Miu Goto LP: Chiu An-Ju Sv: Sakura Miwa Home runs: TPE: None JPN: Yamato Fujita Boxscore |||||||||||
July 12 08:00 (CDT) Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 29 °C (84 °F) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| WP: Ally Carda LP: Ellen Roberts Sv: Montana Fouts Boxscore |||||||||||

### Bronze medal match

July 13 05:00 (CDT) Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 31 °C (88 °F) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Chinese Taipei | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | X | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| WP: Ke Hsia-Ai LP: Ellen Roberts Boxscore |||||||||||

### Gold medal match

July 13 09:00 (CDT) Hoover Metropolitan Stadium 24 °C (75 °F) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| United States | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| WP: Monica Abbott LP: Sakura Miwa Sv: Ally Carda Boxscore |||||||||||

## Medalists

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Women's tournament | United States | Japan | Chinese Taipei |