Japan had entered the competition, organised by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), as defending world champions but were unable to prevent the US powering to a dominant 8-1 victory in the final, with Jenna Lilley, Alyssa Palomino and Sydney Romero all achieving home runs during the course of the match.

Palomino,  in particular, had proved to be one of the star players at the Championships as she set an all-time record for runs batted in (RBI), as her batting contributed to 27 runs for the American team throughout the tournament.

It meant she surpassed the previous best of 18 RBI, set by fellow American Stacey Nuveman back in 1995, and Palomino was also able to tie Nuveman's home run record of five.

Tournament records were also achieved by Puerto Rico's Elicia D'Orazio, who stole 11 bases during the Championships, beating the previous record of eight.

D'Orazio’s performances helped her team to a podium position in Oklahoma City as Puerto Rico defeated Canada in the third place match, the Caribbean country's highest-ever finish at the World Championships.

Following the podium presentation the American, Japanese and Puerto Rican teams joined together to share their desire to see baseball and softball return to the Olympic programme for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Baseball was dropped from the Olympics following Beijing 2008. 

Baseball and softball are currently one of eight sports under consideration for the Games, with the WBSC having joined their rivals karate, squash, bowling, sport climbing, surfing, roller sports and wushu in pitching their inclusion to organisers earlier this month.

WBSC secretary general Beng Choo Low believes the sport's potential inclusion at Tokyo 2020 has already inspired younger generations who play the sport.

"Our young athletes and future stars are excited and hoping that there is a return of baseball and softball at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020," she said.

"WBSC hopes that our sport can serve in any way possible to further connect the Games to a worldwide youth base and reinforce a commitment to opening new pathways for women in sport."

The inclusion of the sport onto the Olympic programme is still to be decided, byt  the next hosts of the Junior Women's Softball World Championship is already known, with Clearwater in Florida scheduled to stage the bi-annual event in July 2017.

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