Fourteen months after giving birth to her first child, Finch threw a three-hitter in her longest outing of the year as the United States advanced to the championship game of the World Cup of Softball with a 7-0 win against Canada today.

Finch (1-0) struck out eight in six innings and extended her scoreless streak to 19 1-3 innings.

"I haven't felt this good in a long time," said Finch, whose son, Ace, was born in May 2006. "It's been a long year of hard work in the weight room and on the field trying to get back."

Crystl Bustos and Natasha Watley hit two-run home runs to get the American offense started, and Finch pitched the U.S. to its 21st consecutive victory.

Finch had a 2-0 lead before she stepped into the circle, courtesy of Bustos' team-best sixth home run this year in the top of the first. Bustos' shot to left-center field barely cleared outfielders Alison Bradley and Noemie Marin, who had retreated to the wall to make leaping attempts at a catch.

Watley doubled the lead in the fourth inning with her first home run of the year, a line drive to right-center. The U.S. moved into position for a mercy rule win in the sixth, when Tairia Flowers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Vicky Galindo followed with a two-run single to make it 7-0.

Finch struck out the side in the third and fifth innings. Canada (3-2) got its only runner to second base in the third when Kristy Odamura singled to lead off the inning and then stole second with two outs.

"This is the Finch that I'm familiar with," Watley said. "She is, like, bringing it. I've never seen her throw so hard. She's amazing, the things that she can do with pitches."

The U.S. (5-0) was the only team to make it through round-robin play undefeated. Canada still retained some hope of reaching the championship game, but would need help from Japan (2-1), which was to play a double-header Sunday night against Venezuela (1-3) and China (1-2).

Japan beat the U.S. in the 2005 World Cup final, and the Americans won the rematch in last year's championship game.

Finch, the 6-foot-1 right-hander who gained acclaim with a stellar college career and built upon it at the Olympics and by striking out baseball All-Stars on "This Week in Baseball," threw only three innings at last year's World Cup while she was still working back after Ace's birth.

"After having babies, your bones expand, your muscles expand and everything, so just kind of letting everything come back to normal," Finch said. "I think time was a big factor, and now just a lot of hard work."

She has since moved back into a featured role on the U.S. staff, alongside left-handed ace Cat Osterman and recent college stars Monica Abbott, Alicia Hollowell and Jennie Ritter. And she's still one of the most recognizable players and a must-have autograph for young fans.

"It's tough for her to be a mother and a wife and a teammate and a pitcher and all those things rolled into one," U.S. pitching coach Chuck D'Arcy said. "It's a very tough role, and she handles it quite well. I say with that with all sincerity, because it's very difficult.

"Usually wherever she goes, people want time with her."

For D'Arcy, it's not about whether Finch is back to the dominance of before Ace's birth or when she went 32-0 for Arizona in 2001 as the last NCAA pitcher with an undefeated season.

"Really we're not setting so much a standard as we're trying to get better in all aspects," D'Arcy said. "We tell the pitchers that perfection isn't a destination, it's a journey."

Finch went 3-0 with an 0.56 ERA earlier this year at the Canada Cup and has thrown 11 shutout innings so far at the World Cup.