» Other Sports » USA Softball and Jennie Finch Finish College Tour An Impressive 25-0, Proving They Are the Team to Beat in Athens
USA Softball and Jennie Finch Finish College Tour An Impressive 25-0, Proving They Are the Team to Beat in Athens
Story by: Darren johnson
Posted March 29, 2004
Photos by: Sol tucker
Los Angeles, CA --
If you talk about Olympic hype and the USA Women's softball team, you probably will hear the name Jennie Finch and Lisa Fernandez more than once this summer in Athens, but first you will have to see this team play in person to understand why it might be one of the best women's professional sporting teams to hit any field.
This is a team that has two consecutive gold medals under their belt, but with most of the players gone from the 1996 and 2000 teams, it is an entire new group of faces that are eager to win the Olympic gold in Athens. That group includes one of the most sought after female athletes in Jennie Finch.... Not only was she chosen the Hottest Female Athlete, but she has appeared on the Tonight Show with David Letterman as well.
Finch who had her number retired by the University of Arizona and has her number on the wall at Hillenbrand Stadium, returned to that same stadium this past Friday night, where not only did they face the toughest challenge of the entire tour, Finch gave up her only homerun... to a college player.
“Tonight was really special for me coming back to Hillenbrand Stadium,” Finch said. “My emotions were definitely racing but once the game started I moved into a rhythm and things were going well. The tour has been a blast and playing here tonight has definitely been the highlight.”
By the end of the night the USA team had once again prevailed in 6-1 victory, only to have to face the Number 2 team in the ESPN/ USA College Softball Top 25, UCLA just two days later and as we saw today was another great day on the field for the USA team.
Today's game featured a UCLA reunion for five players on the current UCLA team. Natasha Watley, Amanda Freed, Tairia Mims and Stacey Nuevman all played together during the 2002 season at UCLA and the fans were ready to see them return to Easton Stadium... but it was the return to the Los Angeles campus for the USA Star pitcher and gold medal winner Lisa Fernandez, that fans came to see.
Fernandez, who is no stranger to the UCLA program finished the game with six strike-outs matching that of current UCLA pitching star Keira Goerl. Unfortunately for Goerl, her effort against the team of stars was changed around when she loaded for the third time in the inning and outfielder Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, FL) took her pitch deep giving her the first ever career grand slam and it also gave the U.S. a comfortable 8-0 lead.
After Fernandez gave up her first and only hit of the game, USA Head Coach Mike Candrea sent Las Vegas native and another 1996 Gold Medalist Lori Harrigan into the game. Harrigan who preserved the goose egg on the scoreboard, is expected to be a key part of this team when they move into medal play in Athens..
So what is up next for the USA team? They will take a much needed eight day break and then Team USA will continue preparation for Athens on April 6th, as they travel abroad to Italy for three weeks competing in a series of exhibition games. Following a few match-ups with the Italian National team, one of eight competitors in the Olympic Games, the squad will return to the States in May to kick-off the grassroots tour on May 17 in San Antonio, Texas.
