Fernandez, Bustos Lead Americans to Softball Gold

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The New York Sun

ATHENS, Greece – The U.S. softball team won its third straight gold medal with an unprecedented and nearly unblemished romp through the Olympics, capped by a 5-1 victory yesterday over an Australian team, that, like the rest of softball’s elite, never had a chance.


The Americans zeroed in on a gold medal, and were four outs from a tournament-long shutout before the Aussies scored a run – the first given up by the U.S. pitching staff in 54 2/3 innings.


“This is the best one I’ve ever coached,” Mike Candrea said. “It’s probably the best team I’ll ever see. I think it will go down as a team people will talk about for a long time.”


Lisa Fernandez pitched a four-hitter and Crystl Bustos homered twice as the United States completed a three-game sweep of the silver medal-winning Aussies, the only team in the same class as the Americans in these games.


“Our whole team came together today,” said Bustos, a two-time Olympian. “The bunting, the people getting on base, the hard-hit balls. Our defense was there. The pitching was phenomenal. It’s the best Olympic team I ever played on.”


The United States outscored Australia 20-1 in the three-game sweep and finished the nine-game tournament by outscoring the field 51-1. The run total was just one of more than a dozen Olympic records that fell to the mighty U.S. squad.


After getting the final out, Fernandez flung her glove high into the air and was swarmed by her teammates, who piled on one after another as if they were attempting to build a pyramid in the dirt.


As happened in their first eight games, the ball bounced the U.S. team’s way. Even when an opposing batter hit a ball hard, it seemed to find a U.S. glove. In the third, Kerry Wyborn rocketed one only to have it snatched by Fernandez, who simply flicked her wrist and stared at the yellow ball.


Bustos hit a two-run homer in the first and added a solo shot on Tanya Harding’s first pitch of the third. One out later, Stacey Nuveman homered off Harding, who was lifted by coach Simon Roskvist.


After giving up the ball and walking to the dugout, Harding laughed about what had just happened – another pitcher overwhelmed by the U.S. team’s might.


Harding, the only pitcher ever to beat the United States twice in Olympic play, came into the game 4-0 with four shutouts over 33 innings in the tournament. The Americans took care of that in their first at-bat.


O’Brien-Amico singled with one out and Bustos, the most feared power hitter in women’s softball, followed by driving a 1-1 pitch over the wall in center to make it 2-0.


Fernandez and Nuveman hit singles that kept the pressure on Harding, and Kelly Kretschman singled through the pitching circle. After sliding across the plate with a headfirst slide, Fernandez jumped to her feet with both fists clenched and the front of her blue warmup jacket streaked with the white lime marking the batter’s box. The American star batted .545 in her third Olympics, leaving little doubt that she’s still the game’s best all-around player.


The New York Sun

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