[Alsfastball] USA SOFTBALL-Finch and Harrigan no-hit Lady Hearts

[Brian McCall]

For Immediate Release: 6/30/04

Finch and Harrigan no-hit Lady Hearts
NORMAL, IL – U.S pitchers Jennie Finch (La Mirada, CA) and Lori Harrigan 
(Las Vegas, NV) tossed the eighth no-hitter of the ‘Aiming for Athens’ tour 
on Wednesday night in Normal, IL as the U.S. improved to 42-0 in tour 
action. A record crowd for the tour thus far, 4,350 fans packed Champion 
Field as the U.S. captured an 8-0 decision against the Bloomington Lady 
Hearts. This marks the seventh no-hit performance of eight that Finch has 
been a part of as she totaled 14 strikeouts, completed six innings and 
improved to 13-0 on the tour.

“Tonight I was just really in a groove,” Finch said. “The crowd was great, 
along with the atmosphere and my teammates really helped out at the plate. 
My pitches were working well along with my rhythm.”

Getting a 1-0 jump in the bottom the first, lead-off lefty Natasha Watley 
(Irvine, CA) tallied an infield base hit before her speed advanced her to 
second for her 17th stolen base of the tour. Followed by two outs, catcher 
Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, CA) wouldn’t leave Watley stranded connecting on 
a 2-2 pitch for a single through the right side to score the first U.S. run.

The U.S. manufactured another run in the third for a 2-0 lead after Watley 
reached on a walk later heading to third thanks to a Leah Amico (Chino 
Hills, CA) single back to the pitcher. Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, CA) 
then plated Watley with a ground out RBI, her 71st of the tour.

Six runs in the fourth off of six hits, five of which were for extra bases, 
secured the U.S. victory. Lovieanne Jung (Fountain Valley, CA) drove a 
double to centerfield to jump start things before Amanda Freed (Cypress, 
CA) also smacked a double down the left field line scoring Jung. The bats 
were hot as Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA) then connected on her first 
triple of the tour driving home Freed before Amico, who was 2-for-4, also 
nabbed a double adding two runs to the board. The final seventh and eighth 
runs came from power hitter Bustos who drove the first pitch of her at bat 
to centerfield for a two run homerun, totaling 73 RBI and 20 home runs for 
the tour.

Watley and Mendoza each contributed two hits a piece while Lori Harrigan 
(Las Vegas, NV) sealed the win completing the seventh inning from the 
circle. The U.S. continued its pre-Olympic tour win streak to 156 dating 
back to 1996. Thus far they have outscored opponents along the 2004 tour 
373-11, have a team batting average of .403, a team ERA of 0.29, and have 
tallied eight no-hitters and four perfect games.

A three hour drive to Indiana, the U.S. will take on the Midwest All-Stars 
in South Bend, IN on Friday evening in doubleheader action at the Belleview 
Complex starting at 5 p.m.


Brian McCall
Director of Communications
ASA/USA Softball
405-425-3463
<mailto:bmccall at softball.org>bmccall at softball.org
www.asasoftball.com or www.usasoftball.com


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