[Alsfastball] USA SOFTBALL-USA records 10-0 victory in front of record crowd - Midland, MI

[Al Doran]

Subject: USA SOFTBALL-USA records 10-0 victory in front of record crowd
Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2004 19:15:01 -0500
From: "Brian McCall" <bmccall at softball.org>




USA records 10-0 victory in front of record crowd
7/4/2004

MIDLAND, MI – An ‘Aiming for Athens’ tour record, 5,185 fans enjoyed their 
4th of July celebration at
Currie Stadium in Midland, MI on Sunday afternoon where the USA Softball 
Olympic team defeated the
Midland Lady Explorers 10-0. Standing room only, the U.S. improved to 45-0 
in tour action while the arm of
Jennie Finch (La Mirada, CA) continued to lead the Red, White and Blue as 
she tallied her 14th victory of
the tour. The large crowd topped the tour record books beating Normal, IL 
who earlier in the week totaled an attendance of 4,350.

“Seeing all these people come out and watch us play, that’s what this is 
all about,” shortstop Natasha
Watley (Irvine, CA) said. “This is incredible and we know they will all be 
watching and cheering when we
head to Athens to defend the gold.”

Watley led in the first doing what she does best with an infield base hit 
followed by a stolen base to put
herself in scoring position. A sacrifice bunt from Leah O’Brien-Amico 
(Chino Hills, CA) advanced Watley
to third before a rally of doubles lit the scoreboard for an early 4-0 
lead. Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country,
CA), Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, CA), Lisa Fernandez (Long Beach, CA), and 
Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour
Beach, FL) all connected on RBI doubles to put the home team at a 4-0 
advantage.

Quiet through the second and third, three more runs increased the U.S. lead 
in the fourth led by an Amanda
Freed (Cypress, CA) single to centerfield. Watley, who finished 3-for-4, 
then added another infield slap
single to put two runners on before Bustos, who now has 81 RBI, then bolted 
her second of three hits for
the day plating Freed and Watley.

Another four-run tear in the fifth, the U.S. used three hits and two 
Explorer errors to secure the 10-0
mercy rule win. A lead off walk to Fernandez put pinch runner Jaime Clark 
(Tustin, CA) on board before two
outs looked to leave her stranded. Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA), 
however, kept things alive with a
base hit bunt back to the pitcher. A fielding error by Explorer shortstop 
Steph Matthew loaded the bases
before Watley cleared the bases with a line drive triple to right center. 
Watley then added the 10th and
final run crossing home plate after another fielding error by Steph Matthew.

Winning pitcher Finch totaled 11 strikeouts on the day and allowed just one 
hit and one walk. The Explorers
only player to reach base was in the top of the sixth inning with two outs 
when Jenny Goldschmeding sent a
double to right center. For the U.S., Watley and Bustos led all hitters 
with three hits a piece and
Fernandez finished at 2-for-2.

The 10-0 mercy rule win marks the eighth consecutive shut out on the ASA 
Grassroots portion of the tour.
Team USA has outscored its opponents now 400-11 with a combined team ERA of 
0.27.

Up next, the U.S. will continue travel along the ‘Aiming for Athens’ tour 
as they head south to
Houston, TX where they will play in a double header on Tuesday evening at 
Memorial Stadium beginning at 5:30
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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