Monday, June 25, 2001
[ SOFTBALL ]
Team USA Defense played a double role yesterday.
completes
perfect run
in U.S. Cup
Osterman went the distance
in yesterday's gold
medal matchBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comTeam USA had nearly flawless defense and took advantage of imperfections in China's defense to win 4-0 in the gold medal game of the 2001 U.S. Cup.
Before 501 people at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on the University of Hawaii campus, 18-year-old Catherine Osterman pitched another complete-game shutout, striking out nine and allowing only one hit as the U.S. completed the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.
"We played good defense behind Cat today," USA coach Jay Miller said. "We got some runs on the board early so we were able to relax a little bit. And Cat threw a whale of a ball game."
In the second inning, Amanda Freed led off with a single. Lizzy Lemire drew a walk and Toni Mascarenas loaded the bases with a grounder down the third-base line.
On the next play, second baseman Jianwen Chen overthrew home. Natasha Watley followed with a grounder that escaped the glove of first baseman Jingbai Ou, allowing Lemire and Mascarenas to score on the error for a 3-0 U.S. lead.
Nicole Giordano's single to right scored Lovieanne Jung for the final run.
"It was very uncharacteristic of (China)," Osterman said. "I don't think I've seen them make that many errors in one game all tournament. That definitely gave us the break after they made the first two errors."
Having a four-run cushion also took the pressure off Osterman.
In the fourth, Mascarenas ended China's offensive threat when she fielded a hard-hit grounder by Qiang Wei with Li Lin in scoring position. Mascarenas turned a double play, with shortstop Natasha Watley running down Lin and Mascarenas tagging out Wei who was attempting to reach second.
"It was just a reaction play," Mascarenas said. "Everyone went to the right spots."
In the bronze medal game, Australia matched its finish in last summer's Olympic games with a 1-0 victory over Japan.
Kelly Hardie pitched a complete game, striking out six and giving up four hits and a walk. Hardie got just enough offensive help from her teammates in the sixth inning for the win.
"I'm pleased," Australia coach Simon Roskvist said. "The experience came through when we needed it."
Australia and Japan finished the tournament with 1-3 records.
Gold medal game USA 4, China 0 China 000 000 0 -- 0 1 3 USA 040 000 x -- 4 5 0 Zhang Lixia and Xu Jian; Catherine Osterman and Stacey Nuveman.
Leading hitters--China: Lin Li 1-3. USA: Nicole Giordano 1-3, RBI. Natasha Watley 1-3; Tairia Mims 2b, 1-2; Amanda Freed 1-2; Toni Mascarenas 1-2.
Bronze medal game Australia 1, Japan 0 Australia 000 001 0 -- 1 5 0 Japan 000 000 0 -- 0 4 1 Kelly Hardie and Marissa Carpadios; Ayako Yamaguchi and Miyo Yamada.
Leading hitters--Aus: Simmone Morrow 2-3; Peta Edebone 2-3, 2b, RBI; Natalie Ward 1-3. Jpn: Kazue Ito 2-3, 2b; Emi Naito 2b; Naomi Arai 1-3.