so softball being kicked out of the Olympics because supposedly it isn't competitive enough. The US does win every game in a blowout.
now in the last game, they get upset by japan.
from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/sports/olympics/22goldsoft.htmlJapan Ends Americans’ Dominant Run in SoftballBy JOHN BRANCH
Published: August 21, 2008
BEIJING — The United States had dominated softball throughout its four-Olympic run, all the way to the last game. They had rolled through 22 consecutive opponents dating to 2000, outscored its 2008 Olympic opponents 57-2, and looked more than ready to complete their legacy of invincibility in the last game before softball took an indefinite absence from the Olympic program.
Then came Japan, twice a victim to the steamrolling Americans. And, somehow, out slipped the gold medal from the grasp of the Americans.
Japan beat the United States 3-1 to claim the gold medal on a cool and misty evening at Fengtai Softball Field, a result that put a stunning end to American Olympic dominance.
The United States, which had beaten Japan twice earlier in the tournament, was left with the silver medal, and the nagging sense that they have sustained a loss they may never avenge.
Softball has been removed from the Olympic program in 2012, and maybe beyond, meaning that many, if not all, of the United States’ well-known players have ended their Olympic careers on a sour and lasting note.
“We can look back and kick ourselves for the things we didn’t do,” said catcher Stacey Nuveman. “But you’ve got to give them credit for the things they did do.”
The team’s ace pitcher Cat Osterman gave up two runs, the first earned runs allowed by an American pitcher in these Games, and the normally dependable American bats went soft when needed most. The United States twice was unable to score after loading the bases with one out.
Japan’s Masumi Mishina, who was 0 for 13 in the Olympics, doubled to start the third inning, then scored on a two-out infield single by Ayumi Karino. Eri Yamada opened the fourth inning with a home run to left-centerfield, giving Japan a 2-0 lead that sent most of the fans into a cheer-stick frenzy and stunned the American contingent.
Japan’s lead handed the Americans only their second Olympics deficit since 2000. The other came in the third game of this tournament against Canada. In that game, the United States trailed 1-0, but stormed back after an overnight rain delay to win, 8-1.
The Americans hoped that a well-timed burst of rain during the gold-medal game would have an equally cleansing effect. Soon after an 18-minute delay, Crystal Bustos opened the bottom of the fourth with a home run into the right-centerfield bleachers. It was her sixth home run of the tournament, an Olympic record.
Bustos was walked her next time up, in the bottom of the sixth, with a runner on second and one out. Kelly Kretschman drew a walk, loading the bases for Andrea Duran.
She popped out to shortstop for the second out. Stacey Nuveman popped out to second base to end the threat.
Japan padded its lead in the top of the seventh when Motoko Fujimoto, with one out and runners on second and third, hit a dribbler back to Abbott. She threw home, but the ball got past catcher Stacey Nuveman. Megu Hirose scored to make it 3-1.
“I felt like that third run kind of took a little bit out of us,” Nuveman said. “It felt different in the dugout when it was 3-1 as opposed to 2-1.”
When the final chance came, in the top of the seventh, Caitlin Lowe came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. She grounded out, sending Japan into a hugging scrum at the pitching circle, and leaving the Americans stunned silently on the bench.
The top-seeded United States had beaten Japan twice earlier in the tournament. The first, during the preliminary, was a 7-0 game shortened by the run rule to five innings. The next, 4-1 in nine innings on Wednesday morning, carried the Americans into the gold-medal game.
That second loss sent the Japanese to a gold-medal play-in game against Australia, which Japan won, 4-3, in 12 innings.
This one was different than the others from the start, as Osterman and the tireless Japanese ace Yukiko Ueno, who had pitched 21 innings in two games the day before, uncharacteristically struggled to keep runners off the base paths and balls from leaving the park.
Osterman went five innings and struck out nine. Monica Abbott, who had held Japan scoreless through eight innings the day before, entered in the sixth inning and allowed a run in two innings.
While it was surprising that the Americans did not win the gold, it was not surprising to softball fans that Japan beat them in an all-or-nothing game. Ueno helped beat the United States four times in international tournaments the past four years, the biggest reason why the Americans were a modest 14-6 against Japan since 2004. She held the Americans scoreless through eight innings in the semifinals before allowing four runs in the pivotal ninth inning.
Among those sitting in the cordoned-off seats behind home plate was International Softball Federation President Don Porter. He spent the week before the Games at International Olympic Committee meetings in Beijing, and said he spoke to at least 40 members about softball’s place on the program. Another 25, he said, have come to Fengtai Softball Field for games, including I.O.C. President Jacques Rogge and its former president Juan Antonio Samaranch.
“It’s important for them to see the game, because a lot of times they don’t see a lot of softball,” Porter said. “Our work that we need to be doing, among a number of things, is to educate I.O.C. members about our sport, because there are a number of countries where our sport is not being played or it’s not popular. We’ve got to find ways to make sure that they see our sport at the really competitive side.”
He got what he wanted. And now the work truly begins to try to have it happen again.
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