(28 July 1996; Day 9)
Having lost only one game in the last decade, the United States entered the first Olympic softball as a nearly unanimous choice to capture the gold medal. Monday evening, the semifinal round for softball opens and the United States is still the favorite, but not by nearly the margin.
The United States is seeded first with a mark of 6-1. They bested the Chinese by a 3-2 margin on a home run in the bottom of the sixth to secure the first seed. Australia upset the United States the previous night on a 10th-inning home run and also won a squeaker by a score of 4-2 against Canada.
The United States is still the favorite, but the other teams are creeping up on the perennial power.
"The rest of the world is getting stronger," said U.S. first baseman Sheila CORNELL. "The pitching and hitting is much better across the world. That is exciting, the more competition, the more fun. It is great for softball."
Cornell feels that the United States has played a major role in this advancement around the world.
"Don't take the credit away from us," said CORNELL, "We aren't getting worse, they are getting better. A big part of that is the players from the United States that have traveled overseas and helped to spread softball to the world."
Although the gap may be closing, the United States remains a clear-cut favorite to capture the gold medal. The women rank first in team pitching and hitting. This balance justifies the selection of the United States as the favorite.
The U.S. pitching staff has five marquee performers in Michele SMITH, Michele GRANGER, Christa Lee WILLIAMS, Lisa FERNANDEZ and Lori HARRIGAN. The staff boasts a competition-low 0.83 ERA, and WILLIAMS and HARRIGAN have not surrendered a run in 16.2 innings. SMITH owns a 2-0 mark and though FERNANDEZ is 0-1, she retired 29 ofthe 30 batters she faced in the 10-inning loss to Australia, striking out 15. The staff has struck out 75 batters in 50.2 innings.
The United States' offensive is equally as potent. It is led by CORNELL with her .455 average, which ranks second to Chika KODAMA of Japan. Her eight RBI, rank second to Haruka SAITO's nine and her three home runs, which rank second to SAITO's three.
The United States also has a balanced attack at the plate with Dot RICHARDSON's two home runs and five RBI, FERNANDEZ's five RBI and five runs and Kim MAHERS' competition-leading six runs.
"I don't think we lost the label as favorites for the gold," said CORNELL after the U.S. win over China. "We are still the favorites, but that doesn't mean the other teams will roll over for us. We are going to have to play good ball."
China owns the second seed with a 5-2 mark and will meet the United States in the semifinal round at 18:30 on Monday. The Chinese players don't see the United States as unbeatable.
"We aren't afraid. We have prepared enough to beat the United States," said second baseman YAN Fang. "We think we have a good chance to win gold based on the fire of the Olympic spirit."
After the loss to the United States YAN told reporters that the game was actually like a practice game because they didn't need to win to get one of the top two seeds. A loss by the United States would have dropped them to third or fourth.
"We considered today a practice game," said YAN. "We don't worry about tonight's game. We coordinate with each other much better than the United States."
China displays the same type of balance as the United States, ranking second in both hitting and pitching. The Chinese pitching staff owns a 0.93 ERA and has been equally as dominating as the U.S. staff, striking out 68 batters in 45 innings.
The Chinese offense is also well-balanced, featuring four of the top seven hitters in the competition. ZHANG Chunfang ranks first in runs with seven and fourth in hitting with a .364 average. TAO Hua is among the competition leaders in batting average, runs and home runs.
Tuesday's bronze medal game is scheduled for 16:30. The inaugural Olympic softball competition will end with the gold medal game at 19:00 on Tuesday, at Golden Park in Columbus, Ga.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Thad Dohrn.
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