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player ready...Two down, three to go.
That became the battle cry for the U.S. women’s softball team after Lisa Fernandez led the Americans to a 6-0 victory Saturday over Italy in the final game before the medal round.
Fernandez’s two-run homer in the third inning was enough to send the United States into the medal round. The U.S. battled back from three consecutive extra-inning losses, the only time in international competition that has happened.
But just to make sure, Leah Amico’s two-run single in the fifth inning helped erase some of the frustration that occurred during those 38 innings of silent bats during the three losses.
“We would gladly forget about that 112-game winning streak for just one little five-game streak here,” Dot Richardson said after the victory over New Zealand had snapped the streak. “But wouldn’t that be an unbelievable comeback to win it after struggling like we did?”
Richardson celebrated her 39th birthday with her family, her agent and 100,000 of her closest international friends. That was the estimated crowd at Darling Harbor, where the Richardson family went to dinner for her birthday.
Then she returned to business.
“Now we have two,” said Fernandez, who also pitched the first two innings, allowing only a single and striking out six.
After the United States built a 4-0 lead, coach Ralph Raymond pulled Fernandez for Christa Williams, who didn’t allow a hit and pitched perfectly over the next five innings.
Fernandez probably will pitch against China when medal-round play begins Monday.
The four top teams in round-robin play advance to the medal round, but it’s not the normal semifinal play in which the No. 1 seed would face No. 4, with No. 2 playing No. 3, with the winners moving to the gold-medal game and losers to the bronze-medal game.
Instead, the International Softball Federation rewards round-robin play.
So team No. 1, Japan (7-0), plays team No. 2, Australia (6-1), in the first semifinal, which starts Monday morning. The winner advances to the gold-medal game Tuesday.
Team No. 3, China (5-2), plays No. 4, the U.S. (4-3), in the second semifinal, with the winner playing the loser of the Australia-Japan game Monday evening in the bronze-medal game. The lower seeds must win twice in the same day to gain the gold-medal round, and the loser of China-U.S. finishes fourth in the tournament.
“We consider it the four best teams remaining,” outspoken Australian coach Bob Crudgington said. “It’s a whole new tournament.”
Raymond gave Crudgington food for thought by brining a whole new batting lineup to help the team get out of a .188 rut.
He had Fernandez bat, which she usually doesn’t do while pitching. He moved Christie Ambrosi to designated hitter and dropped first baseman Sheila Douty lower in the lineup. The team responded with five hits, including three for extra bases.
“If we play ball like we’re capable, we can make this very interesting.” Raymond said. “But we have to play our ball. No mental errors. Everybody does their job.”