U.S. softball coach Mike Candrea’s wife, who died unexpectedly last month, appeared to him in a dream the night before Monday’s gold-medal game.
“She walked into the room and told me to chill out,” Candrea said.
There really was no reason for Candrea to worry. After struggling to capture the first two Olympic softball competitions in Atlanta and Sydney, the U.S. crushed nemesis Australia 5-1 to finish the tournament 9-0.
The Americans outscored the opposition by a combined 51-1. They did not yield a run until the sixth inning of the final game, when they already led 5-0.
The 2004 U.S. team is the best ever, said Lisa Fernandez, who pitched a four-hit complete game and won her third gold.
“Our game never changed because of what the scoreboard said,” she said. “We truly played as Olympic athletes, I feel, should play.”
The outcome never was in doubt despite a long-running rivalry. The Americans took a 3-0 lead during a five-hit first inning. Third baseman Crystl Bustos began the onslaught with a two-run homer.
Bustos added a mammoth solo shot in the third inning. The blast, which she rated among the two longest of her stellar career, sailed an estimated 300 feet. Bustos ended the tournament with Olympic records of five home runs and 10 runs batted in.
Another homer in the third inning by Stacey Nuveman extended the lead to 5-0 and chased Australia’s ace, Tanya Harding. Harding, pitching in her third Olympics, had never given up an earned run until the U.S. battered her Monday. She had a 3-0 record in the preliminary round, giving up just seven hits in 26 innings.
“There was too much ball over the plate, but they were coming out swinging, so it does not really matter where I put it,” said Harding, who was most valuable player of the College World Series when UCLA won the title in 1995.
The Americans piled on top of one another in the dirt infield when they clinched gold.
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Australian coach Simon Roskvist said the U.S. team likely was the best women’s softball team of all time.
“I don’t think there could be a tougher opponent,” he said.
The U.S. would not have been satisfied with merely winning the Olympics, Candrea and the players said. They wanted to dominate. Fernandez said the Americans felt heavy pressure from rapidly improving international opponents in the 2000 Games.
“We had to do something, and we had to do something in a hurry,” said Fernandez, 33.
Four years ago the U.S. suffered three straight defeats against China, Japan and Australia in the preliminaries. The Americans recovered to manage one-run victories against Australia and Japan in the medal round at Sydney.
Australia had beaten the U.S. in an Olympic preliminary-round game in 1996. The U.S. bounced back to win it all in Atlanta by topping China in the gold-medal game.
The death of Sue Candrea also motivated the U.S. team here. She suffered a fatal brain aneurysm July 18 while with her husband and the players at the airport in Stevens Point, Wis.
The coach hid his hurt from the players so as not to distract them before the Olympics, Fernandez said. Rather than try to comfort Candrea, Fernandez prayed that the team would play well enough to give him solace.
“This is the only way I felt I could help him get through it,” she said, choking back tears. “He stood strong for us. I can’t even tell you how strong he is.”
Candrea thanked his players for making Monday the best day of his life.
“They’ve really helped me get through a tough time in a grand fashion,” said Candrea, who rubbed his wedding ring during the game.
Fernandez said she would like to continue playing and go for a fourth gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. And Candrea said he wants to continue coaching the team.
“This is my sanctuary,” he said. “It definitely was an important part of the healing process.”
U.S. vs. the world: The Olympic line score
The United States’ dominance of the Olympic softball tournament included four of its nine wins involving the mercy rule, which ends a game if a team is trailing by seven or more runs after five innings.
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RUNS HITS ERRORS K’S DOUBLES TRIPLES HOMERS STEALS
U.S. 51 73 5 25 12 4 9 7
Foes* 1 18 9 55 2 0 0 0
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* The United States’ opponents were Australia (three times), Italy, Japan, China, Canada, Greece and Chinese Taipei