Deseret News | U.S. softball team denied gold, loses 3-1 to Japan

U.S. softball team denied gold, loses 3-1 to Japan

Associated Press

Published: Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008 10:30 a.m. MDT

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BEIJING — With silver medals swinging from their necks, their eyes filled with tears, five members of the U.S. Olympic softball team walked to home plate and placed their cleats in the dirt.

Their games were over, and so were their international playing careers.

With that they said goodbye to softball, the sport they played better than anyone else save for one game.

Losing for the first time since 2000, the Americans were denied a chance for a fourth straight gold medal Thursday, beaten 3-1 by Japan in softball's last appearance in the Olympics for at least eight years. Maybe forever.

Yukiko Ueno, Japan's remarkably resilient right-hander, shut down the Americans and handed them their first loss since Sept. 21, 2000 at the Sydney Games. The U.S. had won 22 straight since then, most with outrageously lopsided scores.

Another gold was certainly within reach. Instead, they walked off Fengtai Field with their heads bowed.

"It hurts a lot," slugger Crystl Bustos said. "You train your whole life and you want to win. You don't expect to lose."

The U.S. team never led and made two uncharacteristic errors in the seventh inning to help the Japanese add an important insurance run — one they didn't even need.

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When Caitlin Lowe grounded to third for the final out, Vicky Galindo, who led off the U.S. team's seventh inning with a pinch-hit single, wrapped her hands over her helmet and cringed.

Moments later, U.S. coach Mike Candrea huddled with his stunned players, many of whom couldn't even look up. Lowe choked back tears as Bustos tried to console her overwhelmed teammates.

Bustos, who homered in the fourth for the Americans' only run, was first in line to congratulate the Japanese players. As she shook hands with the U.S. team, Japan catcher Yukiyo Mine teared up.

"You don't want it to end this way, but it's all we could do," said Bustos, who attended the medal ceremony wearing sunglasses.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end for the Americans, who had lost just four of 36 in Olympic play.

Not this team. Not this time. Not this tournament.

The U.S. has dominated the sport since its Olympic debut in 1996, winning all three golds, rewriting the record books and setting a standard for a sport considered too All-American by some.

It was the Americans' utter domination — they outscored the field 51-1 four years ago in Greece — that may have contributed to the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop the sport in a close vote taken in 2006.

The U.S arrived in China determined to put on a show of power, precision and poise. And except for a tense, nine-inning 4-1 win over Ueno and Japan in the semifinals, the Americans had done just that. That game was by far their toughest test in the tournament — until they met Ueno again in the final.