International Sports Invitational Sports Daily - June 12
Return to Form - USA Softball Picks Up Where It Left Off In Athens With
USA Softball used another explosive day at the plate to record its third consecutive run rule victory over Australia, winning 9-0 in the Grand Final.
Three different U.S. players hit home runs in the game. "These players are here for a reason," said head coach Mike Candrea. "They are true competitors. Many of them were in the arena in Athens and know what it takes. They love a challenge and are a very special group of athletes. This was a great tournament with strong competitors and a nice way to start the summer."
The U.S. sent an early message posting three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.) continued to display her power launching a solo home run to right center. It was her third home run in the last four games. Following a walk to Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, Calif.), Jenny Topping (Whittier, Calif.) hit her second home run of the tournament to give the USA an early 3-0 advantage.
Vicky Galindo (Union City, Calif.) led off the bottom of the second with a single up the middle, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a single by Mendoza for a 4-0 lead.
After being shutout in the next two innings, Tairia Flowers (Tucson, Ariz.) broke open the game with a two-run home run to centerfield to increase the lead to 6-0.
With one swing of the bat Amanda Freed (Cypress, Calif.) ended the game with a three run walk off home run to deep left field to give the U.S. a 9-0 run rule victory.
Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) picked up the win allowing only one hit while striking out 10 in five innings of work. Including her games this past season at the University of Texas; Osterman has now recorded 10 strikeouts in 34 consecutive starts.
Galindo finished the tournament going 8-for-9 (.889) with two doubles, three walks and a .917 on base percentage. Three U.S. players had multiple home runs during the week including Mendoza who led the team with three. Flowers and Topping each had two home runs while Topping led the team with eight RBI.
"Every at bat I went up there taking it one at bat at a time," said Galindo. "I wasn't really thinking about anything but making contact and getting on base."
With its nine home runs in five games, the USA matched its total from Athens in 2004. Of the five players that contributed home runs in the event, none hit a home run in Athens.
Australia 7, Canada 2 (Final)
Australia battled its way into the Grand Final with a 7-2 win over Canada in the bronze medal game. Canada finished third with a 1-4 record.
Amanda Doman came through in the clutch with a triple in the bottom of the first inning that scored two runs to put Australia on the board early.
Canada cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the third when Sheena Lawrick singled to right to score Melanie Matthews who had reached on an error.
Three runs in the fourth inning pushed the Australian lead to 5-1. Doman scored on a single by Danica Howlett and Fiona Crawford laced a triple to score the final two of the inning.
Stacey Porter delivered her fourth home run of the tournament in the bottom of the fifth to drive in the final two runs of the game. Canada added a run in the sixth but could not muster enough for the come back.
Australia's ace Catherine Bishop improved to 3-1 after allowing one unearned run on four hits. Canada's Auburn Sigurdson picked up the loss after allowing five runs in four innings of work.
Netherlands Wins International Sports Invitational Championship (Volleyball)
Kay van Dijk scored a match-high 21 points to lead a balanced attack as the Netherlands overcame a first-set loss to defeat the United States in the men's volleyball competition of the International Sports Invitational Sunday night.
Van Dijk had 18 kills, two service aces and one block in the 19-25, 25-21, 25-12, 26-24 victory that capped a perfect 5-0 tournament for the Dutch at Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of the University of San Diego.
After splitting the first two sets, the Netherlands took control of the match in the third set by going on a 12-0 run to turn a slim 5-4 lead into a commanding 17-4 edge. Van Dijk had four kills, one block and one ace during the streak.
"One of the things we have to do is be composed under pressure," said Team USA head coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand). "The way things are in international volleyball is you'll play teams who will get runs of points. Somehow, we can't completely lose it when that happens. The guys certainly came back in the fourth set, but it took us a while to calm down in the third when they started to get on a run."
Jeroen Trommel added 18 points on 13 kills, a match-high four aces and one block. As a team, Holland blanked the USA in the service ace department, 9-0.
"We want to play good teams when things are on the line," explained McCutcheon. "That's really what happened tonight. But the Dutch came out and served well."
Marko Klok tallied 14 points on 13 kills and one ace, Wytze Kooistra posted 13 points on nine kills, two blocks and two aces and Rob Bontje registered nine points on eight kills and one block.
Athens Olympian Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) scored 14 points on 13 kills and one block to lead four players in double-figures for Team USA, which finished the tournament with a record of 3-2. The Americans lost only to the Dutch-in the first match and in the last match.
Dave McKienzie (Littleton, Colo.) had 13 points on 13 kills, while another 2004 Olympian, Phil Eatherton (Glencoe, Mo.), scored 12 points on 12 kills and posted a perfect hitting percentage of 1.000 (12 kills, zero errors, 12 attempts).
Middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) chipped in with 10 points on a match-high six blocks and four kills.
"We're trying to learn; we're trying to get better," McCutcheon added. "The goal is to be good down the road. This is a disappointing end to what has been a great two weeks for us. But what has occurred prior to tonight is not lost. There were lots of good matches and lots of good play from a lot of these guys.
"I'm disappointed not to win. It will probably stay with me for a little while, but tomorrow my guess is I will be thinking about all of these good things that we did on this tour...with the exception of tonight."
China def. Australia, 3-0
In the third-place match, China outlasted Australia in five sets, 23-25, 26-24, 26-28, 25-17, 15-10. Tang Miao scored a match-high 25 points to lead the Chinese, who finished the tournament with a record of 2-3. Australia finished the competition winless at 0-5 but lost in five sets in both the semifinals and in the third-place match.
**Reprinted with permission from the United States Olympic Committee
