Last summer at the World Cup of Softball III in Oklahoma City the buzz in the press box wasn’t the dominating (ho-hum) performance of Team USA—it was a phantom injury that kept Japan’s best pitcher, Yukiko Ueno, out of the tournament.

The word was Ueno wasn’t truly hurt; she had played just a week prior. Instead, it was speculated, Team Japan didn’t want to give the Americans a chance to face Ueno—a talented hurler who had handed Team USA their first loss in Olympic competition since Sept. 21, 2000 at Sydney—before Beijing.

13 months later it might have been the decisive factor in helping Japan to an improbable upset of Team USA.

Last night Ueno snapped Team USA’s 22-game Olympic winning streak en route to a 3-1 victory and first gold medal. Ueno pitched seven innings, one day after she pitched 21 to get the Japanese into the gold-medal game.

What makes the defeat especially bitter is that it is the sport's final appearance in the Olympics for at least eight years.

Having covered this team for the last three years it’s hard to put into words the disappointment this team must have felt. One needs only to see the sight of players such as Crystl Bustos and Tairia Flowers leave their cleats at home plate—a symbolic gesture demonstrating their decision to retire from international competition.

So where does Team USA go from here? And will this help or hurt the game of softball?

BEIJING, China --- The first night game of the 2008 Olympic Games proved to be a special one for the USA Softball team as winning pitcher Monica Abbott ( Salinas, Calif.) tossed a perfect five inning 8-0 victory over the Netherlands and the U.S. set the Olympic record for overall home runs in the Games with 12. A 6’3” south paw, Abbott recorded the first-ever perfect game by a U.S. pitcher in an Olympic Games, recording nine strikeouts in the 15 batters she faced.

“I am really excited,” smiled Abbott. “I kind of had a goal to come out and throw one when I was named to the team. I was glad I was able to go out and make some good pitches work and I had some great plays made today by the defense with Lovie (Jung), Tairia (Flowers) and obviously Bergy’s (Laura Berg) catch in right field. You can’t really ask for much more than that and I was just trying to take it one pitch at a time and stay focused for each one.”

The U.S. saw three long balls clear the fences for another Olympic record of most runs hit in an Olympic Games by a team. Currently, the U.S. has 12 total after three came tonight from Jessica Mendoza ( Camarillo, Calif.), Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.), and Tairia Flowers ( Tucson, Ariz.). The previous record was held by Japan and Australia with 11 total in the 1996 Olympic Games.

With the win, the U.S. is 6-0 with its final round robin match up against China on Monday at Noon/Local. The U.S. also now knows it will be the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs on Wednesday, August 20 and will match up with No. 2 seed Japan at 9:30 a.m. at Fengtai Field. The No. 3 seed is Australia and the No. 4 seed is TBD on Monday, August 18. The playoffs follow the ISF page system with the gold medal game on Thursday, August 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Natasha Watley ( Irvine, Calif.) led the game on a positive start with a slap base hit through the left side continuing her hit streak to six consecutive games. Watley was later out at second with a fielder’s choice from Caitlin Lowe ( Tustin, Calif.). Mendoza then took a pitch off the side of her body from Venezuela starting pitcher Rebecca Soumer sending her 60 feet to first base forcing Lowe to second. Hitting .500, Bustos connected on her fifth RBI of the Olympics with a line drive through the left side sending Lowe across home plate for the 1-0 U.S. advantage.

In the bottom of the second inning, with one out, Flowers put her home run mark on the Games with a towering shot to left center for a solo home run and her first ever of the Olympic Games. With a 2-0 lead, right fielder Laura Berg ( Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) sent a blooper to left field and earned a hit and advanced to second on a fielding error from Venezuela’s Marloes Fellinger. Berg later scored her second run of the Olympics when the hot hitting Watley sent her second hit of the game over the third baseman’s head for the RBI and 3-0 lead. Lowe then repeated the first inning with a fielder’s choice resulting in Watley out at second base before Mendoza roped what looked like a home run to centerfield but was caught and ended the inning.

Continuing to lead from the plate, Bustos drove in her fourth home run of the Olympics with the second pitch of her at bat to lead the bottom of the third inning. A line drive just over the 220 fences in centerfield, the home run tied the Olympic record for most home runs recorded by a team with 11. Australia and Japan both had 11 during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. With a solid 4-0 advantage, Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.) and Stacey Nuveman ( La Verne, Calif.) both reached on base hits before the Netherlands brought in Judith van Kampen from the bullpen. The new pitcher didn’t faze Lovie Jung ( Fountain Valley, Calif.), who extended her hit streak to all six games of the Olympics, with an RBI base hit through the middle scoring Kretschman for the 5-0 lead. Another run was added in when Berg singled to right field plating Nuveman who marked the 6-0 lead.

As Abbott continued her perfection from the circle, the U.S. closed in on the run-ahead rule scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Mendoza roped her fourth home run of the Games to centerfield to kick start the inning while Bustos followed up with an infield single to the shortstop. A wild pitch from van Kampen moved Bustos to second before rookie Vicky Galindo ( Union City, Calif.) inked her first ever Olympic RBI with a single to left field pushing Bustos across home plate for the eventual 8-0 win.

IRVINE, Calif. - The KFC Bound 4 Beijing Tour came to an end tonight in Irvine, Calif., in front of 2,447 fans chanting USA as the USA Softball Women’s National team beat Team Intensity. It was a perfect way to close out the Tour after spending the past months in unfamiliar territory as the majority of the team returned to their home state and played in a stadium full of friends and family.

Throughout the 60 games, beginning in Tucson, Ariz., and wrapping up in Irvine, the team has played in front of over 200,00 people in 45 cities . In front of amazing crowds and supportive fans, the team kicked off competition Feb. 19 and experienced a diverse amount of USA hospitality. Now with travel to China about a week out, the team looks back on the past six months with fond memories but are now ready to go over to China and defend their three-gold Medals.

“Tonight is bittersweet for us. These past few months have been exhausting but also so amazing to see so much passion for the sport. Although it’s sad to see it end, we are so ready to go over and bring home our fourth gold medal,” said Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.). “The best way I can describe it is we are going to bottle up all the places we’ve been, the fans we’ve seen and take them over to China. We are going to represent them and know they are at home supporting us.”

The team jumped on the board with two runs in the bottom of the second with Irvine native Natasha Watley making her hometown proud leading off with a single to left field. Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.) reached on an error by the third baseman to put two runners on. A strikeout by Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.) and a sac hit by Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.) looked to end the inning but a two-RBI single by Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.) gave the team a 2-0 lead.

After allowing a single in the first starter Jennie Finch(La Mirada, Calif.) issued a walk to catcher Jen Schroeder in the second. Katie Gollhardt would reach when she was hit by a pitch which brought Head Coach Mike Candrea (Tucson, Ariz.) out of the dugout on grounds that Gollhardt leaned in. The ruling stayed leaving two runners on. Amanda Kamekona cleared the bases with a single down the middle. Lovie Jung (Fountain Valley, Calif.) made the throw to Flowers but it was not enough, pulling Flowers a little off base and allowing two runs to score and tie up the game.

Kretschman, who during the Tour has been nicknamed “Clutchman”, proved it was a warranted title with a shot to right field to take the lead back to a USA advantage 3-2.

The United States put the game away in the fourth going on a two-out rally to put three more runs on the board. Lowe got it started with a double to centerfield, scoring off a Mendoza triple. Mendoza closes the Tour with a team-high 107 RBI and was second on the team with five triples. The tour leader in homeruns closed out her last at bat of the tour in typical fashion as Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.) rocked her 28th homerun of the season for two RBI.

Finch closed out the Tour with a win and nine strikeouts, giving up two earned runs. She finished with a team high 19-1 record.

Mendoza was the team leader with 107 RBI hitting .495 (102-for-206).She lead the team in doubles and hits while starting in 59 of 60 games. Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) had a team-high 247 strikeouts while allowing 37 hits. Finch worked a team-high 118.2 innings with 11 complete games.

“The dress rehearsal is done and now we’re even more focused on the Olympics,” said Head Coach Mike Candrea. “We had a great tour this year with some of the best stops till ‘96. The local hosts held some great events and the communities really supported softball and that’s great to see. Now we are on to why we are here, to bring home a gold medal.”

July 21, 2008 was a memorable day for three members of the USA Softball Women’s National team as they were invited to a day at the White House with President George Bush, the First Lady and members of the White House staff. Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.), Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.) and Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.) were invited to an official send off from the President and First Lady to the United States Olympic Committee and the U.S. athletes who will be representing the Red, White and Blue in Beijing, China.

“It was such an incredible experience,” said Finch. “I was honored to be at the White House with all the other athletes and we were welcomed with open arms. The President was so nice and to think that I had the chance to eat dinner sitting right next to him was just crazy. He said was looking forward to coming to one of our games in China.”

“It was great to be there and feel so comfortable,” said Duran. “It was an honor to be one of the few Olympians to be selected to go to this event. It was a pinch-yourself experience to look down and see the White Housechina and Jennie sitting next to the president eating dinner. I was moved by the history of the White House and realizing all the people that have walked the halls I was standing in.”

The day started with a 10 a.m. greeting by the President in the Rose Garden. Members of the Olympic team were greeted with a couple remarks by the President before USA Softball’s Finch presented him with an authentic softball jersey with ‘Bush 08’ embroidered on the back.

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The USA Softball Women’s National team traveled to Portland, Oregon on Sunday to begin their final stretch of the KFC Bound 4 Beijing tour. A tour that started in February, the long journey across the U.S. will pick up again on Tuesday evening as the U.S. visits Portland for a match up against ASA Regional All Stars. This begins what is the final three weeks of the tour before departure to defend its fourth–consecutive Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing in August.

"It is a very exciting time as we are embarking on our last leg of the tour,” said two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Crystl Bustos. “The sites have been great and it is hard to believe it’s almost over. We are going to be extremely focused the next month to get ready to defend our gold medal come August in China.”

With just eight games remaining on the schedule, following Oregon, the Americans will travel to Spokane, Washington before bussing through Yellowstone National Park for a game in Rapid City, South Dakota on July 15. On July 18, they will play in Springfield, Mo. before heading east to Stratford, Conn. for competition on July 20. Another National ProFastpitch contest is then scheduled on July 22 against the Akron Racers followed by a Salem, Va. visit on July 24. The final game of the tour before the team departs for China will be in Irvine, Calif. on Saturday, July 26.

With a record of 51-1, the U.S. is hitting a remarkable .432 as a team and has outscored opponents 599-26. Leftfielder Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.) leads all batters with a .474 batting average with 16 home runs and a team-high 83 RBI. Bustos has a team-high 23 home runs while Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Springs, Fla.) has earned a team-high 46 walks. Lead off hitter Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) is a perfect 20-for-20 in stolen bases and is No. 2 on the team for batting average at .422.

From the circle, Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) leads the way with a 17-1 record with 102.0 innings pitched with 179 strikeouts. Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) is 12-0 with 92.0 innings pitched and 193 strikeouts while Monica Abbott(Salinas, Calif.) has totaled 89 innings pitched recording a 13-0 record with 176 strikeouts tallied. As a whole, the pitching staff has held opponents to a .089 batting average and has a combined .47 ERA.

(Game report provided by USA Softball)