Olympians blow past All-Stars

A prevailing wind led to a show of softball power as the visiting United States Olympic team blew to a 31-0 victory over a group of Spokane All-Stars Thursday night at Franklin Park.

The Olympians crushed seven home runs, two by Crystl Bustos, to erase any pretensions that the local team might hang in.

“I think everyone through the lineup was seeing the ball well,” said Bustos, when the lopsided game had ended well after 10 p.m. in front of what remained of a crowd exceeding 3,000 fans.

“We were seeing the ball well,” Bustos said. “We had a really intense week of training – double practices, weights and optional hitting off live pitching.”

Bustos began things with a three-run homer to center field. The Olympians, leading 5-0 in the fourth, added to their advantage as speedy No. 2 hitter Caitlin Lowe legged out a shot into the right-field corner for an inside-the-park homer and Bustos added a two-run shot.

By the end of the inning, the Olympic team had scored six more runs to lead 11-0. They also had a six-run seventh, highlighted by Stacey Nuveman and Andrea Duran hitting back-to-back homers.

During a 10-run eighth inning that polished off the effort, Jessica Mendoza homered and Natasha Watley hit a grand slam.

Not that all those runs were needed. Pitcher Cat Osterman pitched a three-hit shutout and struck out 21.

“It was a good day,” Osterman said. “It was a good start to the end of the tour for me.”

Osterman said she had suffered a lull with her breaking pitches but had things working at Franklin.

All-Stars second baseman and recent Mead graduate Katie Kine caused some second-inning excitement when she laced an Osterman pitch into left-center field that hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double. It was a drop ball that didn’t drop, Osterman said.

“Oh, my gosh,” Kine said. “I didn’t believe I got a hit off Cat. I don’t think I even saw the pitch. It was low and I swung at it.”

Osterman went to her rise ball to blow away the next three batters, the start of setting down 16 straight Spokane players, 14 by strikeouts.

Another highlight for the Stars was a stretch in which pitcher Brittani Clifford retired seven straight Olympians. The next five scored, starting with Lowe’s speedy trip around the sacks.

Two other Greater Spokane League graduates, pitchers Samantha Skillingstad and Kelsie Vallies, acquitted themselves well. Skillingstad gave up two runs on five hits in 12/3 innings. Vallies didn’t allow a run in 12/3.

Another Mead product, Halley Cey, most recently at Whitworth, and University’s Ali Warren had Spokane’s other hits.

The U.S. team heads East from here for the tour’s final five games.

“I’m ready for the tour to end, but we’re entering the Olympics phase and the adrenaline is rising,” Bustos said. “The tour is ending, but the journey is beginning.”