Olympians dominate

The USA Softball team’s table-setter did her job only too well during a doubleheader sweep of the Spokane All-Stars at Franklin Park on Saturday.

Before an appreciative crowd estimated at 3,000 that encircled the softball diamond, leadoff hitter and shortstop Natasha Watley fueled 9-0 and 8-0 victories that each ended after 4½ innings.

The speedy Watley went 5 for 5, scored four runs and drove in another and in general wreaked havoc on the All-Stars’ defense, ample evidence that this is not like past teams that won gold medals in the previous two Olympic games.

“Before they were a power team that went station-to-station,” said Olympic team coach Mike Candrea. “I like speed. Speed kills. I know it’s that way in any sport.”

But in softball, it can be particularly unnerving and such was the case against the local team. The Olympians hit only one home run, by Crystl Bustos in the third inning of Game 2, but didn’t really need one.

Watley led off the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 and slapped a ball high into the air that All-Stars coach Rikki Jackson fielded and threw in one motion, but too late.

“I make a play and she’s already by the bag a step and one-half,” marveled Jackson, who played at Central Valley and Community Colleges of Spokane.

Two errors and a couple of hits later, one a two-run double into the left-field corner by Stacey Nuveman, and Jackson’s team was down 3-0.

Watley singled and scored on Bustos’ double the next inning. Her leadoff infield hit led to a four-run fourth, Lovianne Young’s double the big blow.

“If we don’t boot the ball around, it’s a respectable game,” said All-Stars coach Fuzzy Buckenberger of the doubleheader. “It was the only concern I had. You can’t give a team like that four outs.”

Unfortunately, it was the case again in the second game. A critical two-out error prolonged the second inning when the Olympians scored three times. Amanda Freed hit the first of two doubles that drove in three runs from the ninth spot in the batting order.

With the mix of power, and speed, this version of the Olympic team has, every mistake by the opposition is amplified.

“If you’re not a good defensive squad, speed takes its toll, eventually,” said Candrea. “Which is what we did today.”

The Olympians followed Bustos’ home run with a four-run five-hit fourth inning – which included the eighth double of the night by the hard-hitting and speedy squad – and wrapped up the exhibition.

In Game 2, Watley singled twice, driving in a run, walked and scored.

She is the dimension Candrea was looking for when he put the team together for this year’s Olympics.

“She’s a five-tool player,” he said of the 22-year-old UCLA product. “She can hit with power, short-game it, drag and steal bases. I feel if we get her on board early, she’s our table-setter.”

Watley said she has seen other players with speed like hers. But it hasn’t been seen locally, All-Stars center fielder Vanessa Shelton notwithstanding. She has been timed in 2.6 seconds from home to first when slap hitting. The Area All-Stars couldn’t keep her from advancing.

“That’s what speed does,” she said. “It creates plays and momentum.”

Buckenberger concurred.

“Her speed is unbelievable,” he said. “She’d hit the ball right to someone, almost, and beat it out. Then what did she do, but steal every base.”

There are small victories to be gained for the local team from this. In the first game, the locals had three hits, double the average in the 34 previous games teams have played against the touring USA team.

Jackson elicited loud cheers when she laced the initial hit into the hole between third base and shortstop to lead off the second inning of the first game.

“She (Lisa Fernandez) was throwing high inside pitches and I wasn’t getting through the zone,” she said. “Then she left one on the outside of the plate.”

Ashley Richards and Jessica Murray got the others. Fernandez struck out 10. Richards got the only hit in the second game, Jennie Finch striking out eight more.

Coeur d’Alene’s DeDe Dougherty, 20-10 at the University of Tampa as a freshman, worked the final inning, surrendering five hits and four runs. But she was happy nonetheless getting to face the Olympic team.

“Never, remotely, has anything like this happened to me before,” she said. “This was wonderful. It was only one inning, but that’s all I really wanted.”

The Olympians have outscored their foes now 329-10, are hitting .409 collectively while limiting the opposition to an .081 batting average. Third baseman Bustos is hitting .553 with 18 homers, Kelly Kretschman .506 and Watley .491.

Candrea said he has demanded more of them in the way of time commitment than previous coaches.

“The only way I know how to coach is to be fundamentally sound and be in the best shape we can be,” he said. “We’ve gone back to basics more than they’re used to and tried to put a system together.”

He said he likes the mix of pitching – two right-handers, two lefties, a blend of experience and youth – and the team’s blend of speed and power. The Olympians are headed to Montgomery, Ala., next, with a month’s worth of games yet to play.

“I think we’re balanced,” he said. “We’re a team that can score in many ways. We still have a lot of work to do, but this tour allows us to get in game situations and when things come up we can learn from it.”