Stevens Point got a taste of the Olympic spirit last Friday when the USA Softball team made a stop in town for a clinic and a doubleheader.
Fans from all over the Midwest packed Zenoff Park as the Olympic softball team continued its Central Park to Sydney Tour, sweeping a Wisconsin All-Star team that included a quartet of local graduates, 10-0 and 4-0.
But according to second baseman Dot Richardson, who hit the game-winning home run in the 1996 Olympic gold medal game, the event was more than a tune-up for the Olympics.
"We're sharing the Olympic dream with everyone," she said.
And people came in droves to catch a glimpse of the No. 1 ranked team in the world. Fans stood behind the plate and were scattered along the baseline fences. Parked cars lined both sides Second Street for more than a half-mile.
Mike Disher, Stevens Point Softball Association president, said between 2,500 and 2,600 people attended the event.
"I think during the national tournament that we held here in 1993, we may have had more people in a one-day period. But for one event, that was the most ever," Disher said.
"We had the largest clinic to date. We probably had the second or third largest turnout for the game. They were all thoroughly impressed."
Added Dean Shuda, the coach of the Wisconsin All-Star Team: "It's quite a turnout. People came from the north, south, Iowa and Michigan."
During the first game, Team USA scored five runs in the third inning as Crystl Bustos put on a power display. The shortstop from Canyon Country, Calif. crushed a 3-run homer in the inning to straightaway centerfield. The home run shot cleared the 170-foot fence and the bleachers that were set up in the outfield.
"It felt really good. I don't feel it, it just goes," Bustos said.
Sheila Douty followed Bustos' blast with a solo shot. The Olympians scored one run in the fifth and four more in the sixth to win by the 10-run rule. Bustos had another homer, a 2-run shot in the sixth.
Pitcher Lori Harrigan kept Team USA's scoreless streak alive for the tour, allowing only one hit while striking out 15. Steph Dallmann, a freshman at Tennessee Tech, got the only hit for the All-Stars.
"We were doing well for awhile. They showed why they're the best team in the world," Shuda, who coached the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to a national title in 1998, said. "I was more nervous for this than the national championship game."
The Wisconsin All-Stars kept things close in the second game but couldn't muster any offense against pitcher Christa Williams. Williams threw a perfect game, the team's fifth on the tour, striking out 16. Team USA scored two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Michele Smith led the team with three hits.
Stevens Point Area Senior High graduate Charity Czappa and Pacelli grads Kelly Blaha-Beadles, Kelly Rutta and Shelley Stroik-Brown all played for the Wisconsin All-Stars.
Former UW-SP players Michelle Gerber, Michelle Krueger, Jill Kristof, Kari Rowekamp and Tammy Meister competed while current Pointers Cari Briley and Karen Guckenberger played too.
Disher said the tour stop had been in the works since last November. "That's because of our reputation on a national level. But it took a lot of work and help from a lot of volunteers," he said.
Disher said the event wouldn't have happened without help from the SPSA Board of Directors, the Stevens Point Parks and Recreation Department, UW-SP, Shuda and the players on the Wisconsin All-Star team. "Events like this don't go off just with one person," he said.
Disher said the Olympic team enjoyed their stay. "They thought our facilities were excellent. I know that Mr. Weekly, who was the team leader, said that this must be a wonderful community to live in."
He said the team likes playing in smaller communities.
"Maybe, just maybe, if they win the gold, we'll see them again in Stevens Point," Disher added.