Japan beat the U.S. 2-0 to claim the Olympic gold medal in softball, as the home team held Team USA to just three hits and ground down American pitching
TOKYO—The U.S. Olympic softball team spent 13 years waiting for a rematch that had once seemed impossible.
After losing to Japan in the gold medal game of the 2008 Games in Beijing, the Americans watched their shot at redemption evaporate in the most galling way possible as softball simply fell off the Olympic program. So when it returned this summer, in baseball and softball-loving Tokyo, Team USA knew it could finally seize its chance.
But Japan had been waiting too. The only country besides the U.S. ever to win Olympic gold struck again on Tuesday night, sinking the Americans 2-0, to claim gold in one of the host country’s most hotly anticipated events. Led by 39-year-old ace Yukiko Ueno, who tossed five scoreless innings, Japan held Team USA to just three hits and ground down American pitching, though only a handful of balls traveled more than 100 feet.
Mana Atsudi drove in the first run of the game, chopping an infield hit over the head of pitcher Ally Carda in the fourth. And in the fifth, the tournament’s RBI leader Yamata Fujita tacked on another for Japan with a run-scoring drive into right field.
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