At 23, Jennie Finch has become an ambassador for softball. The right-hander led the University of Arizona to the 2001 NCAA championship and the United States to its fifth straight Pan Am Games title.
Prospecting for potential "Golden Girls" in Athens? Keep an eye on U.S. pitcher Jennie Finch.
You can do so on her Web site, www.jenniefinch.net There you can buy posters, calendars and replica jerseys of the cannon-armed, 6-foot-1 blond with cover-girl looks. Or take the Jennie Finch quiz. Or buy something from her product line.
Finch, 23, already has become a hot commodity. An espn.com poll that named her the "Hottest Female Athlete of 2003," beating out Anna Kournikova, and she's ranked among People magazine's 50 most beautiful.
"She's become an ambassador for our sport," teammate Leah O'Brien-Amico said. "She's well-spoken. She's beautiful. And she does her talking on the field. Everything she's gotten is well-deserved."
Finch established herself as a star in college. At Arizona, she won 60 consecutive games and led the Wildcats to the 2001 national championship. She since has emerged as the nation's highest profile player, helping the United States to its fifth straight Pan Am Games title last year.
Finch, a right-hander and one of four pitchers on a balanced U.S. staff, has the game and appeal. She has been a commentator on ESPN and has a regular segment on This Week in Baseball, where she routinely embarrasses major-league hitters with her 70 mph riseball that, when thrown from 43 feet, equates to a mid-90s heater from a baseball mound. She is engaged to Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Casey Daigle. The wedding is set for October.
With the Olympic platform to launch her, she could become a household name.
"Any good opportunity will be that much better with a gold medal," Finch said. "I don't want to be just a face. I want to go out there and prove something on the field."
DREAM TEAM: The United States has had a hard time finding quality competition during its pre-Olympic tours.
That, or it is just incredibly good: It never loses.
The team completed its "Aiming for Athens" tour July 17 with a pair of no-hitters against the Stratford (Conn.) Brakettes, 14-0 and 8-0, to finish 53-0. Cat Osterman and Finch combined on the first no-hitter and Lori Harrigan and Lisa Fernandez the second, the 10th of the tour.
The Americans outscored opponents 476-14 and ran their winning streak to 166 straight, dating to 1996. Osterman did not allow an earned run in going 16-0.
LOCAL CONNECTION: South Florida coach Ken Eriksen is one of two assistants on coach Mike Candrea's staff. He specializes in working with the pitchers and catchers and preparing scouting reports and gameplans.
Eriksen, 43, is a former USF baseball star who became a member of the men's national softball team before getting into coaching. In 1991, he played for the U.S. men's team that won silver at the Pan Am Games, and last year he was an assistant for the women's gold-medal Pan Am squad.
He shuttled back and forth this spring between the "Aiming for Athens" tour and USF. With extra help from associate coach Stacy Heintz and assistant Amber Wright, Eriksen guided the Bulls to a top-20 ranking most of the season and an NCAA region berth.
FOUR GOING FOR THREE: The four amigos are on one last quest for gold.
They won in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000. Now Laura Berg, Fernandez, Harrigan and O'Brien-Amico are vying for their third softball gold medal.
