Rising to their biggest challenge

Three straight losses jerked U.S. softball stars Dot Richardson, Lisa Fernandez out of their complacency.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 2000

BLACKTOWN, Australia -- One after another, the victories piled up. Without fail and without pause, for more than two years the U.S. softball team won every single game it played. And learned not a single thing.

The players know this now. When a 112-game winning streak gave way to a three-game losing streak in the preliminary round of the Olympics last week, they discovered success has its price in complacency.

Ask Dot Richardson. Ask Lisa Fernandez. America's most famous player and its greatest pitcher, respectively, were brought to their knees by the sport that has shaped their lives.

And not until they were virtually broken did they realize together that they had an opportunity to build on their careers.

"It was Dot who finally made me realize it," Fernandez said. "She said, "Why would you play this sport if it wasn't challenging to you?' And this tournament has truly challenged me."

The U.S. team, forced to the edge of elimination by a field it was supposed to dominate, won back-to-back games in the medal round to advance to the gold medal game against Japan. The game was scheduled to be played early this morning.

And the reason the Americans made it that far is because Fernandez and Richardson remembered their success was rooted in their disdain for failure.

'How many times do I have to face this nightmare?'

She wept before God and another country. A veteran of hundreds of international games and countless pressure situations, Fernandez broke down and cried last week when America's 112-game winning streak ended against Japan. Fernandez was exasperated because she was 0-for-13 in the Olympics and had failed four straight times to deliver with the go-ahead run on second.

Through tears, she promised she would make a difference somewhere down the line. Two days later, after pitching 12 shutout innings, she gave up a game-winning homer in the bottom of the 13th against Australia. It was nearly identical to the two-run home run she gave up to Joanne Brown in the bottom of the 10th to ruin a no-hitter against Australia in the 1996 Olympics.

"I was at the point where I was telling my parents, "Please don't come to the game because I don't want to embarrass you anymore,' " Fernandez said.

This is a pitcher who threw six straight no-hitters, including five perfect games, during a barnstorming tour across America this summer.

A pitcher who had struck out an Olympic record 25 batters against Australia before giving up the winning home run to Peta Edebone last week.

"I'll admit, I had a hard time sleeping after that game against Australia . . ."

Fernandez, 29, was not able to finish her thought before roommate Stacey Nuveman interjected.

"I'll vouch for that," Nuveman said.

Yet when the United States advanced to a semifinal game against Australia on Monday, coach Ralph Raymond put Fernandez back on the mound.

She was throwing a one-hit shutout when she reached the final inning with a 1-0 lead. The second and third batters she faced in the inning -- cue the Twilight Zone theme -- were Edebone and Brown.

"That was the freakiest thing. Both of them in the same inning," Fernandez said. "I mean, how many times do I have to face this nightmare? Retire already. I'm tired of the two of you."

If Fernandez had somehow blocked that nightmare from her mind, Richardson was there to remind her. From second base, she kept screaming, "Brown and Edebone, Brown and Edebone, this is it, focus, Lisa, focus."

Fernandez got Edebone to bounce out to third, and Brown hit a comebacker in front of the mound to end the game.

"In '96 she lost to Australia, and in 2000 she lost to Australia," said teammate and Treasure Island resident Michele Smith. "For her to come back and win this game when it really counted, when it was so important, is tremendous. She is a battler, she is a competitor, she is someone I love playing with. I am very happy for her."

'I can not begin to tell you about the adversity.'

Is it too much to ask the physician to heal thyself?

Richardson, 39, was the breakout star of the '96 gold medal-winning team with her ebullient personality and a game-winning home run against China in the gold-medal game.

The legend continued to grow when the former Orlando resident completed medical school and began an internship as an orthopedic surgeon with the prestigious medical practice run by Dr. Frank Jobe in Los Angeles.

While she worked double shifts at the hospital to make up for lost hours, Richardson tried in vain for two years to retain her spot on the national team. She was finally reinstated this year for the Olympic team, but her selection caused controversy.

A player left off the team appealed Richardson's selection and later brought the case to arbitration before it was dismissed.

Richardson's battle to return to the Olympics was largely forgotten until she reached Sydney and promptly bombed. Two errors by Richardson in the 11th inning led to America's first loss, to Japan. And as a leadoff hitter, she left much to be desired. Through her first 23 at-bats, she was hitting .130.

"From the selection process through the arbitration process to the pre-Olympic tour and the demands it placed on everybody, I cannot begin to tell you about the adversity we have had to overcome," Richardson said. "But the beauty is we are bouncing back."

In its three tournament losses, the United States had failed to score a run through the first 10 innings. The semifinal game was shaping up the same way until the sixth when Nuveman reached on an error with two out. Leah O'Brien-Amico followed with a single, and Jennifer McFalls came in to run for Nuveman at second base.

Richardson, with her .130 average, came to the plate and stroked a single to centerfield to bring McFalls home with the winning run in the 1-0 game.

"Dottie has struggled a little throughout the tournament -- we all have -- but for her to come up with that key hit really was clutch," Smith said. "It's got to make her feel good to say, "See, I belong here."

'Learn from the past, and learn from your mistakes.'

Between 1986 and 2000, the United States had lost three games in international competition. Then it lost three games in three days.

It lost 2-0 to China in 14 innings; it came back Monday to beat China 3-0 in 10 innings.

It lost 2-1 to Australia in 13 innings; it came back to beat Australia 1-0 Monday.

It lost 2-1 to Japan in 11 innings; it plays Japan in the gold medal game.

"One of the greatest things you can do as an athlete is learn from the past and learn from your mistakes," Richardson said.

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