Posted on: Sunday, August 15, 2004

A little aloha in softball competition

Former UH-Manoa pitcher Brooke Wilkins started on the mound for Australia against Japan yesterday. Associated Press

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ATHENS, Greece — All the Olympic softball favorites won their games yesterday, with Kristy Odamura, Stacey Porter and Brooke Wilkins playing diverse parts in the Canadian and Australian victories.

Odamura, a four-time academic All-American at University of Hawai'i-Hilo, is the Canadian captain in her second Olympics. She had a single in her team's 2-0 victory over Taipei.

Canadian pitcher Lauren Bay, the Big 12 Player of the Year for Oklahoma State, pitched a four-hitter and struck out nine. Bay's brother, Jason, is a rookie outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"This was a huge win for our team," Bay said. "Every win at the Olympics is a big win but because we are young, this first-game win was huge."

Odamura is one of just three players back from the Sydney Games, where Canada was last.

Wilkins and Porter were All-Americans for UH-Manoa, with Porter expected to return for her senior season. She started yesterday at designated player and singled in a run in the fifth inning.

That gave Australia a 4-2 advantage over Japan, the world's second-ranked team. The game ended that way, thanks to the pitching of Tanya Harding, who relieved Wilkins in the first inning. After getting the first two batters out, the former Rainbow Wahine walked five in a row to force in two runs.

"It was a nervous start by Brooke but as a team we got past it and it didn't unsettle us," said Australian coach Simon Roskvist. "The end result was the start we were looking for. "

Wilkins earned a place in history despite her wild start. It was the fourth time in Olympic history the Australians no-hit Japan, with Wilkins involved in three of those and Harding two. Harding retired 19 of the 20 batters she faced yesterday.

Natalie Titcume hit the first home run of the Games to give Australia its first lead, in the fourth.

Greece set an Olympic record by making six errors in a 5-0 loss to China that was the Greeks' softball debut.

OLYMPIC NOTES

• Hawai'i's Brandon Brooks was one of 10 first-time Olympians on the men's water polo team who watched Friday's Opening Ceremonies on TV in the athletes' village. Coach Ratko Rudic, hired in 2001 after leading Yugoslavia and Italy to three straight gold medals, didn't allow the team to attend.

• In case you wondered, 2,162,000 liters of water were used to fill the main performance area at the ceremonies. During the pre-show, a group dressed in work suits and yellow hard hats walked toward the edge of the centerpiece, bent over, and started banging away. Finally, one ripped off his work suit and muttered in a thick accent, "There, it's finished" — a joke aimed at those who didn't believe the Greeks would be ready.

Softball.ca and olympics.com.au also contributed to this report