UH-Hilo alum leads Canadian softball team
By Steve Rivera
Gannett News Service
HELLINIKO, Greece — Kristy Odamura is the cornerstone of Team Canada's softball team at the 2004 Athens Games.
Gannett News Service
"She's a quiet leader," Canada coach Mike Renney said. "She's an athlete who leads by example and you never question her work ethic."
Canada softball team captain Kristy Odamura is playing in her second Olympics. She is a former University of Hawai'i-Hilo player.
Her next mission: get her team going in the right direction after two consecutive losses.
After opening their schedule with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Saturday, things went south for the Canadians, who lost 4-2 to China yesterday.
That came on the heels of a late Sunday night 2-0 loss to host Greece, a team that picked up its first international victory with it.
"Any loss is tough but we're looking ahead to the next team and see what we do," said Odamura, a University of Hawai'i-Hilo alum (1996 to 1999) and Canada's team captain.
Odamura went 0 for 3 against China. Canada (1-2) had a 2-0 lead going into the sixth inning then gave up four runs. China was aided by two errors, one a dropped fly ball that Angela Lichty couldn't bring in.
"Defense is supposed to be our strong point but it wasn't today," said Odamura, who plays second base. "The wind was blowing around, but it's part of the game. We practice those things."
Canada was scheduled to play Japan late last night and will play Team USA tomorrow.
Odamura, who has gone 2 for 9 in three games, remains pragmatic of her team's chances.
"We know every game starts zero-zero," she said.
This is Odamura's second trip to the Olympics. "It's been great and I love this team," she said. "We have a bunch of girls who are great. We're just looking to improve on everything we do every day."
AUSTRALIA 1, CHINESE TAIPEI 0
Tanya Harding pitched a two-hitter to lead Australia to a 1-0 victory over Chinese Taipei yesterday in Athens.
Kerry Wyborn scored on a single by Peta Edebone in a controversial play in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wyborn ran into shortstop Wang Ya Fen on her way to third. Taiwan's protest of the play was denied.
University of Hawai'i's Stacey Porter played third base for Australia and went 0 for 1.
