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Fernandez leading the U.S. charge to Sydney
Hard-throwing Lisa Fernandez, who has a 0.00 ERA since 1998, is leading the charge for a second straight Olympic gold medal for Team USA women's softball at the Sydney Games. "Lisa Fernandez is without a doubt the No. 1 softball player in the world," says U.S. teammate Dot Richardson. "Because she's on of our top pitchers and also can play third base. And as our starting third baseman she offensively produces runs. So she's a competitor as well as all of her teammates, but she has that drive. She wants the ball, she wants it in the big games, and those are the athletes that do become Olympians." Team USA has had a brewing rivalry with Australia, the only nation to defeat them in 1996. The team also knows there are others they can't take lightly. "Japan's kind of the sleeper," Fernandez says. "They just got done beating Australia in a couple games just a couple of months ago. So they're definitely the one we're going to have to contend with. China is very competitive. We just got back from Italy in April and faced the Italian national team, and they were tough. It's going to be quite interesting. All the teams know where we're at, and they've prepared for four years. And they've raised their level of competition, and it's going to be a battle." The battle to defend their gold begins vs. Canada September 16.
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