Ahillen: Maturity brings Abbott 'biggest win of my life'

BEIJING - After watching Monica Abbott give up two runs to her former team in a 4-2 victory over Tennessee on April 12, United States team coach Mike Candrea said his one concern with Abbott was her maturity.

She had overpowering stuff, a good command of the game and defensive skills that needed just a little tweak. But, he said she had to learn how to deal with bad situations, not fall apart when things don't go exactly right as they so seldom did during her incredible career at UT.

Abbott put those concerns to rest Wednesday with a fast ball the Japanese could barely hit and guts few opponents could match. Because of it, the U.S. won 4-1 and will be playing for the gold medal tonight.

True, they might have reached the title game anyway with a comeback win later in the day in the twisted double-elimination system used in the medal-play round. And, true, Abbott did eventually give up that one unearned run in the ninth inning, only after her teammates had produced four.

The rest, however, NBC should have set to music by now.

Abbott took matter-of-factly that she was picked to start in a game of this magnitude against Japan's ace Yokiko Ueno, who has beaten the U.S. four times.

"I figured it would be me or Cat (Osterman), being that I had thrown against them already," she said, referring to a 7-0 victory in pool play. "I knew if I didn't start I would definitely come in in relief."

So when the same coach who said her psyche needed a little work on the day in April called her number Wednesday, Abbott was ready to go.

She matched Ueno pitch for pitch through six innings, piling up nine strikeouts and not allowing a runner past first base.

She was also cruising along in the bottom of the seventh - the last regulation inning in softball - getting a popout and a groundout.

But, Satoko Mabuchi reached base on a walk and Rie Sato singled to put runners on first and second. If Mabuchi came home, game over.

"I was thinking I didn't want to leave anything out there. I did not want anything to bother me. Just focus," she said.

She went to 2-0 on Megu Hirose. The crowd's chant of "USA, USA" grew louder and Abbott took heed.

"Sure I heard them and I got pumped," she said.

First one strike. Then another. The crowd was roaring and Abbott was firing.

That next delivery was a rising fast ball that Hirose is still trying to find.

The crowd erupted. Abbott pumped both her fists and jumped into the air.

"That's a moment I'll remember," she said.

She performed nearly the same feat in the eighth, striking out Motoko Fujimoto with the designated runner on second.

"That was probably the biggest win of my life. No, it was the biggest win of my life," said Abbott, who is 3-0 for these Olympics. "It was so huge for our team. It keeps us in a position to win a gold medal."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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