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Originally Posted by Andy
I will be working a 14u ASA qualifier on Memorial day weekend. The Olympic team is scheduled to play a game on Sunday evening. Fairly small facility, only about 2000 people max. Should be fun.
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The host city (Prescott, AZ) sold 3200 tickets for the game and it was a sellout. The Olympic team played a collection of HS, College, and former college players with ties to the area. The Olympic team won 15 - 0 in six innings. Finch pitched the entire game for the USA, I was a little disappointed that I did not get to see some of the other pitchers.
Stacey Nueveman has an absolute gun behind the plate - a runner tried to steal second and Stacey threw her out easily. I remembered the runner from her HS and college career, she was not exactly slow. The game was played during the time a 14u qualifier was going on, I was sitting near some of the players from one team that were just awestruck to see the game. One of the best things was that a local HS pitcher, just finished her sophomore year, got to pitch the last two innings for the all-star team. She struck out four of the seven batters she faced, one K being Mendoza, considered maybe the best hitter in the world. From the look on her face, she was extremely excited.
Overall, a very fun experience, 4 of my buddies got to umpire the game and they had a great time. My daughter was able to get autographs of 10 of the 18 USA players before they shut down the autograph lines. All of the players were very gracious and personable while signing autographs. If you get a chance to see this team play, I highly recommend you do so.