Fresno State Athletics
2000 USA Olympic Softball Team Making Stop at Fresno State
5/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 12, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - Fans in the San Joaquin Valley will have one of the first glimpses of the USA Softball Women's National Team this summer when it makes a stop at Fresno State on Sunday, July 23, 3:00 p.m., at Bulldog Diamond.
With a tour that is entitled from "Central Park to Sydney," the 2000 USA Olympic Softball team will travel to 31 cities across America beginning June 2 in Chattanooga, Tenn. and finishing up September 3 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
USA Softball will face four teams from the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) during its cross country excursion and will play its final game against the WPSL All-Stars in Honolulu.
The stop in Fresno will feature the Florida Wahoos pitting their talents against Team USA. And the draw for the central Valley will be five former Bulldogs returning home. USA's 1996 Olympic gold medalist and starting centerfielder as well as Fresno State's assistant softball coach Laura Berg will be patrolling her all too familiar grounds at Bulldog Diamond and she is joined on the national team with alternate Shelly Stokes. Across the field will be another Berg, Randi, who was the first Bulldog to play in the WPSL and garnered the 1999 WPSL Defensive Player of the Year at second base last season. Also joining Berg on the Florida Wahoo's team will be former Bulldog All-America standouts Kim Maher (1996 USA Olympic Softball gold medalist) and Nina Lindenberg.
With the gates opening at 11:00 a.m., the day will kick-off with the ASA 12-Under All-Star game at 12:30 p.m. Opening ceremonies for the Florida Wahoos vs. Team USA will begin at 2:00 p.m. The single game between the two teams will follow at approximately 3:00 p.m. In addition, a one hour autograph session will follow.
Tickets for the event will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, May 9, at the Bulldog Ticket Office (559-278-DOGS) and will be available up until game time. Fresno State softball seat option holders will have first bids to retain their regular-season seats for the national event. Ticket prices are as follow: Box seats ($20), Upper Reserved ($15), first and third base risers ($10), general admission ($5) and children five and under are free.
Preceding the event, the USA Softball Women's National Team will conduct a clinic at Buchanan High School on Saturday, July 22.
Eight games versus the WPSL will be televised by ESPN 2, including the tour stop in Fresno. The game will be tape delayed and will run at 9:00 p.m. on Monday, July 24.
For more information concerning ticket prices, call the Bulldog Ticket Office. For additional information on the event, fans may log on to www.thegrid.net/ccmsa and go under special events before clicking on the "Central Park to Sydney" logo. For additional information on the 2000 USA Olympic Softball Team, contact Brian McCall at (405) 425-3463.
