WOW. Kate's college coach was able to score tickets for many of the Purple Knights and a couple of their families to see the US Olympic Softball Team take on the ASA National Champion (3 times in past 6 years) Stratford Brakettes ... The Brakettes entered the game 40-0 on the season and 3298-370 over the past 61 years ... Team USA entered the game 56-1 as they finish up their "Bound For Bejing" national tour and head off for Olympic competition.

This game was especially meaningful for Camp Billings as the Brakettes' legendary coach Johnny Stratton was a friend of the late Coach Everet Johnson, Kate's first pitching coach. Everet sent Kate to work with Johnny and his pitchers when she was young -- and we worked with Olympians KC Clark and Danielle Henderson while watching Cat Osterman trying to make the Brakette roster back then ... It was sooo cool to be back at Deluca Field, see old friends, and watch the decade-later version of BOTH the Olympians and the Brakettes.

It was a great game to watch. Jennie Finch pitched for Team USA and walked a Brakette early on which prompted a visit to the mound (and wrecked her perfect game). She "bounced back" to pitch a no-hitter through 7 in regulation, finishing with a 9-inning 1-hitter in the exhibition. Jessica Mendoza provided all the offense the Olympians would need as she CRUSHED a two-run HR WAAAAY OVER the bleachers in DEEEEEP centerfield in the 2nd ... The Brakettes SS put on a fielding clinic while wearing a plastic mask and it was fun to see Laura Trout from Arizona State play for the Brakettes as she was a star in the College World Series this year ... The Brakettes used multiple pitchers, so we got to see Danielle throw again as well as Stratton's latest phenom (a future Cat?), Rachele Fico, a HS Junior who is on a different level than any player that age that we've ever seen in all our Rocket travels -- 27-0 last year in HS, with 12 no-hitters and 7 perfect games with an ERA of 0.007 (below Kater's mark of 0.30) ... She got shelled a bit by the Olympians, but to pitch at that level at 16? WOW!!! Plus, she got her three outs to close the game -- a 9-0 win for Team USA.

The photos are crappy (blur, grain, dark) because of the low-light of the night game and the distance from CF (the fence is deeep at DeLuca) and the Minolta is out-matched in those conditions (the upgrade to the Nikon D300 was finally prompted by this game), but the memories they represent are truly pricess. THANKS COACH!!!