Softball will be back back as a medal sport in the Olympics for the first time in 12 years this summer in Tokyo. That means three-time gold medal-winning Team USA is back, and assembling what some are calling a dream team of the best softball players in the world. Team USA is the No. 1 team ranked in the world, and boast many of the game’s great players.
Team USA’s dream team softball pitchers got lit up by Arizona’s Jessie Harper
The reigning NCAA home run leader blasted two against Team USA’s softball dream team.
Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Among these legends is pitcher Cat Osterman, who won gold in the 2004 Olympics and silver in 2018. Though the oldest player on Team USA at 36, Osterman is still one of the best players in the world, winning both the Pan American Games and the Japan Cup in 2019.
Osterman appeared to be in great form during her start Tuesday for Team USA against Arizona, the fifth-ranked team in the latest NCAA coaches poll. Team USA got out to a 5-0 lead in what appeared to be a mismatch. Then Jessie Harper happened.
With no respect for her opponent’s legendary status, Harper took Osterman VERY deep in the fourth inning on a monster shot to left field.
It was one of only two hits allowed in four innings for Osterman, who struck out eight. She left the game with Team USA up, 5-1, but then Harper struck again in the fifth.
This three-run shot pulled Arizona to within one run, and came against Ally Carda, the former UCLA legend who won back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Year honors in 2014 and 2015. The Wildcats didn’t win, but it was a heckuva performance for Harper, a senior shortstop who could very well make a name for herself this year.
“She’s a phenomenal hitter, and I think this was Harper’s opportunity to say, ‘Hey don’t forget about me,’” Arizona coach Mike Candrea told the Arizona Daily Star.
Harper led the NCAA with 29 home runs as a junior, the 13th-highest total in NCAA history. She entered her senior season with 66 career home runs. If she matches last season’s output this year, Harper will tie the all-time NCAA mark of 95 home runs, set by Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain five years ago.
Even if Harper falls short, only 10 college softball players have even managed 80 home runs, and only three have hit 90. She’s already in rare air, which she got to show off Tuesday night against the best in the world.
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