THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Roundup : Granger, Friends Throw Gold Medal Party, 4-1

Rather than take all the credit, Michele Granger said everyone pitched in.

Granger, Ella Vilche and Rhonda Wheatley combined on a two-hitter Thursday night, and the United States beat Puerto Rico, 4-1, to win the gold medal in women’s softball at the Pan American Games.

“This gives me a lot of pride,” Granger said. “I’m sure I’ll look back on this medal in 5 or 10 years and I’ll remember everybody. This is a reward for playing together.”

It was the eighth time in nine games that the U.S. pitchers, all of them from California, held an opponent to two or fewer hits in a game. Vilche went the first four innings, Wheatley the next two and Granger the final inning.

For the tournament, the three pitchers combined to allow only one run in 60 innings, giving up 10 hits while striking out 105 and walking 10. Opposing batters had a .052 batting average against the three U.S. starters.

Vilche, of Fresno, gave up one run in 18 Pan Am innings, while Wheatley, of Inglewood, was not scored upon in her 14 innings. Granger allowed three hits--including two bouncers to the mound--in 28 innings and did not allow a run.

“How sweet it is,” said second baseman Dot Richardson, who played for the U.S. team that finished second to Canada at 1983 games and won the gold in 1979 at San Juan. “You never remember who finished second, unless the U.S. ends up second.”

The United States dominated the tournament, getting 56 consecutive scoreless innings until Puerto Rico broke the string in the fourth inning of the final.

The U.S. women scored two runs in the second and two in the third.

With one out in the second, Annette Ausseresses of Salt Lake City walked. She was sacrificed to second by Suzie Gaw of Phoenix and scored on a single by Donna McElrea of Tustin, Calif. McElrea moved to second on the throw to the plate and came home on a single by Kathy Escarcega of El Centro, Calif.

In the third, Richardson of Orlando, Fla., led off with a triple and scored on a single by Vickie Morrow of Pontiac, Mich. Lisa Baker of Cerritos, Calif., followed with a single, and Liz Mizera of Orange, Calif., singled home Morrow.

Puerto Rico scored on a triple by Janice Parks and a sacrifice fly by Jackeline Ortiz.

The U.S. men’s softball team settled for a silver medal, losing to Canada, 2-1.

Bob McKinnon singled in two runs in the first inning, and Rob Scheller and Glen Jevne combined on a two-hitter to give Canada its third straight Pan Am title.

Canada completed the tournament with a 10-1 record, while the U.S. team finished 10-2. Canada’s only loss came to the United States, 7-4, in 11 innings, in the final game of the round-robin portion of the tournament.

The U.S. water polo team scored on 8 of 12 first-half possessions, with Peter Campbell of Costa Mesa, Calif., getting four goals, in a 17-3 romp over Puerto Rico. The United States is 4-0 in round-robin play.

Coming off a tough victory over Cuba Wednesday, the U.S. got two goals each from Jody Campbell, Jeff Campbell, Terry Schroeder and Greg Boyer.

Cuba (3-1) rebounded with a 10-4 victory over Mexico and will play the United States for the gold medal Saturday.

The U.S. baseball team takes a perfect record into the medal round today against Canada, its best position ever in the Pan American Games.

One thing the young Americans aren’t is overconfident.

“I wish we could quit now,” pitcher Cris Carpenter of Gainesville, Ga., said. “I don’t even want to play Canada.”

However, the alternative would be facing the powerful Cubans (6-1) or Puerto Rico (5-2), who play in the other game today. The winners will play for the gold medal Saturday.

The U.S. team (7-0) beat Canada, 10-6, in round-robin play, but the Canadians (4-3) won three of five games the teams played against each other earlier in the summer.

MEDAL STANDINGS

G S B Tot United States 158 108 73 339 Canada 30 55 727 157 Cuba 62 48 43 153 Brazil 10 13 26 49 Argentina 12 10 19 41 Mexico 8 10 17 35 Colombia 3 7 13 23 Venezuela 3 9 9 21 Puerto Rico 2 4 12 18 Jamaica 2 3 7 12 Costa Rica 3 4 3 10 Dom. Republic 0 2 7 9 Ecuador 0 1 5 6 Chile 1 1 3 5 Bahamas 0 2 3 5 Peru 0 2 3 5 Uruguay 2 2 0 4 Panama 0 3 0 3 Suriname 0 0 1 2 Trinidad 0 1 1 2 U.S. Virgin Is. 0 1 1 2 Net. Antilles 0 0 1 1 Bermuda 0 0 1 1 Guatemala 0 0 1 1 Paraguay 0 0 1 1