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Play ball! U.S. softball team ready to concentrate on Olympics
(AP) -- Three players left off the U.S. Olympic softball team have agreed to settle their appeals, allowing the team to go to Sydney with its original roster. The roster had already been selected and wiped out twice because of appeals. A third round of arbitration threatened to cast the team into turmoil with just weeks remaining before it was to leave for Australia. Instead, the players agreed to drop their appeals, and the team will consist of the players that were originally chosen after the September trials, the Amateur Softball Association said in a statement. "I think the players have been waiting for there to be closure so that they could concentrate just on softball," ASA spokesman Brian McCall said. "Once everything is resolved, their only focus is going to be winning the gold medal, so that's going to be a relief for them." McCall said the ASA received permission from the U.S. Olympic Committee to add a sixth alternate, allowing the team to keep both Amanda Scott and Kelly Kretschmann as reserves. Scott will not travel to Sydney, and Kretschman will not play, unless there's an injury before the tournament begins Sept. 17. Scott said she also will receive a public apology and an undisclosed amount of money. "It's been a very disappointing process. It's been a very long process. It's almost been a complete year now," Scott said. "But I am happy that it's ending. We can all get on with our lives now." The United States won the inaugural Olympic softball gold medal in 1996 and has a 94-0 record since the 1998 World Championships. But picking a roster for Sydney proved more difficult than the competition. In the past, selection was all based on tryouts. But players campaigned for the roster to be chosen based on a broader picture of their careers, including performance at events such as the Olympics, World Championships and exhibition tours. The roster that was chosen at the end of the Midland, Mich., tryout camp Sept. 5 did not include either second baseman Julie Smith, a member of the '96 Olympic team, or Scott. Each appealed the decision; Scott's appeal was rejected, but Smith's prevailed. When the selection committee met a second time to pick the roster that was announced May 4, they picked the same team except that Scott was added as an alternate and Kretschman was dropped. The committee then faced three appeals: from Scott, who wanted to make the team outright; from Smith, who still wasn't on the team despite winning her first appeal, and from Kretschman. "I think she has been through the wringer," Scott's lawyer, Chris Campbell, said Tuesday. "But she wanted to settle and that's her choice." Neither Kretschman nor Smith could be reached for comment. Scott, who pitched a shutout at the trials, is only 22 and could still play for the team in 2004. "I haven't ruled it out," she said. "But there's not a lot of faith in the program to want to come back into it. Who wants to work for four years to have this happen?"
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