Three former University of Washington stars playing for the U.S. and Canada have won Olympic medals in softball.
In the gold medal softball game, the U.S. fell to Japan 2-0, winning silver. It was Japan's second straight gold medal after beating the U.S. in Beijing in 2008.
Yukiko Ueno took a one-hitter into the sixth inning five days after her 39th birthday, and Japan snuffed out an American rally attempt with an acrobatic double play in the sixth inning.
Second baseman Ali Aguilar, who was a standout at UW, played for the Americans in the gold medal game.
In the bronze medal game, Canada beat Mexico 3-2 to win its first Olympic medal in softball.
Canada won behind 2 1/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief from Danielle Lawrie, a former UW softball star.
Lawrie, who led UW to its first and only national championship in 2009, is also the sister of former major league player Brett Lawrie.
Kelsey Harshman broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. Emma Entzminger put Canada ahead with a two-run single in the second off Danielle O’Toole, but Mexico tied the score on RBI singles by Brittany Cervantes and by Suzy Brookshire.
Former UW star Jenn Salling, who played with Lawrie on the 2009 championship team, plays first base for Canada. She now lives in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.
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Another player with western Washington ties, Redmond High School grad Tatyana "Taty" Forbes, was playing for Mexico.
After their win, Canada asked the International Olympic Committee to reverse its decision to exclude softball from the 2024 Paris Games. The Tokyo Games was the first time since 2008 that softball was an Olympic sport.
