Olympics
Susie Arth, Senior Editor, ESPN.com 3y

Olympic softball: Team USA's RBI and Mexico's first home run in history -- from one power couple!

Olympic Sports, Summer Olympics, Softball

It's a story they might recall in side-by-side rocking chairs 60 years from now. No matter the twists and turns ahead of them, there won't be many nights like Wednesday night for Amanda Chidester and Anissa Urtez, who were engaged to be married last fall.

With chants of "Chiddy Chiddy Bang Bang" drowning out the cicadas in Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and with U.S. softball players pressing to get their bats going at the Tokyo Olympics, Chidester knocked a two-out single to right on a 1-2 pitch to score Haylie McCleney in the fifth inning of Team USA's 1-0 win over Canada.

It was all starter Monica Abbott would need. She pitched a complete-game one-hitter and struck out nine.

"Monica gave our offense confidence throughout the game by keeping Canada off the board," Chidester said. "She gave us a little bit more time to get our bats going."

Hours later, Urtez one-upped her fiancée. The former standout at the University of Utah hit the first home run in Mexico softball history -- off none other than Japanese legend Yukiko Ueno.

And if that weren't enough, Urtez chased Ueno with an RBI single in the seventh that tied the game 2-2 and sent it into extra innings. Japan, however, would go on to score in the eighth to improve to 2-0.

"I can't wait for this beautiful journey together," Urtez wrote on Instagram in November when announcing her engagement to Chidester.

The journey continues Saturday (1:30 a.m. ET), when their paths will cross at Yokohama Baseball Stadium. Chidester and Urtez will be on opposite sides when Team USA (2-0) takes on Mexico (0-2) as round-robin play continues.

^ Back to Top ^