Half of the eight-team field from the 2004 Olympic Softball competition will be in action over four days of play at the International Sports Invitational, a United States Olympic Committee-sanctioned event also featuring basketball and volleyball competition in San Diego, California (USA).

Australia (silver medalists), Canada, China, and the United States (gold medalists) will all take to the field to renew rivalries last displayed in Athens, Greece, last summer when softball played at the Summer Olympics for the third time.

Each team will play each other once before Saturday afternoon’s two semi-final games (#3 vs. #4 and #1 vs. #2), followed by the Final and Grand Final on Sunday.

TODAY’S GAMES:
China vs. Australia
USA vs. Canada

FRIDAY’S GAMES:
Australia vs. Canada
USA vs. China

SATURDAY’S GAMES:
China vs. Canada
USA vs. Australia
Semi-final 1 (#3 vs. #4)
Semi-final 2 (#1 vs. #2)

SUNDAY’S GAMES
Final
Grand Final

The softball competition is taking place at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. Some TV coverage of playoff games will be provided by College Sports Television (CSTV) and ESPN.

An official event website has been set up (see link below), and USA Softball also has an area of their website devoted to their team’s participation at the International Sports Invitational that will include live stats, rosters, and photos.

“This tournament is going to be intense,” said USA outfielder Laura Berg, a three-time Olympic Softball gold medalist. “Knowing our rivalry with Australia and also Canada and China, everyone is going to come out strong and aiming to knock us off. It will be quite the adrenaline rush for me to take the field as it is for the entire team. This is going to be quite a tournament to open the summer season.”

Event website

USA Softball's ISI page