Team USA Waiting Out Typhoon to Play for Olympic Softball Gold

Fans of USA Softball will no doubt be a bit giddy this morning. The team that represents the United States of America in the Tokyo Olympic Games has cemented their slot in the gold medal game. Team USA earned that opportunity by defeating the team that took the gold medal from them in 2008, Japan.

Kelsey Stewart of Team USA is getting a reputation as "Miss Walk Off". Her home run last night in the seventh inning of the Team USA versus Japan game during group play clinched the victory for the Americans. Stewart also hit a walk-off single against the Japanese in 2018's Women's Softball World Championship. It was that win that earned Team USA their birth in this year's Olympics.

The American team finished group play undefeated. The team won all five of their pool pay contests. The Japanese finish pool play with four wins and a single loss. The same two teams will meet on Tuesday with the gold medal on the line. By virtue of their win last night, Team USA will be designated as the home team and thus will have the advantage of the last at-bat during the game.

Monica Abbot, a 6-foot-3 left-hander is expected to be in the circle for the United States team for the gold medal game. Abbot and another left, Kat Osterman have combined to pitch all 29 innings of Team USA's first four games. However, last night's contest was a team effort as both Abbot and Osterman came to the aid of Ally Carda to secure the win.

Fans wanting to catch Team USA versus Japan for the gold medal will want to set their clocks early. That game is set to air in the United States live at 6:00 am Tuesday morning. Tokyo is fourteen hours ahead of us in Louisiana so the game will actually be contested at 8 pm Tokyo time.

Mother Nature could have a say so in the schedule though. Typhoon Nepartak is expected to make landfall in Japan, just south of Tokyo, during the day today. That system was expected to spin up in the wake of Typhoon In-Fa which crossed the southern islands of Japan on a path that is expected to take it into eastern China later this week.

The current forecast calls for a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms in the Tokyo area today. That increases to a near 90% chance of rain, wind, and thunderstorms during the day on Tuesday.

We all know that success in the Olympic Games can certainly add to an athlete's portfolio. Here are just a few athletes who have used their physical skills to enhance their net worth over time. Some of them were Olympians, some of them went directly to the professional ranks.