Reika Utsugi was hired to be Japan's softball coach in 2016 for the sole purpose of leading the team to an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games.
Utsugi had played for the team herself. She was part of Japan's Olympic squad in 2000, which took silver, and earned a bronze medal alongside star pitcher Yukiko Ueno at the 2004 Games in Athens.
Everything she had put into the last five years culminated in Japan holding a 2-0 lead over the mighty United States with the gold medal she was hired to win just three outs away in the seventh inning on Tuesday night at Yokohama Stadium. Utsugi had recently used Miu Goto, who survived a scare in the sixth, to close out games, but with gold on the line, she felt the need to make a change. Utsugi didn't doubt Goto's ability, but her pitches had been near the middle of the plate and Utsugi was wary the powerful Americans were starting to adjust.