RAPID CITY - The Black Hills Gold all-star softball team is ready to begin its job of helping prepare the U.S. Olympic team for its march towards the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing later this summer.

The Black Hills Gold will play the U.S. Olympic team as part of its exhibition tour around the country before it heads to Beijing at the end of July. The Gold will play the national team on July 15 at Pete Lien Memorial Field in Rapid City at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.rapidcityasa.com or e-mail rapidcityasa@rushmore.com.

The Black Hills Gold team named its roster of 18 players and five alternates. Rapid Citians Stephanie Hillman (first base) and Kari Marsico (designated hitter) made the full roster and Alison Murphy (first base) and Brittany Garner (designated runner) were named as alternates.

"It's been a time-consuming job," Gold head coach Rick DenHerder said of whittling the team down to its current form. "The talent that we witnessed at both tryouts was beyond my wildest expectations."

The Black Hills Gold team will take on the only team to ever have won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in women's softball. The United States has won every gold medal since the sport became an Olympic sport in 1996. That kind of domination - with players such as Lisa Fernandez, Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman - has put a realistic spin on just what the local team plans to do.

"If I'm nothing, I'm realistic," DenHerder told the Journal's Joe Kavanaugh. "The Olympic team is not here for the competition. They are on a 60-plus game tour mainly against college-level competition and have lost only one game."

The requirements for making the team were that a player had to either have grown up in South Dakota, played at a college in the state or coached in the state.

High school players were not eligible to compete due to NCAA guidelines.

"Our goal from the beginning was to put together the best possible team to face Team USA in Rapid City on July 15," DenHerder said. "I believe that we have accomplished that goal."

There are some relatives on the team as Brittany and Brooke Postma of Madison and Jennifer, Heather and Kimberly Bourdon of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan were all named to the team. Both Postmas are on the full roster along with Jennifer Bourdon. Heather and Kimberly are two of the five alternates.

Eighteen players picked for Black Hills Gold

Name Hometown Position School

Kiley Schwedhelm Omaha 1B South Dakota State

Stephanie Hillman Rapid City 1B Chadron State

Tagney Jones Lincoln, Neb., 1B-OF South Dakota

Allison Rutherford Sioux Falls 2B-OF Augustana

Ashley Durazo Mission Hills, Calif. 2B-SS South Dakota State

Emily Pyle Marshalltown, Iowa 3B Dakota State

Krystal Kirwin Omaha 3B South Dakota

Tiffany Butler Sioux Falls C South Dakota

Traci Fransen Jackson, Minn. C Augustana

Kari Marsico Rapid City DH Armstrong

Tara Bendt Kearns, Utah OF Salt Lake CC

Brittney Postma Madison OF South Dakota State

Jennifer Hill Sioux Falls OF Augustana

Brooke Postma Madison OF South Dakota State

Jennifer Bourdon Duck Lake, Sask., OF-SS Presentation

Jenna Marston Omaha P South Dakota State

Brianna Sudenga Brandon SS-2B Minnesota

Sarah Seamands Brandon Util. Minnesota

Alternates

Name Hometown Position School

Alison Murphy Rapid City 1B Minnesota

Kara Bendt Kearns, Utah P Salt Lake CC

Heather Bourdon Duck Lake, Sask. C-3B Presentation

Kimberly Bourdon Duck Lake, Sask. 1B-OF Presentation

Brittany Garner Rapid City PR South Dakota State