Bear on the loose near Olympic softball venue hours before first pitch

TOKYO — On their way to Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium on Thursday, some members of the U.S. softball team and coach Ken Eriksen were already hunting — and not necessarily for an opponent that morning, Canada. 

That's because the day before, Fukushima police said that a security guard spotted a brown bear on Tuesday, and then again Wednesday morning on stadium grounds, hours before the first pitch of the Tokyo Olympics between Japan and Australia, according to The Japan Times. 

“A guard found a bear inside Azuma Sports Park early in the morning yesterday. We also received similar information this morning,” a Fukushima police spokesman told the newspaper. “We couldn’t find or capture the bear, and while there won’t be any spectators at the stadium, we are on alert and searching for the bear around the site." 

The ursine creature, about three feet tall according to local media reports, has not yet been found despite a search effort by authorities through the night.  

“We were driving up today and we were looking through the park to see if there was another bear,” Eriksen said after Team USA's 1-0 win. 

Amanda Chidester woke up Thursday with messages from friends and family asking, "Is this real?" 

“I was able to report back to my family that there was a bear in the area,” she said. 

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Not all of Team USA softball was aware that a bear was even on the loose, however. While Eriksen and Chidester laughed about the situation at the post-game podium, starting pitcher Monica Abbott, who fired seven scoreless innings, expressed confusion. 

"You were so locked in," Eriksen informed her. 

Bears are common in Japan, according to the Times, and bear searches are typically conducted when the animals intersect with human life. 

Japan defeated Australia 8-1 in the opening game. The United States shutout Italy 2-0 later in the day.

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.