LUBBOCK — Texas Tech filed a report with the NCAA over the summer admitting violations of a ban on text-messaging recruits in three sports — football, men’s golf and softball. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that Tech athletic director Gerald Myers referred most questions to Brian Shannon, Tech’s faculty representative who has communicated with NCAA and Big 12 Conference officials on the case. Shannon told the newspaper that violations were uncovered last February by Tech’s athletic compliance staff in a routine review of phone records. He said that after an internal investigation, Tech sent a report to the NCAA and the Big 12 in July that included self-imposed penalties. He said he hasn’t been given a time frame for the resolution. “We reported it. We imposed some self-imposed penalties. Most of those have already been served,” Shannon said. Tech imposed its own penalties in football that included giving up one scholarship for 2010 and reducing the number of campus visits to four fewer recruits than the program’s average over the last four years. He said “comparable” sanctions had also been imposed on men’s golf and softball. He said each team would give up a fraction of one scholarship and “some limitation or reduction in ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending national champion California Baptist has been tabbed as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The Lancers were the unanimous pick, earning all 23 first-place votes and tallying 653 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) is listed second with 629 points. Oklahoma City and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) are tied for third with 594 points and Lubbock Christian rounds out the top-five teams with 549 points. No. 1 California Baptist returns 12 starters from its 2009 national championship team, including 2009 NAIA Pitcher of the Year, Tory Ferreira. Ferreira became the first pitcher in NAIA history to go undefeated and have at least 20 wins, as a freshman. The 2009 NAIA National Championship MVP Ashley Boyd returns for her senior season. The senior shortstop set school single-season records for home runs (16), hits (100), runs scored (82) and total bases (178). The Lancers finished last season with a school record 61 wins, on their way to winning the school’s first softball championship. No. 22 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), No. 23 Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) and No. 25 McKendree (Ill.) all make an appearance ...

ST. LOUIS — Worth Sports has signed Olympic Medalist and pitcher for the NPF’s Florida Pride, Monica Abbott, to a multi-year endorsement contract. Abbott will be endorsing the new Worth 5-Tool product line of training equipment and designing two Monica Abbott signature fielders gloves. “Monica is acknowledged as one of the greatest pitchers in the fastpitch game,” said Mike Thompson, Senior VP of Marketing at Worth. “Her unparalleled athletic accomplishments are clearly exemplified by her statistical records. Worth is committed to being the best at every level of fastpitch softball. Monica will play a critical role in the development of Worth products for youth and amateur players right up to the highest level of professional players.” Abbott was one of the key members of the USA Women’s National Team in its run to the Silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Before turning professional as a current member of the National Pro Fastpitch’s Florida Pride, Abbott was a collegiate standout at the University of Tennessee. Abbott was the 2007 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year and holds NCAA Division I records in: career victory record (189), career shutout record (112), strikeouts (2,440), appearances (253), and single-season strikeouts (724). “I am ...

Kissimmee, Fla. - The USSSA Florida Pride, a member of the Women’s National Professional Fastpitch League (NPF), announced today that they have signed former Olympic Gold (2004) and Silver (2008) medalist Natasha Watley as a new addition to the Pride’s 2010 roster. She will be joining fellow Team USA members Jessica Mendoza and Lauren Lappin, also recent signees to the Pride for the 2010 season. The three are welcome additions to a team which already features former Olympians and Team USA members Monica Abbott, Kelly Kretschman, and Caitlin Lowe, as well as recently signed Katie Burkhart, formerly of Arizona State University and the NPF’s Philadelphia Force. During the 2004 Olympics, Watley assisted the USA Softball Team to their third consecutive gold medal in Athens by breaking the Olympic record for stolen bases and was third on the team with a .400 batting average, with 9 hits and 10 RBI. During the 2008 Olympics, Watley brought home a silver medal after hitting .321 in the leadoff position with two home runs and six RBI. Internationally, Watley is a two-time Pan-American Gold Medalist (2003 & 2007), two time World Champion (2002 & 2006), and three time World Cup Champion (2006, 2007, ...

ELGIN, Ill. – Chicago Bandits GM Aaron Moore announced today that the Bandits have released the following players to free-agency: catcher Jamie Schloredt, outfielders Izmena Cabrera and Cheyenne Jenks, shortstop Aileen Morales, pitcher Gina Oaks and pitcher Brandice Balschmiter. In 2009, Jenks batted 3-for-13 (.231) with a double and two runs scored. She made the team by way of the open tryout in early May. Jenks recently signed on to play softball professionally in Europe during the 2010 season. Outfielder Izmena Cabrera and catcher Jamie Schloredt both joined the Bandits in 2009 as rookies out of Sacramento State University. Cabrera quickly made an impact off the bench as a clutch hitter in the early parts of the season. In 2009 she batted 6-for-24 (.250) with three RBIs and one stolen base. Schloredt filled in nicely behind the plate, splitting time at the catcher position with Rachel Folden. Schloredt finished 2009 with 15 hits in 61 at-bats for eight RBIs, eight runs and five homeruns. One homerun came early in the season in the form of a game winner off USSSA Pride pitcher Monica Abbott. Aileen “Boom Boom” Morales split time with the Bandits and team Puerto Rico last year as ...

NASHVILLE – National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) and its four-affiliate teams will hold the 2010 NPF Senior Draft on Wednesday February 10, 2010 at 8PM EST. The broadcast will be live from the Heritage Key Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. This will be the second consecutive year the NPF will broadcast the Draft live but the first time on MLB.com. “The College Senior Draft is a much anticipated event for the entire League. We are always looking forward to the next talented group of outstanding athletes who will undoubtedly contribute positively the future of the NPF,” stated NPF Commissioner Cheri Kempf. The 2009 Draftees made a huge impact during the NPF Season. Those players included Kaitlin Cochran (Akron) and NPF Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year Tammy Williams (Chicago). Each team has at least three selections in the five-round draft. The USSSA Pride, the host of the 2010 Draft, will hold six of the 20 overall picks due to a 2009 draft-day trade with the Akron Racers. The order of the Draft is as follows: First Round: 1 1. USSSA Pride 2. Tennessee Diamonds 3. USSSA Pride from Akron Racers – 2009 trade 4. Chicago Bandits Second Round: 5. ...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. --- The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, has selected its initial “Watch List” for the 9th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award. This award, which is considered the most prestigious honors in Division I women’s collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. Past winners of this award include UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman, Florida State’s Jessica Van der Linden, three-time winner Texas pitcher Cat Osterman, Tennessee’s Monica Abbott, Virginia Tech’s Angela Tincher and 2009 winner Washington pitcher/hitter Danielle Lawrie. The 2010 Pre-Season Watch List is comprised of 50 players representing 35 schools and 14different NCAA Division I Conferences. The list includes 27 seniors, 17 juniors and six sophomores. The ASA will announce the 25 finalists on April 7. A player does not have to appear on this initial watch list to be considered as a top 25 finalist. However, once the top 25 finalists are named the winner of the award will come from that list. *Freshman qualify for the top 25 list once they have competed at the collegiate level. 2010 USA Softball ...

The NFCA Division II Top 25 is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Final 2009 records are shown. First-place votes are in parentheses. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Alabama-Huntsville (14) 54-6 398 2 2 North Georgia 50-5 375 3 3 Winona St. (1) 50-13 345 5 4 Dixie St. 41-13 331 6 5 Indianapolis 37-21 316 10 6 Valdosta St. 57-8 287 8 7 Le Moyne 45-12 252 7 8 Missouri Western St. 47-12 244 NR 9 California (Pa.) 35-10 233 25 10 Saginaw Valley 39-11 217 14 11 Humboldt St. 38-20 214 NR 12 Nebraska-Omaha 45-17 210 24 13 S.C. Aiken 34-16 206 12 14 Kutztown 46-12-1 196 9 15 Nova Southeastern 49-15 157 18 16 Metro St. 40-12 151 NR 17 Abilene Christian 43-15 130 NR 18 C.W. Post 34-18 114 NR 19 Angelo St. 50-10 104 4 20 Wayne St. (Mich.) 40-16 85 NR 21 Wayne St. (Neb.) 41-21 81 NR 22 West Texas A&M 35-21 73 NR 23 Mesa St. 30-21 65 16 24 Carson-Newman 32-17 62 21 25 Lock Haven (1) 51-6 58 1 Others receiving votes: Bloomsburg 46, Rollins 37, Caldwell 31, Georgia College 29, Cal St.-Monterey Bay 28, Hawaii Pacific 21, Georgian Court 19, St. Edwards 16, Emporia St. 15, Ashland 10, Augustana (S.D.) 10, Ferris St. 8, Midwestern St. 6, Southwest Minn. St. 6, East Stroudsburg 3, Montana St.-Billings 3, NYIT 3, Concordia-St. Paul 2, Florida Southern 1, Lewis 1, Regis (Colo.) 1 The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow The Fastpitch News Blog on Twitter at Twitter.com/FastpitchNews Become a fan of the Fastpitch News on Facebook at Facebook.com/SoftballMedia Don't forget to check out our other softball websites Fastpitch.FM Home of the Fastpitch Radio Show. Fastpitch.TV Home of the Fastpitch TV Show. FastpitchSearch.com A seach engine just for softball. SoftballJunk.com The best place online to buy softball equipment. SoftballMedia.com One site for all our softball media.

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each of the 30 conferences. Records shown are the teams final 2009 records. Last ranking reflects the final 2009 poll. First-place votes are in parentheses. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Washington (30) 51-12 750 1 2 Alabama 54-11 677 3 3 Florida 63-5 649 2 4 Michigan 47-12 625 6 5 Arizona St. 47-19 613 5 6 Arizona 46-17 597 7 7 Georgia 47-12 569 4 8 UCLA 45-11 558 9 9 Missouri 50-12 536 8 10 Stanford 48-11 433 10 11 Oklahoma 41-16 401 16 12 California 38-20 370 11 13 Georgia Tech 46-15 319 13 14 Ohio St. 47-11 312 12 15 Northwestern 31-15 288 18 16 Tennessee 40-18-1 245 20 17 Baylor 40-22 226 15 18 LSU 34-18-1 219 19 19 North Carolina 47-13 209 17 20 Massachusetts 41-10 199 14 21 DePaul 39-14 178 23 22 Louisville 48-11 166 NR 23 Florida St. 44-16 109 22 24 Louisiana-Lafayette 45-13 88 25 25 Fresno St. 38-20 75 NR   Others receiving votes:North Dakota St. 44, Jacksonville St. 38, Cal Poly 37, Nevada 31, Nebraska 28, Texas 23, Notre Dame 21, Cal St. Fullerton 17, San Diego St. 15, Iowa 11, Kentucky 11, Purdue 10, Hawaii 8, Mississippi St. 7, Southern Illinois 7, Cal St. Northridge 6, Texas A&M 6, Tulsa 6, Creighton 4, BYU 3, Houston 3, Oklahoma St. 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow The Fastpitch News Blog on Twitter at Twitter.com/FastpitchNews Become a fan of the Fastpitch News on Facebook at Facebook.com/SoftballMedia Don't forget to check out our other softball websites Fastpitch.FM Home of the Fastpitch Radio Show. Fastpitch.TV Home of the Fastpitch TV Show. FastpitchSearch.com A seach engine just for softball. SoftballJunk.com The best place online to buy softball equipment. SoftballMedia.com One site for all our softball media.

Surrey, BC – The 17th Annual Canada Cup International Women’s Fastpitch Tournament (Women’s Division) has been cancelled for 2010 due to a change in the International Softball Federation dates for the Xll Women’s World Championships. “It is with great regret and after much deliberation due to the changes made by the International Softball Federation schedule that I have decided not to proceed with the 2010 Canada Cup and have informed Softball Canada and the Canada Cup Host Committee of this decision,“ stated Chairman, Glen Todd. “We reviewed all of our options and in the end concluded that we had no choice but to cancel the Women’s tournament. We are exploring the possibilities of staging the Canada Cup once again in 2011.” The Canada Cup was to be held July 3 to 11 in Surrey, BC with many international teams then heading to the World Championships the following week. The 2010 ISF Xll Women’s World Championships will now be held in Caracas, Venezuela June 23 to July 2. It has recently been announced by the International Softball Federation and Softball Canada that the ISF Xlll Women’s World Championships will be held in July of 2012 in Whitehorse, Yukon. Dates are still to ...