PLANT CITY, FLORIDA (USA) -- In 111 days 16 countries will begin vying to be called “number 1.” Thus, preparations are nearing a fever pitch in Caracas, Venezuela, which will host the International Softball Federation’s XII Women’s World Championship from June 23-July 2. A 2010 World Championship Coordination Commission has just returned from a visit this past weekend to the South American country. ISF Secretary General Ms. LOW Beng Choo (Malaysia) headed the group that visited for two days with Venezuelan Sports Minister Victoria Mata, General Alirio Ramirez, Colonel Benavidez, and several organizing committee representatives, along with ISF VP/Latin America Jésus Suniaga, who is also the president of the Venezuela Softball Federation. The meetings covered topics ranging from transportation and accommodations to security, and several other aspects of the event planning, including television broadcasts. The delegation also visited the playing facilities and another meeting has been scheduled in Caracas for the first week of May. The seedings have also now been set for the fast pitch tournament, in accordance with the ISF Competition & Technical Code. The teams will be in two pools, as follows: POOL A ...

(Surrey, BC.) With the recent announcement of the cancellation of the Women’s Division of the 2010 Canada Cup International Women’s Fastpitch Tournament, the original Host Team, the White Rock Renegades, will continue what the Canada Cup Host Committee worked so hard to achieve with their two youth divisions by forming a new committee to host the 2010 Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship. This will include a Futures (U19) Division and a Showcase (16U) Division. The 2010 Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship will be held from July 5 - 11 in Surrey, British Columbia and will carry on the Canada Cup spirit of promoting the development of the great game of softball by helping young female athletes reach for their personal best. “We decided as the Host organization that we would take on the challenge of continuing the Futures and Showcase tournaments for 2010 and give elite teams who wanted the chance to compete, the chance to do so,” stated Greg Timm, President of the White Rock Renegades and Chairman of the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship. “We’re doing so because we want to help the young athletes of today as well as honor Glen Todd’s vision and tireless work towards the ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Senior second baseman Jen Yee has been named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I National Player of the Week for games played between February 22-28. Yee powered her way to a .545 batting average last week by going 12-for-22 with six home runs, eight runs and 14 RBIs. She also walked twice and had one stolen base. The North Delta, B.C.’ native came up with clutch hits for the Yellow Jackets on three separate occasions on the week. Against Arkansas, the senior had her first multi-home run game in a Georgia Tech uniform and had the game-winning home run against Central Florida. Yee also hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning versus Iowa to give her team the lead for the first time since trailing 5-0. Yee had a 1.333 slugging percentage and a .550 on-base percentage at the 2010 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, where she took home tournament most valuable player honors. No. 12 Georgia Tech finished the week at 5-1 behind Yee’s performance and is currently 13-2 on the season. OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES Ball State’s Elizabeth Millian went 3-0 with a save, a no-hitter and did not allow any runs over a 4-1 week ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - For the third time in four weeks, the Washington Huskies received all 30 first-place votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll . The Huskies have now held the No. 1 spot for four consecutive editions of the poll. Arizona, Florida and UCLA held on to their spots from last week in second, third and fifth, respectively. Missouri joined the Top 5 at fourth this week, bumping previous No. 4 Michigan down three spots to seventh. Illinois and Oklahoma State both make their 2010 Top 25 debuts in this week’s poll at No. 21 and No. 25, forcing last week’s No. 23 Northwestern and No. 25 North Carolina out of the poll. The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The next USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll will be released Tuesday, March 9. USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Week #3 The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. 2010 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Washington (30) 12-1 750 1 2 Arizona 12-1 720 2 3 Florida 12-1 659 3 4 Missouri 8-2 645 6 5 UCLA 14-3 591 5 6 Georgia 13-1 582 8 7 Michigan 9-4 548 4 8 Alabama 12-3 548 9 9 Arizona St. 10-2 536 7 10 Stanford 12-2 476 10 11 Oklahoma 11-2 460 12 12 Georgia Tech 13-2 441 11 13 California 11-4 359 13 14 Louisville 13-2 343 15 15 Texas 14-2 330 14 16 LSU 13-4 282 16 17 Ohio St. 10-5 270 17 18 Florida St. 15-2 203 22 19 La.-Lafayette 10-5 164 18 20 Tennessee 8-4 142 21 21 Illinois 14-1 133 NR 22 Fresno St. 9-4 127 19 23 Texas A&M 12-3 87 24 24 Massachusetts 6-4 75 20 25 Oklahoma ...

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America is pleased to announce the roster and schedule for the 2010 USA Softball Women’s National Team, which will kick off the season with exhibition games in Ohio, June 16-17. The team consists of 14 members from the 2009 USA Softball National Team who helped capture the Canada Cup and World Cup of Softball Gold Medals during 2009. In addition to the 14 returnees, 2004 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.) makes her return to USA Softball after taking a year off for the birth of her child. Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif.) makes her first-ever appearance on a USA Softball roster while Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo.) is in her first year as a National Team member after representing the USA at the Pan American Qualifier last year. The complete roster includes: Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.) Chelsea Bramlett (Cordova, Tenn.) Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif.) Ashley Charters (Beaverton, Ore.) Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif.) Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.) Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) Vicky Galindo (Union City, Calif.) Alissa Haber (Newark, Calif.) Ashley Hansen (Chandler, Ariz.) Ashley Holcombe (Fayetteville, Ga.) Lauren Lappin (Anaheim, Calif.) Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.) Jessica Mendoza ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Senior catcher Katie Bartlett of Missouri-St. Louis and senior pitcher Katie Petersen of Midwestern St., have been named as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for games played Feb. 15-21. Bartlett went 8-for-14 over four games and helped guide her team to a 3-1 record on the week. She finished the week with a .571 batting average, four runs, six RBIs, a double and a home run. The Des Moines, Iowa, native gave the Tritons a fighting chance in their lone loss of the week against Union (Tenn.) by tying the game in the top of the seventh with a solo home run. UMSL won its final three games at the Union (Tenn.) Three Team Weekend to start the season at 3-1. In the circle, Petersen led Midwestern to a perfect 5-0 record on the week by not allowing her opponents to score a single run during each of her two appearances, which included a seven-inning perfect game against Western New Mexico. The senior from Plano allowed just three hits, no runs and four walks while striking out 21 over 14.0 innings of work. Petersen now has 26 career shutouts ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Despite suffering their first loss of the season last week, the Washington Huskies held on to the top spot in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll for the third consecutive poll. Arizona, Florida and Michigan maintained their respective positions at two, three and four, while UCLA moved into the top five for the first time this season. Baylor, who came in at No. 25 last week, was the only team to drop from the poll and was replaced by the lone newcomer, Texas A&M, at No. 24. The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. 2010 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses. The next USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll will be released Tuesday, March 2. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Washington (23) 7-1 735 1 2 Arizona (4) 7-1 712 2 3 Florida (3) 8-1 672 3 4 Michigan 6-2 642 4 5 UCLA 9-1 626 7 6 Missouri 3-2 588 6 7 Arizona St. 7-2 575 5 8 Georgia 8-1 555 8 9 Alabama 7-2 525 9 10 Stanford 8-1 470 11 11 Georgia Tech 8-1 470 10 12 Oklahoma 8-1 436 13 13 California 7-3 362 12 14 Texas 11-0 340 20 15 Louisville 9-2 297 15 16 LSU 7-4 238 19 17 Ohio St. 6-4 233 14 18 Louisiana-Lafayette 8-2 211 16 19 Fresno St. 7-1 204 17 20 Massachusetts 4-1 172 18 21 Tennessee 5-2 137 22 22 Florida St. 10-1 130 23 23 Northwestern 5-5 107 21 24 Texas A&M 10-1 96 NR 25 North Carolina 6-3 56 24 Others receiving votes: Illinois 43, Baylor 29, Kentucky 24, Hawaii, 21, Oklahoma St. 13, Southern Mississippi 9, BYU 8 , Cal St. Fullerton 7, San Diego St. 6, Cal Poly 3, Southern Illinois 3, Mississippi St. 1 Dropped out: No. 25 Baylor Click To Watch Washingtons Head coach Heather Tarr Interviewed on The Fastpitch TV Show ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ...

ELGIN – Chicago Bandits GM Aaron Moore announced the resigning of two Bandits veterans to the Chicago roster today, and the finalization of a returning free-agent. Bandits’ outfielders Vicky Galindo and Caitlin Lever finalized their contracts to return for the 2010 season. The duo both spent time with Chicago and their respective National Teams in 2009. For Galindo, it was Team USA and Lever called Team Canada home for parts of the season in 2009. Both will again spend time with their respective National teams this year. In 2009, Galindo batted .243 with one RBI, nine hits and four runs scored, but saw limited time at the plate, only getting 37 opportunities. For Lever, it was a slightly brighter picture at the plate. She batted .333 with one homerun, nine RBIs, 12 hits and five runs in her 36 appearances. Pitcher Jessica Sallinger has officially finalized her contract with the Bandits. Sallinger was previously drafted by and pitched for the Bandits from 2006-2008, then spent 2009 with the now defunct Philadelphia Force. “I am very excited to be coming back to the Chicago Bandits,” said Sallinger. “This is where my professional career began and where I won a National Championship. I feel like I ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Freshman pitcher/first baseman Melissa Martinez of New Mexico Highlands has been named the first Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player of the Week of the 2010 season. In the first two weeks of the season, Martinez excelled both at the plate and in the circle. Through the first nine games of the season, Martinez posted a .372 batting average with 11 runs, 16 RBIs, one double and seven home runs. The Albuquerque, N.M., native jumpstarted her collegiate career by completing two amazing feats in back-to-back games. In her first-ever collegiate at bat, Martinez went yard against Eastern New Mexico. Since then, Martinez has added six more homers to her tally, including a three home-run performance against Grand Canyon. For the season, Martinez has a slugging percentage of 1.269. In the second game of the season-opening doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico, Martinez took to the circle and threw a no-hitter in the first start of her collegiate career. Martinez retired 21 of 23 batters faced, while striking out 10. After the no-hitter, Martinez continued to excel as a pitcher by recording 27 strikeouts through 20.2 innings of work. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow The ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior Danielle Lawrie of Washington has been named as the NCAA Division I Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week for games played during the week of Feb. 11-14. Lawrie, who split time between pitcher and designated player, was 6-for-15 at the plate on the week with five runs, nine RBIs and four home runs, including a grand slam against Cal State Northridge. The Langley, B.C. native was equally effective from the circle, as she threw 21 shutout innings over three complete games. Lawrie also recorded the first Division I perfect game of the 2010 season in the Huskies’ season-opener against Auburn. Lawrie allowed just four hits and one walk on the week, while recording 45 strikeouts. Lawrie helped guide No. 1 Washington to a 5-0 record at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., allowing the Huskies to hold on to the top spot in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll for the second consecutive poll. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ...