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NPF Announces Fall Tour

Fastpitch.US — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:06:21 +0000

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (September 1, 2010) – National Pro Fastpitch announced today, in cooperation with USSSA, a tour of NPF All Stars that will be focused on competing with college teams throughout the fall. The NPF “Back to School – College Tour” presented by USSSA will kick off next week on September 10th in Memphis, TN against the University of Memphis softball team.

This fall tour will follow up a very successful 2010 season for National Pro Fastpitch that culminated with the League’s Championship Series in Sulphur, LA last weekend. The USSSA Florida Pride left Sulphur with the 2010 Championship Series trophy in hand as the Chicago Bandits captured the regular season championship for the 5th time in NPF’s short history.

The NPF Back To School – College Tour presented by USSSA will make over 15 stops on college campuses across the United States competing against some of the nation’s best college programs in their fall seasons. Team NPF will be comprised of athletes from all four of the NPF Teams (Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Tennessee Diamonds, and USSSA Florida Pride) and will include an accomplished list of competitors.

The Tour will kick off on September 10th in Memphis, Tennessee and will culminate on November 15th in Daytona Beach, Florida. In between Team NPF will make stops at Ole Miss, UMKC, Missouri Western, Nebraska, Arizona, New Mexico State, UTEP, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida State, Florida, San Diego State, Texas, and Daytona Beach.

Team NPF will be decorated group of professionals with well seasoned and impressive resumes including Olympic Gold Medalists and NPF Champions and Award winners. Athletes playing on the tour will include: Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Andrea Duran, Fransesca Enea, Vicky Galindo, Alissa Haber, Kelly Kretschman, Caitlin Lever, Jessica Mendoza, Stacy May, Charlotte Morgan, Sarah Pauly, and many more.

USSSA and NPF will also be coordinating clinics at some of the Tour stops. Information on clinic times, locations, and costs will be forthcoming. All admission to games will go through the respective colleges and universities.

For more information, contact the NPF office at info@profastpitch.com or 615-232-2900; or you can contact USSSA at 800-741-3014.

National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, TN. The League, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL).
The USSSA Florida Pride joined the NPF as a franchise team in November of 2009, operated by Florida Pride LLC. USSSA managed the Pride Team during 2009, culminating their inaugural season with a second place finish in the Championship Series and most recently captured the 2010 Championship Series Title. USSSA Florida Pride is sponsored by USSSA, the world’s largest amateur sports association, and is headquartered in Kissimmee, Florida.

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Jennie Finch Announces Retirement From USA

Fastpitch.US — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:24:58 +0000

OKLAHOMA CITY – Arguably the most recognized softball player in the World, Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) will hang up her Red, White and Blue uniform as she announced her retirement from USA Softball effective after the 2010 KFC World Cup of Softball presented by Six Flags, announced today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America. During her 10 year career with USA Softball, Finch has emerged as an icon bringing recognition to the sport on levels transcending the diamond.

“I feel an outpouring of gratitude for so much and for so many that it’s really hard to put into words. Playing USA Softball has been more to me than I ever imagined possible. I could never have dreamed what an amazing ride this has been,” said Finch. “I have been honored with so many amazing opportunities and I have to credit so many people; from the women before me to everyone at USA Softball to the fans and everyone involved in the sport who have made this such a special part of my life.”

Finch entered the USA Softball National Team program in 2001 at the Pan American Qualifier. She has been on the National Team every year since then and in 2004 earned an Olympic Gold Medal in Athens and in 2008 an Olympic Silver Medal in Beijing.

“To be a little girl, wearing USA stuff, watching the Olympics and then to grow older and to compete alongside the women you have admired is unbelievable. It’s so surreal that I was able to play with my role models in Leah (O’Brien-Amico), Lisa (Fernandez) and Laura (Berg.),” said Finch. “There is so much history, pride and tradition with USA Softball and I feel extremely blessed to be a part of it for the last 10 years. It has taken me places I have never dreamt of and given me relationships that go way beyond the softball field. I am thankful to my teammates, coaches, USA Softball, sponsors, my friends and family who have allowed me to not only create my dreams but to live them.”

Along with her Olympic medals, the 6’1” pitcher is a three-time World Cup Champion, three time World Champion and a two-time Pan American Champion. She spent most of her time in the circle, but recently has emerged at the plate and defensively at first base. Her most recent Championship win in the circle was at the 2009 Japan Cup where she threw a one-hitter against 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Japan as well as hit a two-run double to lead the USA to a 2-0 defeat over Japan. In 2009, Finch was also named the USA Softball Player of the Year.

“Jennie has meant so much to the sport and the growth of it. She has brought it to a whole new level of recognition as a worldwide sport. She has been instrumental in growing the sport both on the fielder as a pitcher, player and hitter but also as a person,” said ASA Executive Director Ron Radigonda. “She is one who has never turned down an autograph or photo requests and truly appreciates her fans. She is as fan friendly as anyone out there. She has a respect for the young athletes who aspire to be her because she was that young girl at one time. I know she will continue to do what she can to help grow the sport and we at ASA appreciate all the time she spent with USA Softball. She will always be a great person in the sport of softball but more importantly a good person.”

Finch came on the international scene in after a stellar career at the University of Arizona. She set the NCAA record for consecutive wins with 60 and was a two-time Honda Award winner for Nation’s top softball player. Outside of softball she was named one of People’s Most Beautiful people in 2004, was a member of The Celebrity Apprentice cast in 2008 and most recently she earned recognition for becoming the first female to hit a home run at the MLB Legends and Celebrities Softball Game.

“It’s a sad day for the sport of softball,” said the only four-time softball Olympian Laura Berg. “Softball is losing one of its greatest icons with the retirement of Finch. She has always been and always will be a great model for kids. She has been an amazing ambassador for the sport in the U.S. and globally. I’m honored to call her my teammate and friend.”

At age 29, Finch has played on several USA Softball rosters, being a rookie at age 19 but now a decorated veteran. During this time, she has touched the lives of many former and current teammates who will forever remember the athlete and most importantly person she is.

“Being able to see the sport grow so much in the past 10 years is such an honor. It’s incredible how much it has grown not only in the United States but also internationally. Hopefully I will continue to be involved with the development of the sport in some way just not in uniform. USA Softball will always be part of me and I plan to work in proving more opportunities in the future.”

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USA Blanks Japan For World Title And Canada Takes Bronze

Fastpitch.US — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:54:57 +0000

CARACAS, VENEZUELA — Team USA posted a 7-0 victory over Japan here tonight to take the gold medals at the International Softball Federation’s XII Women’s World Championship. Canada took home the bronze medals after falling to Japan, 12-3, in the game that allowed the winners to advance to face the Americans.

The tournament began ten days ago with 16 countries participating.

2010 marked the 45-year anniversary of the first-ever softball world championship as five women’s national teams had competed in February 1965 in Melbourne, Australia.

The USA-Japan-Canada finish ensures that the streak remains intact of no back-to-back ISF women’s world championships having the same top three finishers (in order).

Canada’s bronze is their first ISF women’s world championship medal finish since the fourth edition of the event in 1978 in El Salvador (silver).

Pitcher Cat Osterman started the game tonight for Team USA but gave way to Monica Abbott after three innings, seemingly due to shoulder soreness but definitely not performance-related. Offensively their teammates came alive in the fourth inning after the teams had gone scoreless through three. The Americans sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth with five runs being scored. One inning later they tacked on two more when Andrea Duran hit a two-run home run to left field.

Japan went through three pitchers, Makiko Fujiwara, Sayuri Yamane, and Mika Someya. The Osterman-Abbott duo held Japan to just two hits.

Japan had defeated the U.S. two years ago in the gold medal game at the Olympic softball competition in Beijing, but the two teams squared off yesterday in a playoff game that Team USA won, 4-0, on a complete-game, 12-strikeout, one-hitter by Osterman.

Japan started today with another 0-0 start, tied with Canada after one inning, but they went on to score at least one run in every inning thereafter, including three in the second and five in the top of the seventh when they sent all nine batters to the plate.

Danielle Lawrie started in the circle for Canada but was replaced by Jenna Caira, who was later relieved by Ashley Lanz as there was no answer for an explosive Japan offense that totaled 13 hits.

For Japan Mika Someya threw six-and-two-thirds innings, allowing six hits, striking out five, and walking just one.

This evening finished up with elaborate Closing Ceremonies that included the presentation of the medals, music, dancers, a montage on four huge video screens of still photos from the tournament, and a tremendous fireworks display.

The other teams that had played in the tournament were: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, and Venezuela.

The next ISF world championship will be the junior women’s (age 19-and-under), which will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, next year (December 6-17, 2011).

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Q&A with U.S. Olympian Cat Osterman

Fastpitch.US — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:45:35 +0000

The most decorated player in the history of Texas Softball, Cat Osterman is already a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, a four-time All-American and a three-time USA Softball National Player of the Year. However, her trophy case won’t quite be complete without another gold medal from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. As Osterman and her Team USA teammates prepare for a run at the team’s fourth straight gold medal, she stopped by the Forty Acres and checked in with TexasSports.com to give her thoughts on the Games, softball’s Olympic swan song and life after graduation.

You are gearing up for your second Olympic Games after winning a gold medal in 2004. What are you expectations this time around: It is an honor to be on Team USA anytime and to be able to go to the Olympics twice has been a goal of mine and it is a huge accomplishment. I think I am more prepared and more mature this time as I already know what it is like to be in the Olympic atmosphere. Even though I have been to the Olympics, I am still excited and a little nervous, but at least I know what to expect this time around. I think with USA I have earned my keep and I have proved that I can take on international competition. It will be very exciting to have a little bigger role this time than I did in 2004.

This time around Team USA has a smaller pitching staff and your role will be more significant. Talk about what it means to be getting the ball in key situations now: It is huge for me. We went to the World Championships and I got the ball in both games on the gold medal day. For me that was really the turning point because I knew how much confidence Coach Candrea had in me. I hope that I can carry that on with me to the Olympics. You can’t ask for anything but to be given the ball as many times as you can and with our smaller pitching staff we will definitely see more innings than last time.

The 2008 Games are the last Olympics for the sport of softball. What is the importance of these Games for you and for Team USA: It is disappointing because this is the last Olympics and many of us could have played in one or maybe two more Olympics. I think for our team right now we try not to think about that too much. We are trying to stay focused on the task at hand which is game one and everything between there and winning a gold medal. After we are done we can think back on what we have done with Team USA. It will be bittersweet because we will know that we will not be going through another four years of preparing for a big stage like the Olympics. Personally, I want to go out and put on a good show, I would have played in 2012, so I want to make the most of this opportunity to go out and show the world what softball is about. Hopefully we can changes some minds and maybe the vote will go the other way next time.

Once the Olympics are over what will you be doing as far as your playing career: We will still have USA stuff, we will have the World Cup, the 2010 World Championships and Pan American Games. We will still have a national team and I will keep playing every summer in the National Pro Fastpitch league with the Rockford Thunder.

You graduated from The University of Texas in May of 2007. Walk us through what Cat Osterman has been up to since leaving the Forty Acres: After graduating in 2007 I moved to Rockford, Illinois to play for the Rockford Thunder and competed with the national team at the Pan American Games last summer. I liked the change of pace of living in Illinois and I approached coach Eugene Lenti at DePaul about possibly volunteer coaching because I wanted to be somewhere new. I have family up in Chicago so I knew that I was far enough away to kind of be on my own, but still have help nearby if I needed it. As it worked out I got a paying job as DePaul’s pitching coach and I enjoy working with the program even though I missed a lot of time this year with the Bound 4 Beijing USA Softball tour. I did a lot of traveling with the team this year, playing 60 games in 40-something different cities. This year was a lot of touring and a little bit of coaching and now that our tour is over we are getting ready to head over to Beijing for the Olympics.

What is your game plan after the Olympics are over? What will you be up to other than coaching at DePaul: I will be coming back to Chicago, coaching for at least a couple of more years. I am going to begin work on my MBA this fall and just see where my life takes me after I finish my masters. I enjoy coaching, so I can see myself coaching for awhile.

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