STARKVILLE, Miss. - On the strength of a 5-0 opening weekend record, Washington received all 30 first place votes for the second-consecutive week to lead the first USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll of the 2010 regular season. Fellow unbeaten Arizona jumped four spots to claim the No. 2 position in the poll, while Florida, Michigan and Arizona St. rounded out the top five, respectively. DePaul was the only team to fall out of the poll this week dropping from No. 21, while Texas was the only addition and joined the fray at No. 20. 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 on Tuesday, Feb. 23. USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Week #1 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) 5-0 750 1 2 Arizona 6-0 689 6 3 Florida 3-1 645 3 4 Michigan 2-1 635 4 5 Arizona St. 5-1 613 5 6 Missouri 2-1 600 9 7 UCLA 3-1 579 8 8 Georgia 3-1 546 7 9 Alabama 1-2 486 2 10 Georgia Tech 4-0 477 13 11 Stanford 4-1 450 10 12 California 4-1 410 12 13 Oklahoma 2-1 399 11 14 Ohio St. 4-1 369 14 15 Louisville 4-1 301 22 16 La.-Lafayette 5-0 226 24 17 Fresno St. 6-0 210 35 18 Massachusetts 4-1 198 20 19 LSU 2-3 182 18 20 Texas 5-0 173 NR 21 Northwestern 2-3 159 15 22 Tennessee 1-2 152 16 23 Florida St. 4-1 134 23 24 North Carolina 2-3 104 19 25 Baylor 2-3 84 17 Others receiving votes: DePaul 40, Texas A&M 26, Hawaii 23, Kentucky 14, BYU ...

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA) and USA Softball are pleased to announce that Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) and Matt Palazzo (Des Moines, Iowa) were named the USA Softball Female and Male Athlete of the year, respectively, for their accomplishments during the 2009 season. Finch saw time as both a pitcher and at first base on defense and made an impact at the plate on offense. Finch’s hits in the Championship Game of both the Japan Cup and Canada Cup secured the USA victory. She was voted the Japan Cup MVP after she not only threw a one-hitter to defending Olympic Gold Medalist Japan but also drove in the only two runs scored, with a double, to help lead the team to a 2-0 victory. In the Championship game of the Canada Cup with two outs left in the seventh, Finch hit a walk-off single that would push a run across the plate and give the United States a 3-2 victory. Offensively, Finch was in the Top five in all three events in batting average with a summer average of .447. Her best event was at the World Cup of Softball where Finch hit ...

Defending national champion Messiah received all eight first-place votes, taking the No. 1 spot in the preseason NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll, the association announced Wednesday. Messiah will again be led by sophomore Jessica Rhoads, who dominated the national championship tournament both from the rubber and at the plate, culminating in the school's first national championship and a 43-4 overall record. East Texas Baptist and Ohio Northern begin 2010 sharing the No. 2 spot. ETBU went 39-9 a year ago, while Ohio Northern returns all but one starter to a team that made its first appearance at the national championship. Fellow championship participant Cortland State starts at No. 4, and national championship runner-up Coe, which finished 41-13 a season ago, rounds out the top five. With a 2009 third place finish nationally, Gustavus Adolphus starts at No. 6, while No. 7 Washington-St. Louis returns all but two starters to a squad that finished 27-13. National championship participant Salisbury begins at No. 8, while 2008 championship runner-up Wisconsin-Whitewater takes the nine spot. Another national championship rookie a year ago, Texas-Tyler rounds out the top 10. Nos. 11, 12, and 13, respectively, Coast Guard Academy, Illinois Wesleyan and Bridgewater were ...

KISSIMMEE, FL – National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) and its four-affiliate teams held the 2010 NPF Senior Draft Presented by Miken on Wednesday night which was broadcast for the first time in league history on MLB.COM, live from the Hermitage Key Resort. This was the second consecutive year the NPF has broadcast the Draft live but the first time on MLB.com. Each team had at least three selections in the five-round draft. The USSSA Pride held seven of the 20 overall picks due to a draft-day trade in 2009. With the first pick in the draft the USSSA Pride selected University of Alabama’s Charlotte Morgan. Charlotte Morgan has been a key impact Player for Alabama’s Offense. She became the first Player in Alabama history with three 50 or more RBI seasons. The Tennessee Diamonds selected Molly Johnson of the University of Kentucky with the No. 2 pick in the draft. While USSSA Pride chose Melissa Roth of Louisville at No. 3 and Chicago picked Michigan pitcher Nicki Nemitz with the final pick of the first round. USSSA Pride made the first selection of the second round and the fifth pick overall by choosing University of Oklahoma ...

OKLAHOMA CITY — International softball returns to the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA) Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City when the 2010 USA Softball Women's National Team takes on Canada, Japan and the USA Futures Team at the 5th World Cup of Softball, July 22-26. “There is nothing like the World Cup,” said two-time Olympian Jennie Finch. “It is the best environment and my favorite event each year. I look forward to competing at the greatest softball complex in the World and in front of the World’s Greatest Fans. I get chills just thinking about it again and am really looking forward to returning to Oklahoma City.” "We are proud to welcome world-class softball back to Oklahoma City for this premier event in International women's fast pitch softball," said ASA Executive Director Ron Radigonda. "The World Cup of Softball has proven to be one of the premier events in the softball community, attracting the highest level athletes from across the country and the world. For our athletes, the World Cup provides one of the only opportunities to play before a home crowd with 'USA' written across their chests so we hope people come out to the stadium ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A 4-0 start to the season was enough to move previous No. 4, Siskiyous, past Sierra and into the No. 1 spot in the latest California Community College Athletic Association Softball Top 20 Coaches’ Poll. Former No. 1, Sierra, dropped just one spot to No. 2, while East Los Angeles made the week’s biggest jump soaring 15 spots from No. 18 to No. 3. COACHES’ POLL - TOP 20 (STATE-WIDE RANKINGS) FOR WEEK BEGINNING FEBRUARY 7 IN SEASON 2010 Rank Team (Record) Points 1 Siskiyous (4-0) 44 (1) 2 Sierra (0-0) 43 (1) 3 East Los Angeles (7-0) 40 (1) 4 Cypress (0-0) 38 T5 Cerritos (6-1) 34 (1) T5 Sacramento City (0-0) 34 T7 Ohlone (1-1) 33 T7 Saddleback (3-0) 33 T7 Mt. San Antonio (1-0) 33 10 Feather River (0-0) 30 11 Palomar (0-0) 29 12 Fullerton (5-2) 27 13 Santa Ana (3-1) 26 14 San Mateo (3-2) 25 T15 Long Beach City (5-3) 23 T15 Ventura (6-2) 23 T17 Fresno (2-1) 22 T17 Shasta (0-1) 22 T17 Santa Rosa (2-1) 22 20 San Joaquin Delta (1-0) 20 All records shown are from the 2010 season. First-place votes are in parentheses. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow ...

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, ...