A known softball pitcher who led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics had started her career in college as a three-time All American pitcher and first baseman at the University of Arizona. Jennie Finch is known as one of the top softball players because of the amount of medals she has received and her dedication for the game. She has been a role model since she put her hand on a ball and threw her first pitch.Finch was born on September 3, 1980 in La Mirada, California. She was the youngest out of the three children in her family. She is married to Casey Daigle with their three kids. When she turned five, she began playing little league t-ball. Jennie began playing softball when she was eight years old and when she was nine she began playing on a 10-and-under All Star team. She spent every …show more content…
They are the fastball, four seam, screwball, curveball, riseball, dropball, and changeup. She left Los Angeles County after she graduated and went on to play for Tucson, Arizona on a scholarship chosen over the 23 other scholarships offered to her. It was for going to Arizona that she was offered a major spot to become the captain of the Arizona softball team during her period of softball. This is where she became a dominant player for a known softball program. That is one of the main reasons why she was well known throughout her college years. She became well known while she was in high school at La Mirada High School. In the 2004 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Finch helped the US team dominate the competition and get a gold medal. This international performance made her beginning fame farther than just with the Arizona Wildcats. Afterwards, she began to appear on television shows promoting softball and having interviews on how she began her
Jennie (sometimes Jenny) Trout was a woman who decided she would not sit and let things happen, but instead, make a change that she and the
So now that we have learned about what we actually need to play softball let's start with the positions in softball. First there is the Pitcher that is in the middle of the field in a circle called the pitcher's mound. Second there is a Catcher behind home plate. The Catcher catches passed balls and strikes. Then there's the First Baseman, the Second Baseman, and the Third Baseman. There is a Shortstop between 2nd and 3rd and a Left Fielder in the outfield between second and third. A Center Fielder which is in the outfield behind second, the Right Fielder which is in the outfield between first and second
She’s a great player, who holds multiple records and has played professional softball for a decade. She became the first player to accumulate 300 career hits in 2014 and set a enduring league record for hits in 2011. She’s also tied second in amount of stolen bases. She’s also overall a really great person. She has a foundation, the Natasha Watley Foundation, which promotes active and healthy lifestyle choices for all age groups and cultures who are ready to make a difference. It encourages softball as an alternative outlet of daily stressors and hosts a 5k walk in support of the cause. She puts a focus on the social issues that affect women. She’s opening doors and changing lives. She wants to make softball a sport for
Every weekend was spent at a different diamond somewhere in suburban Southern California.... ... middle of paper ... ... She has five pitches—rise-ball, curveball, screwball, drop-ball and changeup—and can throw all with great control.
Texas Tech has proven that hitting a softball is way harder to hit than a baseball. A softball pitcher is very close to you at the pitcher's mound. If you are in the batter's box it feels like they are right on top of you especially since most softball pitchers can be up to about 6 feet in height. It is scientifically proven that a softball player has less time to react to the ball because of the distance and speed of the pitch. Also, softball pitchers not only throw hard, but they also throw tricky pitches to hit. The pitch that rises upwards is called a rise ball. When this pitch comes in, most coaches will say just let it go instead of risking this pitch. Baseball players throw breaking balls, but unlike in softball they don't suddenly leap up right as you're going to swing at it. Pitchers in softball can also throw a curve ball that curves away from the batter but still in the strike zone. A screw ball moves closer to the batter. Same as a curve ball it is still in the strike zone just right on the edge of it. Softball players throw many more change ups than in baseball. Change ups catch the player off guard causing them to swing and become frustrated with themselves. As you can tell softball pitchers don't mess around using every inch of the plate to pitch the ball and strike the batter
The All-American Professional Girls Baseball League was the first, and only, female baseball league in history. This league was developed during World War II when “ in the interests of patriotism, women were encouraged to do all the things normally reserved for men” (Johnson XIX). At the time the book, When Women Played Hardball, was written in 1994, no other professional sports team had lasted as long as this baseball league. The league lasted a solid nine years. These women did not just play baseball, they broke records. “ Kurys, the "Flint Flash", stole 201 bases [in a season]. Her career tally of 1114 stolen bases is a professional baseball record...She [Joanne Weaver] is tied for the fourth best batting average in the history of professional baseball, and she's the last player in the history of the game to bat over .400” (XXII/XXIII Johnson). Today, these women still hold records in major league baseball. At the peak of the league in 1948, the league “ consisted of 10 teams that entertained nearly 1,000,000 fans in middle sized Midwestern cities” (XXI Johnson). Every team attracted loyal and enthusiastic fans. At first, crowds came to the game to see the unusual sight of women playing baseball, but soon kept coming back because of the level of play and because they enjoyed watching the game. Every woman in that league just
Over the past fifteen to twenty years women's fastpitch softball popularity has continued to grow and spread internationally. By the mid-1990s it was played in more than 85 countries under the eye of the International Softball Federation (ISF). It has become increasingly popular among women at the youth and collegiate levels. More than 630 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institutions sponsor women's softball programs, and national championships for women are held in all three NCAA sports divisions (Encarta, 1998). In 1991 women's fastpitch softball was selected to debut as a medal sport in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Columbia, Georgia. The U.S. won the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games due to a good defense and great hitters on the team. Even though defense and pitching are critical and vital parts of the game, a successful team must have an effective offense to win the game. Among all the standout hitters on the U.S. Olympic team, two of the best are Dot Richardson and Lisa Fernadez. Both Lisa and Dot have picture-perfect swings, which have made them very productive throughout their careers. Today there is a women's professional fastpitch softball league. Interest in the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) has been increasing for the last three years and continues to grow each year.
Book Report on Baseball: A History of America's Game by Benjamin G. Rader In "Baseball: A History of America's Game", the Author Benjamin G. Rader discusses the history of baseball and how it developed to present day. Rader explains how baseball started as a simple game consisting of no rules besides the players using a stick to hit a ball and its constant evolution to what the game is today. He also displays several issues which America's favorite sport has had while developing into the complex sport it is today. Although baseball has had several trials and tribulations throughout its history, it still remains America's favorite pastime.
Now if you're anything like me, you know that when you start a sport for the first time. You have questions like my first question, “what in the world is softball”. Well now that I am a”softball”player I can tell you all there is to know about softball. Softball is a game between two teams with two sections to the field in field and outfield. There is the pitcher, the catcher, 1st,2nd,and3rd baseman, shortstop, and left,right,and center field.
When softball was first thought of, this was not a problem as the game was played inside. It was originally used by baseball players to keep their muscles warm while having a little fun during the off season. When deciding what player to pick for this assignment, I had no problem at all. Jennie Finch is by far the most well-known softball player. Jennie was a three-time All-American pitcher and first baseman at the University of Arizona.
The importance of softball in my life goes unnoticed by others, but I owe everything I am to this sport. I am an organized, cooperative woman who does not let failures affect my work ethic. Although my friends and family do not give my softball career much credit, I am confident that the lessons I’ve taken away from this sport have proficiently prepared me to step up to the plate and score a successful
He learned and developed certain pitches such as a curveball, knuckleball, screwball, and change up. He played with the Kansas City Monarchs before moving up to the big league with all the professional white baseball players. In 1942, he took the team to the Negro League World Series. Paige pitched in all the official games of the series and including one unofficial game. With pitching 18 innings, 16 strikeouts, 8 hits, and 5 runs allowed.
For this Women of Diversity Group Project, my group chose to write about female pioneers in sport. Within that category I chose female pioneers of softball. During this paper I will discuss the history of the sport and female participation in the sport. I will also give some statistics and make comparisons between females and males involved in softball and baseball.
Hank Aaron was a famous baseball player who was respectful to his teammates and his fans. His nickname was “Hammerin’ Hank”. At one time he led the league in the most home runs. He was born in a poor family and then grew up to be a great professional baseball player. He became one of the most admired baseball players in Major League history.
Ever since I learned how to talk and walk, I played softball. It didn’t matter if it was a game during recess or during the championships of my Allen Sports Association (ASA) team, I played softball. During the summer of my fifth grade year, my friends and I decided that we would try out for the high school team as freshmen, but when the time came, I was not ready.