Famous Softball Players
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch was born on September 3, 1980. She is arguably the most famous softball player. of all time. She won a gold medal as a pitcher for Team USA at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Jennie Finch was born in La Mirada, California. Finch began playing softball at the age of five and pitching at the age of eight. Her dad was her first pitching coach. She attended La Mirada High School, where she lettered four times in softball, and twice each in both basketball and volleyball. She was an All-CIF Div. 11 choice in softball and an All-Suburban League selection in her sophomore year, a great honor. (Dagenais & Associates)
Jennie Finch was born in La Mirada, California. Finch began playing softball at the age of five and pitching at the age of eight. Her dad was her first pitching coach. She attended La Mirada High School, where she lettered four times in softball, and twice each in both basketball and volleyball. She was an All-CIF Div. 11 choice in softball and an All-Suburban League selection in her sophomore year, a great honor. (Dagenais & Associates)
Cat Osterman
Catherine Leigh Osterman was born on April 16, 1983 in Houston, Texas. She played soccer and basketball in her early years until the day she filled in for her Little League softball team as a back-up pitcher. Cat fell in love with the sport and for her eleventh birthday she asked for pitching lessons. Her passion for softball increased and she became a high school and club softball legend.Cat is a left-hander, and can grab a softball entirely with her fingers rather than have to cradle it in her palm. As a result, she can put above-average spin on the ball and surprise batters as well as anyone has ever done. Cat has six pitches but does not throw her softball as often as her other pitches. In the summer of 2001, after graduating from Cypress Texas Springs High School as the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year, she was invited to join USA Softball’s national team. Cat has racked in impressive stats and won a lot of awards over the years. She’s first in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings at 15.4, and is the first softball player to twice appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She has four of the five best seasons for the NCAA’s best strikeout ratio, and was the first of only two NCAA pitchers to register 2,000 plus strikeouts. She won a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics and is excited about the 2008 Games in which she will be representing her country. (Dagenais & Associates)
Dot Richardson
Dr. Dot Richardson was born on September 22, 1961 in Orlando, Florida. At age 13, she played in her first ASA Women’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship, making her the youngest player in ASA history to play in a Women’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship. She began her career in 1972 playing for the Union Pack Jets in Orlando. When Richardson retired after the 2000 Summer Olympics, she set a legacy for herself that will be hard just to equal. Between 1972-2000, Richardson won All-America honors 15 times, played on 10 championship teams, won the Erv Lind Award (top defensive player in Women’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship) seven times, won two Olympic Gold medals, was a member of five Pan American teams, and four ISF World Championship teams. She hit the game winning home run that won the US team the Olympic Gold Medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. That was also the first home run in Olympic Softball history. She was the older player at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, where she turned 39. The U.S team had dominated at the 1996 Olympics and went to the 2000 Games with a 119 game unbeaten streak. The team won the 2000 Olympic medal after beating Japan 2001 in a tense finals game. (Dagenais & Associates)