Softball is a popular variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches permitted. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hancock.
Lauren Bay-Regula is a Canadian softball pitcher. She played college softball at Oklahoma State from 2000 to 2003, where she holds several all-time school records. She was a part of the Canadian softball team who finished ninth at the 2002 World Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Bay-Regula pitched in 2005 for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch and was named co-Pitcher of the Year; in 2006, Bay signed with the expansion Philadelphia Force. Bay-Regula represented Team Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal.
Catherine Leigh Osterman is a retired American softball player. Osterman pitched on the United States women's national softball team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA. As a softball outfielder, Mendoza was a collegiate four-time First Team All-American and two-time Olympic medalist. Mendoza played from 1999 to 2002 at Stanford and was a member of the United States women's national softball team from 2004 to 2010. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch and was named 2011 Player of the Year and currently ranks in the top 10 for career batting average and slugging percentage.
Monica Cecilia Abbott is a retired American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan Softball League. In international competition, she has played for Team USA from 2005 including the national softball team winning a silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Abbott is the NCAA Division I leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings.
Alicia Kay Hollowell-Dunn is an American, former collegiate four-time All-American, retired professional softball pitcher and assistant coach. She played college softball at Arizona Wildcats softball from 2003 to 2006, collecting 144 career wins and 1,768 strikeouts, both top-10 NCAA career records. She currently holds the Arizona Wildcats records for career strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched, in addition to the Pac-12 Conference wins and strikeout ratio records. Hollowell won the 2006 Women's College World Series.
Amanda Louise Freed is an American, former professional softball utility player and pitcher. She played college softball for UCLA, winning the national title for the Bruins in the 1999 Women's College World Series. In two other national runner-up finishes, she was also named All-Tournament in all her appearances at the world series. She later won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2005, Freed joined the National Pro Fastpitch and played until 2008 for the defunct Rockford Thunder. She also served as a coach for Virginia.
The United States women's national softball team is the national softball team of the United States. It is governed by USA Softball and takes part in international softball competitions. The US team has been successful in international play, taking three straight gold medal in Olympic Games and eleven titles in Women's World Cup. At the 2004 Olympics, the Americans held their opponents to only one run scored in 7 games. The lone run came in a 5–1 victory over the Australian team. However, the team then won the silver medals at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics, both times narrowly losing to Japan.
Fastpitch softball, or simply fastpitch, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Considered the most competitive form of softball, fastpitch is the format played at the Olympic Games. Softball was on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) program in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2020. It will not be a part of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Natasha Renee Watley is an American, former collegiate four-time first-team All-American, two-time medal winning Olympian, retired seven-time pro-All-Star softball player. Watley played college softball at UCLA, and helped the Bruins win a national championship. She represented the United States women's national softball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal, and again at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and won a silver medal.
Danielle Henderson is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher who is currently the head coach at UMass. Henderson was a starting pitcher for the UMass Minutewomen softball from 1996 to 1999. Henderson also played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch from 2004 to 2007, where she currently ranks top-10 in career strikeout ratio (6.8). Along with numerous school records, she is the Atlantic 10 Conference career leader in ERA, shutouts, perfect games (3) and WHIP. Henderson represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal.
Haylea Petrie is a softball player from Australia, who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Danielle Elaine Lawrie is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which she was part of the 2009 Women's College World Series championship team and was named Most Outstanding Player. Lawrie currently plays for the Canada women's national softball team, including during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal.
Melissa Pagnotta is a Canadian taekwondo fighter. Pagnotta participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Ontario representative in that sport. She qualified to the 2016 Olympics by winning Silver at the Pan Am Olympic Qualification event in Aguascalientes Mexico. Pagnotta saw success at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara where she won gold in the lightweight class. She won a silver at the 2015 World Grand Prix in Moscow losing a close match to Korea in sudden death. She has won the Pan Am Championships 4x and Commonwealth Championships 3x. She is coached by Canadian National team coach Edward Fong in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Amanda Karlene Asay was a Canadian baseball and ice hockey player. She played on the Canada women's national baseball team from 2005 to 2021, and was its longest-serving member at the time of her death. She batted and threw right-handed, and played at catcher, first base, and starting pitcher.
Darren Zack, also known by his nickname "Z-MAN" is a fastpitch softball player. Zack is an Ojibwa softball player and he has set records at every level, pitching the most wins, strikeouts and consecutive scoreless innings, and capturing three gold medals at the Pan Am Games. Zack conducts pitching clinics throughout North America, encouraging community involvement in the sport.
Sara Angeline Groenewegen is a Canadian professional softball pitcher. From 2014 to 2017, Groenewegen pitched for the University of Minnesota, where she hold the all-time strikeouts and strikeout ratio records. She also currently still ranks for both the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA Division I in the ratio category. She played professionally for the Canadian Wild in the NPF since being drafted second overall in 2017. She most recently played for Athletes Unlimited Softball. She has been a member of the Canada women's national softball team since 2013. Groenewegen helped Team Canada win a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Kelly Katlyn Barnhill is an American professional softball pitcher. She played college softball for the Florida Gators from 2016 to 2019, earning All-American honors during her tenure with the team. She was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Honda Sports Award, and espnW Player of the Year in 2017. She is the career no hitters (7), strikeouts, strikeout ratio (10.5) and WHIP leader for the Gators. She also ranks in career strikeout ratio for both the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA Division I.
Eujenna "Jenna" Afrodite Caira is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional softball pitcher for the Canadian Wild of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). Caira was a starting pitcher for the Syracuse Orange from 2009–12 and holds the career records in wins, shutouts and innings pitched. Additionally, she is the Big East Conference career leader in strikeouts. She has been a member of the Canada women's national softball team since June 2009 and helped them win a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Ellen Roberts is an Australian, former collegiate, right-handed professional softball pitcher. Roberts played for Ogaki Minamo in the Japan Diamond Softball League.
