Haylea was player number #144 and played 221 games for Australia. A right handed outfielder and one of the most dangerous batters in the world. Her aggression in the batting box always kept opposition pitchers on their toes.
In 1998, Haylea lead the Australian softball team to one of their biggest wins in over a decade, with a Grand Slam Homerun over the defending World champions, the USA.
Haylea was an Australian Softball representative from 1986 - 2000. In 1986, Haylea represented the U/19s Australian Softball team that toured White Rock in Canada as an invitational team for the World Series. Haylea was the only Australian player to make the Open's World All Stars team. This made Haylea one of the top nine players in the world.
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a field that has base lengths of 60 feet, a pitcher's mound that ranges from 35 to 43 feet away from home plate, and a home run fence that is 220–300 feet away from home plate, depending on the type of softball being played. It was invented in 1887 in Chicago, Illinois, United States as an indoor game. The game moves at a faster pace than traditional baseball due to the field being smaller and the bases and the fielders being closer to home plate. There is less time for the base runner to get to first while the opponent fields the ball; yet, the fielder has less time to field the ball while the opponent is running down to first base.
Professional baseball leagues, amateur-baseball organizations, sportswriting associations, and other groups confer awards on various baseball teams, players, managers, coaches, executives, broadcasters, writers, and other baseball-related people for excellence in achievement, sportsmanship, and community involvement.
Catherine Leigh Osterman is an American, former collegiate 4-time All-American and 2-time medal winning Olympian, unretired 6-time professional All-Star, left-handed softball pitcher and former softball Assistant Coach originally from Houston, Texas. She completed her college eligibility in 2006 at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a starting pitcher for the Longhorns since 2002. Osterman pitched on the USA Women's Softball Team which won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Osterman holds the Big 12 Conference pitching Triple Crown for her career wins, ERA, strikeouts, as well as shutouts, no-hitters, WHIP and perfect games, additionally claiming the NCAA Division I record for strikeout ratio (14.34). In the National Pro Fastpitch, Osterman was drafted #1 and is the career leader in strikeout ratio (10.90) and no-hitters (6). She is also one of NCAA's five pitchers to strikeout 1,000 batters with 100 wins, an ERA of under 1.00, and averaging double digit strikeouts. Osterman currently is a member of Team USA softball that has qualified for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. She was a member of the independent "This is Us" team. In May of 2020, she joined and eventually won the gold medal in the Athletes Unlimited softball league as the inaugural top individual points leader. Osterman was also named #3 Greatest College Softball Player and the No. 1 pitcher in NCAA history.
Stacey "Nuvey" Nuveman-Deniz is an American, former collegiate NCAA Division I 4-time First Team All-American and 3-time medal winning Olympian, retired pro All-Star, right-handed hitting softball player and current softball coach originally from La Verne, California. She is currently the associate head coach at San Diego State. She played for the UCLA Bruins at the catcher position on-and-off from 1997 to 2002, winning a National Championship in 1999. She also won two Olympic gold medals and one silver medal for Team USA. She holds the Pac-12 career records for batting average and slugging percentage; she simultaneously holds the NCAA career records for total bases and intentional walks (81). Nuveman-Deniz is also one of nine NCAA players to possess a career .400 batting average along with at least 200 RBIs, 50 home runs and an .800 slugging percentage and was named #4 Greatest College Softball Player. She is also a USA Softball Hall of Fame honoree. Stacey Nuveman has worked for Nike, ESPN, Schutt, and other sports companies.
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza is an American current sports broadcaster for ESPN and former collegiate 4-time First Team All-American, two-time medal winning Olympian, retired pro All-Star softball outfielder, originally from Camarillo, California. At Stanford University Mendoza played from 1999 to 2002 in the Pac-12 Conference. She was also 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 while also currently still ranking top-10 in career records for batting average and slugging percentage. Mendoza owns numerous Cardinal records. She was an analyst on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball from 2016 to 2019. She was dropped from the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast after the 2019 season but remains an ESPN baseball analyst. Mendoza was recently named by the fans and experts to the Greatest College Softball Team as an outfielder, one of only three to achieve the honor.
Monica Cecilia Abbott is an American professional softball player, former collegiate All-American and silver medal-winning Team USA Olympian. A left-handed softball pitcher originally from Salinas, California, she pitched for the Tennessee Lady Vols in college and professionally in 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 Summer Olympics. Abbott is the NCAA Division I leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings.
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), is a professional women's softball league in the United States. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.
Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, 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. The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the international governing body of softball. The ISF recognizes three pitching styles: medium pitch, "modified" fast pitch, and slow pitch. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive form of softball. It is the form of softball that was played at the Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. The fast pitch style is also used in college softball and international competition.
Natasha Renee Watley is an American, former collegiate 4-time First Team All-American, two-time medal winning Olympian, retired 7-time pro All-Star, left-handed hitting softball player over a career for the UCLA Bruins (2000-03), USA Softball Women’s National Team and USSSA Pride, originally from Irvine, California. She played the position of shortstop and first base, and helped the Bruins win a national championship and Team USA the gold medal for softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the silver for the Beijing Olympics. She is the first African-American female to play on the United States Softball team in the Olympics. She is the career batting average leader in the National Pro Fastpitch. She owns numerous records for the Bruins and is one of select NCAA Division I players to bat at least .400 with 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases for her career.
Stacey Porter is an Australian professional indigenous softball first/third baseman. She represents New South Wales in Australian national competitions, where she has won several national championships on the junior and senior team. She played university softball for the University of Hawaii from 2001 to 2003 where she set several records and was named to the All-American team. She plays professional softball in Japan. She represented Australia at the junior level and continues to represent Australia at the senior level and is current Australian Captain. Stacey competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she won a silver medal and the 2008 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze medal and has competed in multiple world softball championships.
The Australia women's national softball team, also known as the Aussie Spirit, is the national softball team of Australia. It is governed by Softball Australia and takes part in international softball competitions. They are one of Australia's most successful women's sporting teams on the world stage, and they have achieved outstanding results over the last 3 decades. Alongside the USA team, the Aussie Spirit are the only other team to medal at all 4 Olympics that softball was included as a sport in the Olympics program. At the inaugural Women's Softball World Championship held in Melbourne, 1965. Australia claimed the first ever title, winning Gold and stamped themselves as a pioneer in the sport.
Danielle Elaine Lawrie-Locke is a Canadian, former collegiate All-America, 2008 Olympian, pro All-Star right-handed hitting softball pitcher and current sports commentator, originally from Langley, British Columbia. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which she was part of the 2009 Women's College World Series championship team. Lawrie currently plays for the Canada women's national softball team including during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, that earned a spot at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. From 2010 to 2014 and in 2019, Lawrie played for the USSSA Pride and Canadian Wild of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) and was an NPF All-Star in 2011 and part of two Cowles Cup league championship teams in 2013 and 2014. She owns numerous records for the Huskies as well as the Pac-12, where she is the career leader in strikeouts, and ranks fourth all-time in the NCAA Division I.
Chelsea Forkin is a softball and baseball player. As a softball player, Chelsea has won 3 Australian National Championship titles with the Western Australian Flames and 1 title with the Queensland Heat.
Softball is played in New South Wales, introduced to the state in 1939. By 1984, there were 1,356 registered teams in New South Wales. Players from Australia have been on the men's and women's national team, had AIS scholarships, played at universities in the United States, and professionally in the US, Japan and Europe.
The Australia men's national softball team is the national softball team of Australia. They are nicknamed the Australian Steelers. The team is governed by Softball Australia and takes part in international softball competitions.
Jenny Dalton-Hill is an American former collegiate All-American, right-handed hitting softball player at second base and current sports commentator originally from Glendale, California. She played for the Arizona Wildcats from 1993-1996 where she won three Women's College World Series championships. Having also played baseball, Dalton-Hill is a former member of the Colorado Silver Bullets and United States women's national baseball team, earning a bronze medal at the 2010 Women's Baseball World Cup. She holds the career Pac-12 and NCAA Division I records in RBIs. She is the first and one of nine NCAA players to hit .400 with 200 RBIs, 50 home runs and an .800 slugging percentage in her career.
Patti Townsend, formerly Patti Benedict, is an American softball coach and former player. She has been a softball coach at Tallahassee Community College since 1996 and the head coach since 2003.
The 2004 National Pro Fastpitch season was the first season of professional softball under the name National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) for the only professional women's fastpitch softball league in the United States. From 1997 to 2002, NPF operated under the names Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.
The 2000 Women's Professional Softball League season was the fourth season of professional women's fastpitch softball for the league named Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL). It was the WPSL's final season until the league relaunched in 2004 under the name National Pro Fastpitch. In 1997 and 1998, WPSL operated under the name Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF).
Darren Zack, also known by his nickname "Z-MAN", Darren Zack is a legend in the world of Fastpitch Softball. 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 has been described by teammates and opponents as "unhittable", "the greatest pitcher of all time", the "Babe Ruth of Fastpitch softball", and the "nicest man/person you will ever meet". Others refer to him as the Wayne Gretzky of fastball. To this day, Darren actively promotes Fastpitch by conducting pitching clinics throughout North America, encouraging community involvement in the sport.
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