Former USA Softball standout Jessica Mendoza will be inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2019.
The announcement of Mendoza’s induction was made by USA Softball on Sunday. Mendoza will be joined by seven other individuals as part of the induction class.
A longtime member of the US National Team, Mendoza helped the United States to a pair of Olympic medals, including the gold in 2004 and silver in 2008. She was a part of a three world champion USA squads (in 2002, ’06, and ’10) and also led the national team to three World Cup championships during her time in red, white, and blue.
In 2006, Mendoza was named the USA Softball Athlete of the Year and, in 2008, earned the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year.
Following the removal of softball from the Olympic slate, Mendoza was part of a group of longtime Team USA members who elected to retire from international play to participate in the National Pro Fastpitch league full-time and focus their efforts on growing that endeavor. Mendoza fully retired from softball in 2014.
A four-time all-American during her collegiate career at Stanford, Mendoza led the Cardinal to the program’s first-ever Women’s College World Series appearance and set program records for batting average (.416) and home runs (50), among other categories. She was three times named the Stanford Female Athlete of the Year.
A reporter and broadcaster for ESPN since 2007, Mendoza has worked the Women’s College World Series and Little League World Series for years and, in 2016, was named to the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast booth as a full-time analyst, a position that she actively holds.
Photo by Allen Kee / ESPN Images and via ESPN MediaZone
