To say that Kelly Kretschman dominated professional softball during the 2010s would be a vast understatement. Her supremacy over the sport at the professional level through much of the past ten years led to her being named the JWOS Professional Player of the Decade for the 2010s. After beginning her professional career with three different teams in her first three years in the National Pro Fastpitch league, Kretschman joined the USSSA Pride in 2009 and spent the next eleven years with the franchise, until her retirement after the league’s 2019 summer season. During the 2010s, Kretschman batted .344, including six…
Author: jmcleod
Division III Brandeis head coach Danielle DelPonte resigned from the program shortly before the Christmas holiday. According to a university release, DelPonte intends to pursue opportunities outside of coaching. DelPonte spent four seasons as the Judges’ head coach, collecting a 71-64-1 overall record. In 2019, she helmed the University Athletic Association’s Coaching Staff of the Year after leading her team to a 29-7-1 record and a berth in the Division III tournament. Under DelPonte’s tenure, the Judges twice finished as the conference runners-up: In 2016, her first season leading the program, and in 2019. “I am thankful for having had…
Former Michigan utility player Grace Chelemen has transferred to Marshall, her new school announced. She has three seasons of eligibility remaining, and can play immediately. Chelemen was the only underclassman to depart the Wolverines’ program after the 2019 season, her freshman year. In her sole season in Ann Arbor, Chelemen appeared in thirty-six games, starting one, and primarily serving as a pinch runner. On the year, Chelemen scored ten runs and recorded ten stolen bases, adding one hit in seven plate appearances and earning two walks. Speaking of her new school, in a statement, Chelemen said, “They have all the…
Division II West Texas A&M will induct the Class of 2019 into the program’s Athletic Hall of Champions later this month, and a former softball star is among the group receiving the honor. Alyssa Lemos, who played on the diamond from 2011-14 for the Lady Buffs, helped lead the program to the 2014 NCAA Division II national championship and owns the program record with 245 games started in her career. She also owns the Division II career walks record, with 179 free passes in her four-year tenure. Her 251 runs scored and 764 at-bats each rank second in Lady Buffs’…
Brenna Moss, who enjoyed a stellar career at Fresno State and spent several years as a professional player, has announced her retirement. Selected in the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch draft by the Chicago Bandits, Moss spent five years as a professional player, including being selected the league’s Player of the Year in 2018. She also earned the Offensive Player of the Year trophy that same season, and helped lead the organization to a pair of league championships during her tenure. During her career at Fresno State, Moss was a 3-time all-Mountain West honoree. She twice earned a nod to the…
The list of softball coaches with multiple National Championships on their resume is already a short one. Even smaller is the number of coaches that won a ring during both their playing and coaching careers. St. Mary’s head coach Donna Fields is among this rare breed of program leaders, and she is one of three coaches selected for induction in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Class of 2020. Sporting 938 career wins in her career, Fields enters 2020 in her 23rd season at the helm of the Rattlers’ program. Her victories total ranks eighth among active Division II coaches, and…
Who is she? Ashli Holland, a former star infielder for the UNLV Rebels. What is she known for? Holland was a four-time all-conference honoree during her career as a Rebel, and was just the fifth player in program history to achieve that feat, and the first to do so solely after the program’s realignment to the Mountain West conference. In 2011, she was named the Mountain West Player of the Year after batting .372 that season, with nine home runs and a time-leading fourteen doubles. Here’s something interesting… After her collegiate playing career ended, Ashli played professionally overseas in Holland and…
A look back at 2019 During the 2019 season, Northwestern finished the year with a 47-13 overall record, recording a 21-2 showing in Big Ten conference play. The Wildcats ended the year with a 17-2 home record, sporting a 12-8 mark in road games. Opening weekend of the ’19 campaign saw the Wildcats swiftly record their first loss of the year, a defeat at the hands of Loyola Marymount in California. A trio of wins over Louisville and a run-rule defeat of Utah highlighted the early season portion of the schedule, while the Wildcats also lost tight games to Washington…
Although the Olympics weren’t in the picture for the sport of softball for much of the past decade, international softball competition pressed onward, ultimately culminating in a 2018 announcement that diamond sports were returning the Games in 2020. Valerie Arioto is one of just two players who spent nearly the entire decade in the red, white, and blue. For most of the decade, a large question mark loomed as to whether the game of softball would even return to the Olympics, but Arioto stayed loyal to the national team, morphing from team rookie to seasoned veteran as time went by.…
Stanford infielder Emily Klingaman has suffered an injury that will sideline her for the 2020 season. Klingaman – who started fifty-three games at second base for the Cardinal in 2019 – reportedly suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in fall practice and has already had surgery to repair the injuries. During her freshman campaign, Klingaman batted .233 as an everyday starter at second base for Jessica Allister’s squad. She scored twenty-four runs on the year, notching twelve extra base hits and nineteen RBIs. After the season, Klingaman was named an NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete. The Cardinal finished the 2019 season…