NCAA.com's Michella Chester takes a look at 11 of the best pitchers in NCAA softball history, including Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott and Jennie Finch. Subscribe to the NCAA Championship RU-vid channel: ru-vid.com...
Totally agree... Jennie and then Taryn Mowett (spelling?) really brought college softball way more mainstream. I was a pitcher and played DII 2007-2010; grew up watching and idolizing these women. ♥️ I miss it so much. Watching the WCWS currently and told my husband I can literally still smell the softball field when I’m watching and thinking about playing.
I was a kid the first time I saw Debbie Doom pitch. I'd never heard of fast pitch and sat there with my jaw on the floor watching that. I've been hooked since.
It's amazing when you think that Osterman and Abbott, the two most dominant pitchers in the history of the sport, played in the same seasons in 2005 and 2006. And Hollowell was also pitching at that time.
I was lucky enough to see both Fernandez and Finch pitch in Italy on there way to the 2004 games in Athens. Finch had great stuff and she was over-powering. Fernandez just had so much junk (movement) on her pitches and I've never seen a ball do that much sorcery. I could not make wiffle balls move the way Fernandez did.
Tracy Compton of UCLA. In 1984 Compton went 20-3 with a 0.29 ERA in 175 innings. She struck out 172 batters that season. Then in 1985, Compton went 20-4 with a 0.08 ERA in 167 1/3 innings with 172 strikeouts.
4-time 1st Team All-American Amanda Scott of Fresno State who beat Nancy Evans and Courtney Blades for the national title in 1998, twice the ERA statistical champ, and NCAA record for the most consecutive innings without an earned run. Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech) who NO HIT the US Olympic team. UMass pitcher Danielle Henderson 1996 Olympic team.
Amanda Scott, Fresno State. She single handedly lead Fresno State to the 1998 World Series championship. Oh, and she beat a Nancy Evans lead Arizona team for the title. She was a 4 time All American and 2 time National ERA leader.
Individually, she posted a 106-18 (.855) career mark with 68 shutouts, 10 saves and 851 strikeouts in 871.0 innings for an ERA of 0.55. The holder of five school records and six WAC career marks in pitching/hitting
You need to check out Debbie Doom's 1984 stat line. That's her real name and she was doom for the opposition. P.S. The real purpose of this video seems to be an ad for Honda.
Jennie Ritter of Michigan beat 3 pitchers on the list to win the 2005 world series--Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott and Alicia Hollowell along with Jelly Selden.
Good list I mostly agree with the order. I would switch out Evans and Garcia for Doom and Tincher. Also noting that Evans only won 2 titles in 94 and 97. People seemed to not hear see or understand COLLEGE NCAA DIVISION I PITCHERS...some more names are Sarah Pauly, Lisa Ishikawa, Trinity Johnson, Danielle Henderson, Susie Parra, Amanda Scott, Compton sisters, Susan Lefebvre, Britni Sneed, Jolene Henderson, Kelly Barnhill and on and on...
Really enjoyed your video, but there is no way Tracy Compton is not in the top 11 she threw 70 mph in the 1980's with a wicked rise ball from 41 feet.....Total domination!! I realize the women are better trained now , the softballs stay harder thru out the game and the bats are better, but Tracy would be a monster in any era. I really liked the Arizona pitchers as well but they aren't close to Compton, Doom from UCLA.
You forgot the best of all.Lauren Hagen 2015 Honda award 2015 national player of the year 2015 SEC female athlete of the year 2015 WCWS most outstanding player 2015 SEC pitcher of the year 2015 32-2. 1.23 ERA 71 total home runs 260 RBI Career batting average. 326 2 national championships What pitcher on your list in there senior year went 32-2 and was the best hitter. What pitcher on your list even hit in games? Only baseball or softball professional or college to win over 70 games and hit more than 70 home runs Theres no comparison
Old School: Debbie Doom UCLA, Shawn Andaya Texas A&M. Pitching with DeBeers totally different than pitching with today’s balls. we also pitched at 40 feet.
And Kelly Barnwell was the only one who wore a Rip-It mask. I'm an orthodontist, and man if you saw the x-rays taken after softball-to-the-face injuries you would never go without a mask.
Kat Osterman Was a Straight up Magician; I Remember Her Striking Out 18 Batters (Out of 21) in a Game. And Yes Kelani Ricketts Not Only Struck Out Lots of People, She Was a Home Run Queen, as Well (My All Time Favorite)
Please make the classic March Madness games public again, or at least unlisted. I was hoping since they just went down without explanation maybe they'd come back after a while but they haven't...
Michella you need to dig a little deeper, you missed this young lady from University of Northern Colorado. Lou Piel 1980 As a young farm girl in northeastern Colorado, Lou couldn’t hit the side of a barn, but it didn’t take her long to find the target. Practice paid off in 1979 as the University of Northern Colorado’s junior pitching ace lit up the scoreboard with 155 strikeouts, a 0.52 earned runs average and an 18-2 win-loss record. Leading UNC’s Division I team to the Region VII championship and a third straight berth in the College World Series, the star hurler was named to the all-conference team for the third year in a row and was a “Top Ten” player at the national competition. Five no-hitters, 17 shutouts, a 48-7 won-loss record and a career ERA of 0.05 illuminated her three-year collegiate marquee, and a string of equally impressive American Softball Association (ASA) credits boosted her selection for the first-ever U. S. Women’s Pan-American Games softball team tryouts. The talented 6-footer also received All-America designation from both the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and the ASA, and was nominated for the AIAW Broderick Award presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding female athlete. The 1979 achievement of which she is proudest, however, was her 1-0 win over the world champion Raybestos Brakettes as pitcher for the silver medallist Law Equipment of Greeley team at National Sports Festival 11 in Colorado Springs. The previously invincible Brakettes were eight-time ASA titleholders. Subsequently, Lou pitched for the USA teams in the 1981 TriNational Championships in Japan and the 1982 World Championships in Taiwan. She spent an illustrious four years as head softball coach at the University of South Carolina, which was ranked in the Top 10 nationally throughout her tenure.
I got Cat's autograph at the WCWS, we were in the bleachers in center field and saw her come out by the foul pole. Me and my nephew walked up to her and asked for an autograph and she signed by ticket, then a horde of girls screamed CAT CAT CAT and she returned and walked off.
UCLA’s Keira Goerl was the ONLY pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the NCAA Championship game. She was also the pitcher who led Valley View HS over Mater Dei HS for the CIF Championship in 1999.
Cat Osterman is my fave. Her lefty power and vibe always made her so intimidating, I'd piss myself going upto bat against her, she's scary in the best way haha
I have one in mind. Let's see if she's on the list. Yep. The very first one she picked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cat was a 3-time NCAA recognized pitcher but that was because she took a year off to pitch in the Olympics. I think she struck out everyone on the Japan Team (unheard of). I'm from New York State and the last 40 years California. There "ain't" much I root for from Texas but that young lady is at the top of my list (and she's a six foot tall leftie). She gets three votes from me!
They all take a back seat to a HS and College Pitcher named Carrie Newell. Soo lets just start with this. At SpringHill High School in Spring Hill Kansas Carrie from 1986 to 1989 Carrie finished her HS career at 77 wins and 3 losses in 4 years of HS. In those 3 losses Carrie lost on a error that was committed. In her college career from 1990 to 1993 at Brown Mackie College in Kansas she went 141 wins and 2 loses and won a division title in her freshmen and junior year in college for Brown Mackie. She threw a rising fastball clocked at 79 mph most pitches and had been clocked at 85 mph before. She never gave up more than 3 hits in a game and threw more than 16 no hitters throughout her pitching career. This girl was the real deal. Why she didn't want to go to a major university is because in that time of era softball wasn't about winning. She would of been just another good pitcher on another good team that had 4 good pitchers on each team. Her riser was unhittable and in her freshman year of HS in 1986 she beat a 6A School 1 to 0 that was undefeated during the regular season. Spring Hill softball in her HS Career had a record of 86 wins and 5 losses. Carrie Lost to Jill Bailey who played for the University of Kansas 1 to 0 on a error in 1988. Carrie never lost a game that wasn't considered a true loss because she never gave up that many hits her team committed an error and thats how she lost the 5 games she played in in HS and college. She won both games for Brown Mackie 1 to 0 to win their Division 3 titles in 1990 and 1992. She was truely unhittable. The most hits she ever gave up was 3 hits in a game. She was the best pitcher by stats and wins for a pitcher. Unfortunately Softball back in the early 1990's and in the late 1980's wasn't a big thing soo thats one of the reasons why Carrie never wanted to attend a major university because it wasn't big back then like it is now. She truly was unhittable and every girl stuck out against her.
That's Correct. By the way she is not listed in ncaa but JOAN JOYCE MIGHT HAVE BEEN TH Best Woman pitcher of all time. Also a tremendous all around athlete,
Any top 11 list that doesn't include Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher is ridiculous. Better ERA than anybody on this list. Third most strikeouts in NCAA history. (Notice six of the 11 on her list include the top six strikeout pitchers EXCEPT for Tincher. See, this is what annoys me about college softball. The media only wants to talk about the national teams, the 'haves'. Win totals only tell how good your team is, not how good the pitcher is. ERA and strikeouts are the most telling of dominance. Tincher is one of five pitchers to achieve 100 wins, 1,000 strikeouts, an ERA under 1.00 and average double-digit strikeouts for her career. She also won the Honda Award. But, she didn't play for ArizonaUCLAOklahoma, so she doesn't matter. Virginia Tech is not in their little club.
I’m sorry but I don’t believe this. If you’re passionate enough about softball and you’re a pitcher serious enough to take lessons, you know who Alicia Howell is, unless you’re literally 10 years old 🤦🏻♀️
I think this list is mainly for those who are retired/ post college years. The ones you listed will make this list in the future if they keep working hard 😊
Washington has actually had more than one left handed catcher. They had one just a few years ago, too. The US National Team had a left handed catcher named Jennie Topping for many years, and she was an alternate on the 2008 Olympic team.
What about UCLA's Tanya Harding? She was 17-1 at UCLA and won all four of UCLA's WCWS games with a .50 ERA. Tanya shut down the hard-hitting Arizona team in the WCWS final.
