Rounding Third Softball

RTS is saddened to report the passing of Chad and Andrea and Meredith Freeman, the parents and grandmother of College of Charleston Pitcher Katie Freeman. The three tragically lost their lives in a car accident on Sunday in Summerville, South Carolina. A crowd funding campaign has been established to support Katie and her sisters Hannah and Meredith in their future educational needs. https://gf.me/u/y4mnux

It came down to two Prague teams as SK Joudrs Praha defeated Eagles Praha 2-0 to secure their seventh Czech National Championship. Veteran 37 year old Eva Rendlová provided all of the Joudrs offense with an RBI single and a home run in the victory.

Bollate defeated Saronno, 4-2, in Game 4 of the best-of-five 2020 FIBS Italian Softball Series, marking Bollate’s 13th national softball championship in the team’s history. After splitting the first two games of the series, Bollate won Game 3, 8-0, to set the table for the title-clinching victory in Game 4. Italian National Team ace Greta Cecchetti was the winning pitcher in all three of Bollate’s wins and received series MVP honors.

Softball Australia has announced that Olympic Medalists Natalie Hodgskin (nee Shapiro) and Belinda Barnes (nee Wright) have been inducted into the Australian Softball Hall of Fame. Both players represented Australia at the Olympic Games, Hodgskin winning silver at the 2004 Athens Games, while Barnes was a member of the bronze medal winning Beijing 2008 squad.

The Wesseling Vermins swept the Freising Grizzlies in the best-of-five German Series to win the Deutschland National Championship. After winning games one and two by scores of 10-8 and 9-4, the Vermins clinched their eighth all-time title at home with a 7-3 win. German national team pitcher Claudia Volkmann (Wesseling) was named MVP of the final series, with Fiona Brosch (Freising) named best pitcher and Julia de Jong (Wesseling) best hitter.

Northeast Texas Community College has named Joshua Freeman head coach. Freeman joins the Eagles after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach at DIII Christopher Newport. He helped CNU to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Super Regionals in 2019.

RTS is saddened to report the passing of Enrique “Cacho” Alcaraz longtime official and Vice-President of the Argentine Softball Confederation at the age of 75. One of the most important contributors to the development of the game in Argentina and throughout South America, Alcaraz was enshrined in the World Softball Hall of Fame in 2013.

San Diego is keeping it all in the family as the Toreros have hired Shay Knighten as an assistant coach. The former Oklahoma All-American joins the staff of her sister first year head coach MJ Knighten. The younger Knighten served the 2020 season as student assistant for the Sooners while finishing her degree. She also played professionally for the USSSA Pride before joining USD.

Baylor Softball has made some major moves with what has been one of the most consistent coaching staffs in all of softball.

The Bears have named Steve Johnigan to their coaching staff. Johnigan served 20 years on the BU Baseball staff before serving the last five as Associate Director of Athletic Facilities and Operations. He also filled in as the hitting coach during the 2019 season when associate head coach Mark Lumley suffered an injury. Johnigan permanently takes over for longtime BU Softball stalwart Lumley who recently retired.

On the heels of naming a new assistant coach in Steve Johnigan, BU also promoted longtime assistant Britni Newman to associate head coach. Newman is in her 18th season with the Bears as pitching coach.

Plattsburgh State has named Sam Van Dorn head coach. The 2019 graduate and standout player at SUNY Cortland spent the pandemic shortened 2020 season as the pitching and infield coach for the Cardinals.