Facing a decisive game three in the 2010 National Pro Fastpitch Championship Series, the Florida Pride handed the ball to ace pitcher Cat Osterman. She was electric, pitching her way to a two-hit, two-run, seven strikeout complete-game performance over the Chicago Bandits.

Osterman and the Pride out-pitched and out-hit the Bandits, posting seven runs off 12 hits on the scoreboard. Osterman held Chicago to just two runs on two hits, both Samantha Findlay home runs, for a 7-2 victory. The end of this game not only marked the end of the NPF playoffs, but also the end of two illustrious careers for the Bandits in Jennie Finch and Stacy May.

Leading off the top of the second, Findlay stepped up to face off with Osterman and proceeded to blast the first pitch deep over the left-field wall for a solo home run to give the Bandits a 1-0 lead.

With runners on first and second in the bottom of the second, Pride third baseman Andrea Duran dropped a bunt back to Bandits pitcher Kristina Thorson. Duran would be out on the play, but both runners would advance to second and third base.

Lauren Lappin, struggling in earlier playoff games, redeemed herself by blasting a change-up to the left field fence, scoring two runs to give Florida a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Bandits starting pitcher Thorson was pulled following the double for Nikki Nemitz. With Lappin on second, Tonya Callahan blasted her own double, scoring Lappin for a 3-1 Pride lead.

Nemitz stopped the bleeding shortly thereafter, getting the Bandits out of the inning down by two runs. Thorson finished the 1.1 innings of work with three runs on three hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Then it was rookie versus rookie as Charlotte Morgan faced off with Nemtiz. Morgan got the better of the two in the bottom of the third, ripping a solo home run over the left field wall to give the Pride a 4-1 lead.

With two on and no outs, Kelly Kretschman continued her hot hitting, blasting a two-RBI single to right field to give the Pride a 6-1 lead. Immediately following the single, Nemitz was replaced by Jessica Sallinger in the pitcher’s circle.

Nemitz finished the game with 1.2 innings pitched, seven hits for three runs and one strikeout in 12 batters faced. Bases were loaded with no outs as Sallinger stepped into the circle to face the potent Pride lineup. Sallinger stopped the bleeding as she got three-straight Florida batters to ground out.

The bleeding continued just one inning later as Natasha Watley blasted a solo home run over the centerfield fence to put the Pride up 7-1. With three outs left until elimination, Findlay another homer off Osterman to bring the score to 7-2.

The championship victory is the second consecutive National Pro Fastpitch trophy for Osterman and the first ever in Florida Pride history.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

The Pride defeated Akron in the first game of a best-of-three series on Thursday. The winner advances to the championship round against either the Tennessee Diamonds or regular-season champion Chicago Bandits.

The Pride received a big boost last weekend as they got back franchise pitcher Cat Osterman, who appeared in two of last weekend’s games against Akron as a reliever. It marked the first time Osterman had pitched since getting injured in the gold medal game of the World Championships on July 2 in Venezuela. The Pride will have Osterman, along with Sarah Pauly, who was second in NPF this season in earned runs average with 1.98, and rookie Danielle Lawrie this weekend. Lawrie was part of the University of Washington’s NCAA National Championship in 2009.

On offense, the Pride will depend on Natasha Watley, who hit .402 on the season, and Jessica Mendoza to lead the way. Mendoza came back to play competitively this season after taking a year off because of the birth of her son. She came back strong in 2010, hitting .296 with five home runs and 22 RBIs.

The Pride is coached by Tim Walton (Florida), and assistants Beth McClendon (Florida International) and Renee Luers-Gillispie (UCF).

This weekend’s NPF Championship Series marks the end of the road for legendary softball player Jennie Finch, who announced last month her intentions to retire from the sport following the season. Finch will hope to go out on top with the Bandits, who are led by star pitcher Monica Abbott. Abbott finished the regular season tops in the league with a 0.79 ERA and 146 strikeouts. She was part of the Pride’s runner-up team a year ago as USSSA fell to Osterman and the Rockford Thunder in the championship series. Abbott and Osterman were traded for each other during the offseason.

– More USSSA Florida Pride –

History of professional softball in Central Florida at USSSA Florida Pride

Visit ProFastpitch.com to following along to the National Pro Fastpitch postseason.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

This summer the Pride are entertaining crowds at both the UCF Softball Complex and ESPN Wide World of Sports. And Osterman, a gold-medal winning softball player while with the U.S. National Team, is now playing her pro softball in Florida, helping the Pride get out to 7-2 record in the four-team league to start the season.

With the Thunder since moving to Tennessee over the offseason, the other softball rivals in the NPF are Chicago and Akron, Ohio.

This weekend the Pride hosts Tennessee at UCF with games on Friday and Saturday starting at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 12:05 p.m. They then hit the road for a lengthy stretch before returning for games at Disney against Tennessee (July 22-25) and Chicago (July 29-31).

The final home series of the season takes place at UCF when Akron pays a visit Aug. 19-22.

–– Pride Stat Leaders ––

Entering this weekend’s series, Osterman leads the Pride with a 3-0 record and one save from inside the circle. She currently has an earned run average of 0.90 through 23.1 innings of work. The former University of Texas hurler has struck out 29 batters and allowed just 14 hits and three earned runs.

Outfielder Kristin Schnake leads the team in batting with a .556 average through five games. The University of Georgia alum went 2-for-3 at the plate on Saturday in Tennessee and has scored three runs on the season.

Olympic gold medalists Jessica Mendoza and Kelly Kretschman are each hitting .407 through nine games on 11 of 27 at-bats this summer. Mendoza, out of Stanford University, has scored seven runs, hit four doubles and drove in six while Kretschman (University of Alabama) has drove in seven, scored three times, hit two home runs and two doubles.

Among the names on the USSSA roster is University of Florida’s Francesca Enea along with others from colllege programs such as Tennessee, Arizona, Arizona State, Oklahoma, UCLA, Louisville and Marshall.

–– Did You Know? ––

– On May 30, 1997 the first professional softball game was played between the Virginia Roadsters and Durham Dragons. The Roadsters prevailed 2-1 for the first-ever win in what was then known as the Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) league.

– On July 1, 1997 the Orlando Wahoos clinched the WPF first-half title with a 10-0 win over the Tampa Bay FireStix. Orlando would go on to win the WPF Championship Series played Aug. 26-31, 1997 over the Roadsters.

– On July 31, 1997 the first no-hitter in league history was thrown by Gabby Guerrero as the Roadsters defeated the Dragons 2-0.

– On Aug. 1, 1998 the first perfect game in league history was thrown by DeeDee Weiman as the FireStix defeated the Carolina Diamonds 2-0.

– On Aug. 25, 1998 the Wahoos earned a return trip to the championship series by winning the second-half title with a 25-8 record. Orlando went on to sweep the Diamonds for the title a week later.

– On November 6, 1998, Women’s Pro Fastpitch suspended operations of the team in Orlando and assigned its players to the Akron Racers.

– On Dec. 5, 1998 the league changed its name to Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL).

– On June 14, 1999, Crysti Bustos of the Akron Racers became the first player in league history to make the USA Softball Women’s National Team. Bustos and Michelle Venturella would be named to the 2000 U.S. National Team on Sept. 6, 1999.

– On July 7, 2000 the single-game strikeout record is set when Ohio Pride pitcher Heather Compton retires 17 batters in a 2-1 win over the Racers.

– On Feb. 27, 2001 the WPSL suspends operations before emerging with plans to revise the league as the newly minted National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) on Nov. 21, 2002. Six teams are introduced for the 2004 season on March 21 of that year, including the return of Akron, along with franchises in Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts, New Jersey and California.

– In 2009, professional softball returns to the Central Florida area as the Washington Glory become the USSSA Pride, who play its home games in Kissimmee.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –