Easton Diamond Sports, the industry leader in equipment innovation and technology, announced Monday that based on recent sales data, the brand now holds the majority of market share for fastpitch softball bat unit sales.

OKLAHOMA CITY –– Continuing to build off the Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medal finish, USA Softball announced today the 18 athletes who will represent the United States as a member of the 2022 USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) World Games roster. Following a four-day selection process by the Women’s National Team Selection Committee (WNTSC), the 15-player roster and three replacement athletes will compete at the 2022 World Games this July in Birmingham, Ala., which will signify as the 2022 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup.Previously announced by USA Softball, Heather Tarr (Redmond, Washington/University of Washington Softball Head Coach) will lead the Red, White and Blue as Head Coach for the 2022 season. The complete coaching staff be announced at a later date.“I am proud of the selection committee in accomplishing the challenging task of choosing the 2022 World Games roster,” said Tarr. “This roster includes both experience and youth, and I truly believe this will be a team that our fans will love to follow as we compete for a gold medal at the 2022 World Games in Alabama this summer. I am so excited to see this team in action and we look forward to building on the foundations laid before us as we enter this era of USA Softball.”

LIMA, Peru –– Following a gold medal finish at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, the USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team (WNT) has arrived in Lima, Peru for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup. Held Dec. 6-12 at Villa Maria del Triunfo Softball Stadium, the Red, White and Blue will look to claim a fourth-consecutive WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship title, having won the previous three World Championships in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

BARRANQUILLA, Colombia –– After recording a 10-0 (four innings) run-rule victory over No. 4 Mexico and finishing the tournament with an undefeated 6-0 record, the USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team (WNT) claimed the gold medal at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games. Valerie Cagle (Yorktown, Pa.) led the charge tonight, tossing a perfect game while striking out eight of the 12 batters she faced. The U.S. offense combined for 11 hits with Olivia Johnson (Pearland, Texas) going 3-for-3 and Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) and Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) each accounting for two hits apiece, including a long ball from Zavodnik to keep the U.S. home run streak alive at six games.

BARRANQUILLA, Colombia –– The USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team improved to 3-0 at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games after posting a 13-0 (four innings) win over No. 30 Peru to close out Opening Round. In their third-straight shutout win of the tournament, the U.S. offense combined for 11 hits on the day with Kinsey Fiedler (Summit, Mo.), Keely Williams (Cibolo, Texas) and Olivia Johnson (Pearland, Texas) leading the way with two hits apiece. The longball streak continued for the Eagles as two home runs off the bats of Williams and Violet Zavodnik (Murrieta, Calif.) increased the home run total to 10 through three games.Kicking things off as the visiting team, Williams quickly lit a spark for the Eagles with a leadoff home run over the right field fence to put the U.S. on top, 1-0. A fielding miscue by the Peru defense followed by a walk would put two runners on for Maci Bergeron (Rayne, La.) who pushed a single through the left side to plate two. Alissa Humphrey (Micanopy, Fla.) came out firing in the circle for Team USA, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts and a ground out to end the inning.The bats continued in the top of the second for the Red, White and Blue as Joecellia Roberts (Modesto, Calif.) led off the inning with a double followed by a walk to Williams. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Zavodnik delivered with a shot over the right field fence to extend the U.S. lead, 6-0. Remaining solid on defense, Team USA issued a quick 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the frame thanks to two strikeouts from Humphrey and a line out to Fiedler.The U.S. would extend their lead in the top of the third after doubles from Fiedler, Rylee Holtorf (Peoria, Ariz.) and Johnson followed by a single from Williams would push three runs across to put the Red, White and Blue ahead, 9-0. For the third straight inning, Humphrey and the U.S. defense would retire the Peru offense in order to return to their final at-bat of the game.Refusing to let off the gas, the Eagles tacked on four more runs in the top of the fourth to extend their lead 13-0. A single from Erin Coffel (Bremen, Ind.) and a walk from Bergeron would put runners in scoring position for Fiedler who crushed a line drive to right field to score one. A fielder’s choice from Holtorf and an infield RBI from Roberts plated two more runs followed by a single up the middle from Johnson to plate the final run of the game.The Peru offense gained their first baserunner of the game in the bottom of the fourth, but the U.S. defense stranded the runner with a nicely fielded bunt and two strikeouts from Humphrey to seal the 13-0 win. Humphrey dominated in the circle, retiring seven batters via a strikeout while limiting the Peru offense to just one hit in four innings.After posting three straight wins with a combined total of 51 runs scored, Team USA secured the No. 1 spot in Group A and will return to action tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET for the first matchup of the Super Round. Live stats will be available through USASoftball.com.Team USA will join the No. 2 seed from Group A as well as the No. 1 and 2 seeds from Group B in the Super Round with the final two countries at the top of the leader board going head-to-head in the Junior Pan American Championship on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. ET. The third and fourth-place teams will compete for the bronze medal earlier that day.

OKLAHOMA CITY –– USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, is proud to announce that Heather Tarr (Redmond, Washington/Washington Softball Head Coach) has been selected as the Head Coach for the 2022 USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT). Selected by members of the USA Softball Women’s National Team Selection Committee (WNTSC), Tarr will lead the Red, White and Blue at the 2022 World Games in addition to various international competitions throughout the year. A historic selection for the USA Softball National Teams program, Tarr will be the sixth female Head Coach at the helm of the WNT following Rosalie Sorenson (1970), Marge Ricker (1982), Carol Spanks (1987), Shirley Topley (1991) and Margie Wright (1998).

Oklahoma City, OK - WPF (Women's Professional Fastpitch) is excited to announce the launch of their new professional softball league, slated to begin play in June of 2022. WPF aims to provide a long-lasting and viable option for softball players post-collegiate play, with the ultimate goal of making the professional dream a real possibility for young girls across the world.

Japan captured its second consecutive gold medal with a  2-0 win over the United States at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Yukiko Ueno provided six shutout innings and her squad scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to earn the shutout victory.

For the fifth time in as many Olympics the sport has been played, the U.S. softball team will be playing for a gold medal.Amanda Chidester’s two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the U.S. past Australia 2-1 Sunday at Yokohama Baseball Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. Monica Abbott struck out 13 while allowing just three hits for the U.S., while Tarni Stepto scattered five hits for Australia.By virtue of winning its first four games of pool play, the top-ranked Americans clinched a shot at their fourth gold medal Tuesday. They will play either second-ranked Japan (3-0) or third-ranked Canada (2-1) — who play one another later Sunday — for gold. The format for these Olympics is the top two teams in pool play will battle for gold, while the third- and fourth-place teams vie for bronze.The U.S. wraps up pool play Monday against Japan, who beat the Americans 3-1 for the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the last time softball was played in the Games.Offense has been hard to come by in the Olympics for the U.S. The same was true against Australia. Center fielder Haylie McCleney led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple to right field but was thrown out at the plate two batters later. The U.S. had two on with one out in the third, but a double play erased that threat. Two more runners reached in the fifth, but Australia got out of it unscathed.Abbott, one of two returning Olympians on the U.S. team (along with fellow pitcher Cat Osterman), had to work out of one jam, which came in the sixth inning. Australia put the first two runners on before Abbott got back-to-back pop outs. Abbott’s second walk of the inning loaded the bases, but she struck out pinch-hitter Michelle Cox for her 10th punchout of the game.With the score tied 0-0 the game moved to extra innings. In the top of the eighth — which started with a runner at second base — Abbott uncharacteristically walked three batters, forcing in a run. It was the first allowed by the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics.With Ally Carda pinch-running at second to start the bottom of the inning, McCleney singled to shortstop and Janie Reed bunted the runners to second and third. Chidester then drilled the first pitch she saw from Stepto into the left-center gap, easily scoring Carda and McCleney and sending the U.S. to the gold-medal game.

TOKYO, Japan –– Behind the arm of Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.), the U.S. Olympic Softball Team edged past No. 3 Canada with a 1-0 shutout win in Game 2 of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Abbott tossed a complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts while limiting the Canada offense to one hit through seven innings.  The U.S. offense combined for seven hits on the day with Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.) pushing their solo run across the plate in the top of fifth.

TOKYO, Japan –– The U.S. Olympic Softball Team returned to the Olympic stage in shutout fashion today as the Red, White and Blue posted a 2-0 victory over No. 9 Italy in their Tokyo 2020 Olympic debut. Highlighting the day was Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) who put the Eagles on the board first with an RBI single, while starting pitcher Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) posted a nine-strikeout performance before Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.) closed out the win in the seventh inning.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The opportunity to represent the United States as a member of the 2021 USA Softball U-18 Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT) became real for 18 athletes following a two-day selection trial process held at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla. Selected by members of the Junior Women’s National Team Selection Committee (JWNTSC), the 16-player roster and two replacement players will compete at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 World Cup in Lima, Peru August 28 – September 5 and the Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Columbia November 25 – December 5.

OKLAHOMA CITY – With less than five months until the Tokyo Olympic Games, USA Softball has added four exhibition contests for the U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) in addition to the previously-announced three-game series against world-ranked No. 5 Mexico (March 8-10). 

Softball will have the honor of being the first event to take place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games next year after the Organizing Committee unveiled today the details of the updated Olympic softball competition schedule following the unprecedented postponement of the Summer Games to 2021 as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

The events of the last week have been tremendously painful to us all.