OKLAHOMA CITY ? The roster for the 2011 USA Softball Women’s National Team is now set as announced today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball. The 18-person roster, plus one alternate, will hit the road in less than a week for their first competition, a two-game exhibition series in Plant City, Fla, on Saturday, June 25.
After the matchup in Florida, the team will travel to Salem, Va., for another exhibition series on June 29. The final tune-up before International play will be in Bowie, Md., on July 1. All exhibition games will be a doubleheader format against the USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team. Tickets for these three exhibition series can still be purchased by logging on to www.usasoftball.comFrom July 9-17, 12 of the 18 players will play in their first International tournament at the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship in Surrey, B.C., before returning home for the World Cup of Softball VI, July 21-25 in Oklahoma City. Tickets are still available for the World Cup at www.softballoutlet.com.
The USA Softball Women’s NationalTeam will seek its 9th Pan American Games title, Oct. 17-23, in Guadalajara, Mexico for the final competition of 2011. With six consecutive titles, USA Softball will again be a top contender during the XVI Pan American Games.
Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla./Head Coach at USF) will lead the National Team and will be assisted by Olympic Gold Medalists Tairia Flowers (Tucson, Ariz./Head Coach at Cal State Northridge) and Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, Calif./Assistant Coach at San Diego State), who retired their cleats following the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Mike White (Eugene, Ore./Head Coach at the University of Oregon) is also making his first appearance with the team following a successful career as a USA Softball athlete in the Men’s Fast Pitch National Team Program.
Below is the roster for the 2011 USA Softball Women’s National Team:
Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif./California)
Whitney Canion (Aledo, Texas/Baylor)
Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif./Arizona State)
Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md./Tennessee)
Kelly Grieve (Asheville, N.C./Tennessee)
Taylor Hoagland (Flower Mound, Texas/Texas)
Ashley Holcombe (Fayetteville, Ga./Alabama)
Molly Johnson (Tucson, Ariz./Kentucky)
Stacy Johnson (Reno, Nev./Iowa)
Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif./UCLA)
Jenae Leles (Sacramento, Calif./Arizona)
Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida)
Christine Orgeron (New Orleans, La./ULL)
Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif./Oklahoma)
Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif./Florida)
Jordan Taylor (Valencia, Calif./Michigan)
Rhea Taylor (Buford, Ga./Missouri)
Chelsea Thomas (Pleasantville, Iowa/Missouri)
Alternate – Jessica Shults (Valencia, Calif./Oklahoma)