Not that you need an excuse to visit, but Jennie Finch has a new website.
After a stellar college career, Olympic gold, Jennie continues to serve as a great role model, with her youth camps and charity work.
A little background on a local girl who made good (from the official website):
Jennie Finch was born on September 3, 1980, in La Mirada, California and grew up in a close knit family. She is the youngest of Doug and Bev Finch’s three children. Family is important to Jennie and she credits them for much of her success. Jennie’s dad, Doug, spent countless hours working with Jennie over the years. Jennie’s mom is a huge Dodgers fan, and between her love of baseball, Doug’s infinite patience and devotion, and Jennie’s two older brothers who loved to play, Jennie grew up a true blue Dodgers fan with a passion for baseball. She was excited when just after her fifth birthday her parents signed her up for her first t-ball league. She couldn’t wait to play just like her brothers, but this was even cooler because girls were doing it.
Her love for the game and competitive nature was evident from the start, as was her natural athletic ability. She had great hand-eye coordination, and she was bigger and faster than most of her teammates. She also had a cannon for an arm. During winter vacation in Iowa one year, she celebrated the first snowfall by packing a snowball and heaving it out of sight. Doug did whatever he could to accelerate his daughter’s progress. He constructed a batting cage in the backyard, and would sit for hours on an up-ended bucket while she threw to him. He even transformed a small trampoline into a pitch-back she could use on evenings when he worked late. He eventually became her personal coach.
Jennie started pitching at age eight and by the time Jennie was nine, she was playing for a 10-and-under traveling all-star team. Every weekend was spent at a different diamond somewhere in suburban Southern California. The more competitive the environment the more Jennie thrived. She hated to lose, and worked exceptionally hard to make sure it never happened. At age 12, she led the California Cruisers to the 12-and-under American Softball Association national title in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Every summer, the sport took her to a new part of the country for a national tournament. In 1995, Jennie’s ASA team captured the 14-and-under crown.
At La Mirada High School, Jennie made the varsity softball team as a freshman and lettered all four years. She also played volleyball and basketball, which helped her overall athleticism and fed her competitive drive. Still softball was her true love, and in 1997 she led her ASA team to an 18-and-under championship title. She was La Mirada High School’s Female Athlete of the Year her senior year. She was also named to the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Softball Dream Team and was named the paper’s Player of the Year. She was a great hitter, but no one could touch her as a pitcher. In her four years as a La Mirada Matador, she went 50-12, with six perfect games, 13 no-hitters, and a 0.15 ERA. In 445 innings, she fanned 784 hitters.
In between school and sports she found time to hang out with friends, shop and try on make-up. Sometimes it was a challenge to balance life with school and sports, but Jennie’s family helped keep her focused and Jennie herself hated to lose and loved to play.
She was recruited by several top universities, and had a hard time making a decision. It was hard to say no! She found her perfect program at the University of Arizona under head coach Mike Candrea. It was a young and very talented team. Jennie pitched and played first base. As a first baseman she lead the team in doubles (14) and extra-base hits (21) and was second on the squad in homeruns (7). However when it came to pitching it was an adjustment for Jennie to face hitters who could handle her fastball if they knew it was coming. Jennie had to start mixing her pitches more effectively. In addition to a powerful fastball she had a curveball, screwball, dropball and riseball (changeup?) in her arsenal and she spent her freshman year refining them and her pitching strategy. Her work ethic and the competitiveness that fueled it paid off. She finished her freshman year with an impressive 24-6 (?) regular season record, but the best was yet to come.