Here's some summer reading for college softball fans! It's the story of the short-lived Kennedy College of Wahoo, Nebraska, which not only fielded a successful women's softball team but was also instrumental in the creation of a Women's College World Series. The article from the Lincoln Journal Star is available here. Thanks to Merritt Clifton, whose message to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) e-mail discussion group brought the Kennedy College story to my attention.
Washington used a first-inning grand-slam homer from pitcher Danielle Lawrie and some late insurance runs to defeat Georgia by a score of 9-3 in tonight's late game. The win gives U-Dub a spot in the best-of-three championship series against Florida starting Monday (Georgia had defeated Washington earlier today, 9-8 in nine innings, to force tonight's rematch). The Huskies thus claimed "top dog" status over Georgia on their side of the bracket. Florida got a two-out grand-slam homer from Ali Gardiner in the bottom of the seventh to edge Alabama 6-5. The Crimson Tide made a strong recovery in the tournament after looking "not ready for prime time" in an opening-round loss to Michigan. But, as a result of tonight's heartbreaking loss to the Gators, Bama is now eliminated. Lowrie's and Gardiner's grand-slams are among four that have been hit so far in this World Series.