Jennie Lynn Finch born September 3, 1980 in La Mirada, Californi who occasionally uses her husband's surname Daigle, is a former American softball player who pitched for the USA national softball team and the Chicago Bandits. Finch helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Time magazine described her as the most famous softball player in history. In 2010, Finch retired from softball to focus on her family.
Contents
1 Early years
2 College
3 2004 Olympics
4 2008 Olympics
5 National Pro Fastpitch
6 Media
7 Personal life
8 Retirement
9 Legacy
10 Career statistics
11 References
12 External links
Early years
Finch had been playing softball since the age of five and pitching since she was eight. Growing up, Finch was a bat girl for the University of California, Los Angeles. At La Mirada High School, Finch lettered four times in softball and twice each in basketball and volleyball. As a senior, she was the captain of all three sports. As a sophomore, she was an All-California Interscholastic Federation Division II choice in softball and All-Suburban League selection. Her father, Doug Finch, was her first pitching coach.
College
Finch played softball for the University of Arizona, where she was a three-time All-American pitcher and first baseman and two-time winner of Honda Sports Award.
In 2002, Finch set a new National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record by winning her 51st consecutive game. She ended up with 60 consecutive wins breaking the previous record of 50 that was set by Florida State's Rebecca Aase in 1993. Finch's streak spanned nearly two seasons and included three straight wins in the 2001 Women's College World Series, where she won Most Outstanding Player honors. A near-capacity crowd filled Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium and chants of "Jennie" echoed throughout the crowd in the 6–0 victory over Cal State Northridge. Finch said, "It's significant and it's nice. But it doesn't even come close to the team goal of winning a national championship."Finch recorded 24 wins in her freshman season; 29 in her sophomore season; 32 in her junior year, (with no losses, setting an NCAA record); and 34 in her senior season for a career total of 119 wins, 12th-most at the time. In that stretch, Finch struck out a total of 1,028 batters.
Her jersey number 27 (the date of her parents' first date) was retired by the University of Arizona in a pre-game ceremony at Hillenbrand Stadium on May 9, 2003.
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
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