Former Texas A&M - Corpus Christi softball
great Sarah Pauly will be the guest speaker at the third annual
'The First Pitch' dinner that benefits the Islanders program.
After having nationally-recognized USA
Softball member Crystal Bustos the first year and local legend
Brenda Marshall in year two, Pauly combines the two aspects, having
starred at the University while leading the team to three-straight
NCAA Tournament appearances. Following her collegiate career,
Pauly has gone on to success in professional softball as well,
playing on two National Pro Fastpitch championship teams in her
career. Additionally, she
has been named the NPF Player of the Year and has trained with the
USA Softball program.
Pauly is a former Islanders great who pitched
at the University and became one of the top pitchers in the
collegiate game. As a
senior, she finished with a 37-7 record and a 0.56 ERA. Her win total was the third-highest
in the nation while her ERA was good for fourth in the NCAA. She was also second in
strikeout ratio with 12.08 per seven innings and was third in
strikeouts with 497 during the year.
She finished her career with a 112-46 record
and is third in NCAA history with a strikeout ratio of 11.6 per
seven innings. She is also
ninth in career strikeouts with 1,370 in just three seasons, as the
team was a provisional Division I member her freshman year.
Teresa Flores, the First Pitch Dinner
coordinator, is excited about the opportunity Pauly brings for both
the local community and the Islanders players to hear from one of
the top softball players in the game today.
"It's a great thing for our program, we've
been trying to get her for the past three years, but we haven't
been able to make it happen," said Flores. "We get an Islanders
legend coming back that is still doing amazing things out in the
softball world.
"Not only will it be a great opportunity for
the community, but also for our softball girls to be proud of and
to look up to. The
community will take away something special from what she has to
say, and so will our girls. I think it's a great thing all
around."
The dinner will be held on February 11, 2011
with a 7:30 p.m. start at the Holiday Inn Emerald Beach. Ticket prices are $30 for an
individual or $250 for a table. For tickets or more information,
contact Flores at teresa.flores@tamucc.edu.
