With a 38-8 record, Tincher has led the Hokies to its first-ever Women’s College World Series appearance. She has 37 double-digit strikeout performances this season and four no-hitters. She picked up her 100th career win at NC State on March 22 and became the ACC’s all-time leader in victories on April 16. On March 26, 2008, she made softball history with a no-hit 1-0 shutout against the USA Softball Women’s National team. Tincher has not only excelled on the field but off as she had made the Dean’s List every semester of College. She recently graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in finance, insurance and business law with a 3.84 GPA.
“She does a great job representing her family our team and our University. I am so proud of her accomplishments and she is very deserving of this award,” said Virginia Tech head coach Scot Thomas. “This is a great award for her as well as for the University.”
The three finalists for the 2008 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Awardincluding Tincher wereUniversity of Tennessee senior Tonya Callahanand Texas A&M Senior Megan Gibson.
A replica of the award will be placed in a permanent display in the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, along with photos of the winner. An additional replica of the award will be presented to the player’s academic institution at a designated event in the fall.
Abbott won the 2007 award days before she led the Tennessee Lady Vols to its first-ever WCWS best-of-three Championship series.Osterman of the University of Texas became the first three-time winner of the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award in 2006 after leading her Longhorns to the Big 12 regular season title and a berth into the NCAA Women’s College World Series. Past winners of the award include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA-2002), Osterman (Texas-2003, 2005, 2006) and Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State-2004).
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.
