Megan Renee Betsa (born March 7, 1995) is an American, former collegiate All-American, right-handed professional

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and coach. She is a former assistant coach at

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

for

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, where she is the career strikeout ratio (10.7) leader for both the Big Ten and Michigan, and also ranks top-20 for the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

. Betsa was selected seventh overall by the

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the Cleveland Comets in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). ...

in the

2017 NPF Draft The 2017 NPF College Draft is 14th annual collegiate draft for NPF. It took place April 24, 2017 7:00 CT in Nashville, Tennessee at Acme Feed & Seed, a downtown entertainment venue. It was available for internet viewing via NPFTV, the league's st ...

, and went on to play professionally for the now defunct Racers.

Early life

Betsa grew up in

McDonough, Georgia McDonough is a city in Henry County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Its population was 22,084 at the 2010 census, up from 8,493 in 2000. The city is the county seat of Henry County. The unincorporated comm ...

. Her father, Howard Betsa, played college basketball for the

Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball The Tennessee Volunteers Men's Basketball Team is the collegiate men's basketball program for the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. The Volunteers (commonly referred to as the "Vols") compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athlet ...

program. Betsa attended

Union Grove High School Union Grove High School is a public institution within the Henry County School System in McDonough, Georgia, United States. It hosts students from ninth through twelfth grades. Current enrollment hovers around 1,532 students. The school sends ...

where she was selected as an all-state softball player all four years. She was also named the Georgia player and pitcher of the year in both 2011 and 2012. In 2013, she was named the Gatorade Softball Player of the Year.

College career

Betsa enrolled at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in the fall of 2013. As a freshman during the 2014 college softball season, she compiled an 18–4 record with a 2.15

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 150 strikeouts. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Betsa appeared in 46 games, 38 as a starter, and earned a 31–5 record with a 1.72 ERA and 333 strikeouts in innings pitched. She received multiple honors during the 2015 season, including the following: * On April 21, she was named National Pitcher of the Week after pitching three complete games, including a no-hitter. * She was selected to the 2015 All-

team and named the Big Ten pitcher of the Year. In the 2016 season——Betsa has appeared in 32 games, 23 as a starter, recording a 22–3 win–loss record with a 2.05 ERA and 236 strikeouts. In the first two games of the NCAA regional, she gave up only two runs. She threw a shutout victory against LSU in the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

on June 3, 2016. As a senior in 2017, Betsa earned first-team All-Big Ten and second-team NFCA All-America honors after reaching career bests in ERA (1.48), shutouts (12), strikeouts (412), and opposing batting average (.148). Betsa graduated from Michigan in April 2017 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in sport management.

Professional playing career

Betsa was the seventh overall selection in the

, selected by the

on April 24, 2017. On May 30, 2017, Betsa signed a three-year contract with the Racers. NPF named Betsa Rookie of the Week for the week of June 19 to 25, 2017, following her first pro complete game with a career high nine strikeouts in a 2–1 win over the

Beijing Shougang Eagles The Beijing Eagles, officially the Beijing Shougang Eagles (北京首钢金鹰女垒), were a women's professional softball team. Established in May 2017, the team plays in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). In the 2019 National Pro Fastpitch seas ...

on June 22.

Coaching career

On August 25, 2017, Betsa joined Paula Congleton's inaugural coaching staff with

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

softball as pitching coach. On August 20, 2018, Betsa became the pitching coach at

under Frank Reed.

Statistics

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Betsa, Megan 1995 births Living people Akron Racers players Michigan Wolverines softball players Chattanooga Mocs softball coaches New Mexico Lobos softball coaches People from McDonough, Georgia Sportspeople from Henry County, Georgia Softball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Female sports coaches American softball coaches