Sarah Jo Pauly (born January 24, 1983) is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired 7-time professional All-Star, right-handed

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 originally from

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

. She played college softball at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi from 2002-2005 and owns virtually all the pitching records. She is the Big South Conference career

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, WHIP, strikeout ratio,

no-hitters In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

(9) and

perfect games Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

(2) leader in just three seasons. She joined the

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

in 2006 and as a rookie earned Pitcher of The Year and currently holds NPF records for the most innings pitched, games played and games started through her 11 seasons as arguably the most successful undrafted player in league history. She is one of five

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

pitchers to win 100 games, strikeout 1,000 batters, maintain a sub-1.00 ERA and average double digit strikeouts for her entire career.

Early life

Pauly was born in

Menomonie, Wisconsin Menomonie () is a city in and the county seat of Dunn County in the western part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The city's population was 16,843 as of the 2020 census. Named for the original inhabitants of the area, the Menominee, the city ...

and later grew up in Phoenix. She attended Desert Vista High School and led them to two regional appearances in 2000-01. Her father Rick Pauly played men's fastpitch was a coach and tutor for softball.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders

2002: Pauly led her team with 25 wins, 266 strikeouts, 1.63 ERA in 219.2 innings and a strikeout ratio of 8.4, all of which were school records. She earned First Team All-American Independent Colleges as the Corpus Christi Islanders finished up probationary status to enter the

. 2003: Pauly threw three

(one

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

on April 26 vs. the Centenary Ladies) to earn All-

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

honors. She set every pitching record as a full-time Division I program with her wins, ERA, strikeouts, WHIP,

, innings pitched and a strikeout ratio of 11.3 (all except the wins led the conference). She ranked in the top-10 for both strikeouts and strikeout ratio for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

that year. Pauly achieved a career best 19.0 consecutive hitless innings by retiring the final batter faced in a loss to the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

on April 24. She then tossed back-to-back no-hitters over Centenary before starting off against the

Liberty Flames The Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. LU is a member of the ASUN Conference for most sports. Two sp ...

with 4.2 innings before surrendering a hit. Pauly fanned 38 batters and only allowed a hit by pitch during the streak. 2004: Again, Pauly earned all-season conference honors, adding "Pitcher of The Year". She bettered every season record she'd previously set in: wins, strikeouts, ERA, innings pitched, shutouts, WHIP, all leading the conference, resulting in a conference pitching

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

. She led in WHIP and was top-5 for the season in strikeouts and strikeout ratio for the

, as she had been the year previous for the latter categories. On March 20, Pauly began a career best 14 consecutive game win streak in a doubleheader sweep over the Birmingham-Southern Panthers continuing to May 15 in a victory over the

Winthrop Eagles The Winthrop Eagles are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Winthrop University, located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Winthrop's 17 men's and women's teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ...

to claim the

title. Pauly surrendered only one earned run for an 0.08 ERA and struck out 165 batters in 16 games (11 complete) in 90.2 innings pitched. During the streak on March 21, Pauly no-hit the

, setting a school and career record by tallying 19 strikeouts in regulation. The total is tied third best for a single 7-inning game in the

. On that day, Pauly also reached her 1,000th career strikeout with the final punch out of the game. 2005: For her final season, Pauly tossed 5

(NCAA top-5 season record) including a

, as well as repeating all-season honors, including a National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Third Team All-American selection. She broke and set her final set of records with career highs in wins, strikeouts (both conference records), ERA, shutouts, innings, WHIP and strikeout ratio (12.0), all of which again led the

for a second Triple Crown and ranked top-5 in the

that season. Pauly kicked off the season tossing 40.2 consecutive scoreless innings ended by Centenary in a 2-1 win on February 12. In a doubleheader with the Houston Cougars on April 2, Pauly took game one to win her 100th career victory. The Corpus Christi Islanders made their third

Tournament but failed to advance past the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I. Sports sp ...

in extra innings after managing to score their first run in three tournament appearances. Pauly amassed an

record of 87-33, 1,370 strikeouts, 0.69 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, 53 shutouts, 9

, 2

and a strikeout ratio of 11.5 in 830.0 innings pitched. Naturally, she became and is the

queen for all those marks and ranks top-5 in wins and innings pitched. Pauly's strikeout ratio set a new

career record and now stands 6th all-time; her no-hitters are tied 10th all-time. Combined with her freshman marks when the Islanders were an Independent, Pauly's overall record reads 112-46 record, 1,636 strikeouts, 57 shutouts, 0.88 ERA in 1049.2 innings, all of which are tops for an Islander career.

National Pro Fastpitch

Pauly signed with the

Connecticut Brakettes The Connecticut Brakettes is a women's fastpitch softball team based in Stratford, Connecticut. The team has won many state, regional, national, and international tournaments (28 ). History The team was founded in 1947 by William S. Simpson a ...

and made her official debut on June 1, 2006; Pauly had a no-hitter going before rain disrupted play and forced rescheduling. She was named "Pitcher of The Year" and led her team all the way to the Cowles Cup Championship played on August 28, 2006 in which Pauly lost 2-0, though none of her runs were earned. Earlier on August 3, Pauly set a regulation best with 13 strikeouts against the Philadelphia Force and on August 27, Pauly struck out a career best 14 batters in a 1-0 win against 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 seasons since, Pauly has made seven (2006-2008, 2010, 2013-2015) All-

Teams with Brakettes,

Washington Glory The Washington Glory was a women's softball team based in Fairfax, Virginia. They played during 2007 and 2008 as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. History The Glory won the 2007 NPF championship, defeating the Rockford Thunder in the final ga ...

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride are a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a member of the WPF - Women's Professional Fastpitch League, U.S. Founded in 2009. They previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play ...

, the Pennsylvania Rebellion and the

. She also has made it to the championship game seven seasons of her career (not including 2005, 2014–16), pitching in all the games except 2010 and 2013 and of those starting all except 2007. That year she won her first Cowles Cup, her second in 2010 and her third in 2013 with the

. Pauly has also led the league in wins in 2010 (career high) and twice in ERA, in 2006 (career best) and 2008 respectively. From June 19-July 25, 2010, she won 9 consecutive games for a career highlight before losing to the

Chicago Bandits The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington ...

. In her 66.0 innings, she allowed 49 hits, 14 earned runs and walks each, striking out 58 for a 1.48 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. In 2011, Pauly threw 24 consecutive shutout innings for a career best from July 10-August 4 when the NPF Diamonds scored a 3-2 victory to end it. She won 4 games, gave up 9 hits and 2 walks, struck out 20 and had 0.46 WHIP for the streak. On August 8, 2015, Sarah Pauly became the first NPF pitcher to win 100 games. Pauly ranks as the all-time leader in innings pitched, games played and games started. She is also top-10 all-time in wins, strikeouts and shutouts. Pauly played overseas for the 2017 season before retiring on August 9, 2017. Pauly continues to play and coach professionally overseas in Japan, Italy and Australia.

Coaching career

In 2007, Pauly began coaching with at

Spartanburg Methodist College Spartanburg Methodist College is a private Methodist college in Saxon, South Carolina, with a Spartanburg postal address. The college serves approximately 1,000 students (2020-2021 academic year). The college awards six associate degrees, a custo ...

and mentored pitchers to a deep postseason run at the Division I NJCAA National Tournament. In 2009, she became an assistant at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

. From 2012 to 2015, Pauly was pitching coach at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi. In 2012, Pauly was inducted in the Islanders Hall of Fame. On June 4, 2014, Pauly was named to the

Conference All-Decade Team.

Statistics

Corpus Christi Islanders

NPF Connecticut Brakettes,
Washington Glory The Washington Glory was a women's softball team based in Fairfax, Virginia. They played during 2007 and 2008 as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. History The Glory won the 2007 NPF championship, defeating the Rockford Thunder in the final ga ...
,
USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride are a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a member of the WPF - Women's Professional Fastpitch League, U.S. Founded in 2009. They previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play ...
, Pennsylvania Rebellion &
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). ...

References

Links

* NCAA Division I softball career strikeouts list * NCAA Division I softball career -1.00 ERAs list

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pauly, Sarah 1983 births Living people American softball coaches American expatriate sportspeople in Japan Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders softball players Washington Glory players USSSA Pride players Akron Racers players Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers softball coaches College of Charleston Cougars softball coaches Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders softball coaches Sportspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Softball players from Arizona