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Kaci Clark, Softball
Posted: Friday August 13, 1999 11:30 AM
Born: July 1, 1974 Hometown: Brentwood, Tenn. Upcoming Event: 1999 Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) Championships, August 27-28, Akron, Ohio Worth Watching Because: As the WPSL's 66-game regular season comes to a close, the Virginia Roadsters are in position to win a championship -- thanks, in large part, to ace pitcher Kaci Clark. As a rookie, Clark won the 1998 Women's Professional Fastpitch (now the WPSL) pitcher of the year award and helped her former team, the Orlando Wahoos, win last year's title. The righthander finished the 1998 season with a 22-12 record, 1.81 ERA and 210 strikeouts. With the Roadsters -- one of six teams in the Eastern United States that comprise the WPSL, the world's premier professional fastpitch softball league for women -- Clark is putting up numbers that once again make her the favorite to win pitcher of the year honors. The league's first 20-game winner, Clark leads all pitchers with a 21-6 record, 1.44 ERA and 148 strikeouts. In July, at the WPSL All-Star Game in Plant City, Fla., Clark pitched four innings of shutout relief and earned the win for the Stars who defeated the Stripes, 5-4. A UCLA graduate, Clark's best collegiate season came in 1996, when she was a senior. With a 14-3 record, 2.42 ERA and an average of 5.6 strikeouts per seven-inning game, Clark won All-Pac 10 honorable mention. Clark was also a member of the UCLA team that defeated Arizona for the 1995 NCAA title and is one of only nine pitchers to throw a perfect game for the Bruins since 1980. Before transferring to UCLA, Clark attended Georgia State where she pitched for two years and was named GSU Female Athlete of the Year and team MVP in 1993. When Clark isn't baffling opposing batters with her change-up, she is teaching at the Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles. Though her job caused her to miss a few early-season matchups, Clark has had no trouble staying on top of her game. Greatest Success: 1998 WPF Pitcher of the Year, member of the 1995 NCAA champion UCLA softball team Quote/Unquote: "You have to be drawn to the pressure. My best games are the ones where I'm a little nervous." Cool Fact: Clark was featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd (April 19, 1993) for earning four victories in the first two doubleheaders she pitched as a freshman with Georgia State. Come back soon for a new women's sports Spotlight.
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