Saturday was a special day out at the UMass Softball Complex as the playing surface was officially renamed Sortino Field in honor of longtime softball coach Elaine Sortino.
Here are a couple of articles and photo galleries of the day, which also featured the annual alumni game and the team's banquet.
UMass Athletics Photo Gallery MassLive.com Photo Gallery Former UMass softball All-American and Olympian Danielle Henderson was recently hired as an assistant coach at Stanford. She spent the past two seasons as the pitching coach at Ohio State.
"We are extremely excited to add Danielle to our coaching staff," said Rittman. "She has a complete understanding of what it takes to compete and perform at the highest level both as a player and a coach."
"I am thrilled for the opportunity to coach at Stanford," Henderson said. "The Cardinal has been one of the top programs in the nation for several years and I am excited to join its program."
A member of the gold medal-winning 2000 U.S. Olympic softball team in Sydney and 2001 Women's Pro Softball League Gold team, Henderson brings valuable pitching expertise to The Farm.
Henderson is considered one of the most decorated athletes UMass has ever produced, rewriting the softball record book in her four seasons on the mound. A four-time All-Atlantic 10 selection and a four-time A-10 Tournament Most Outstanding player, Henderson finished her career second all-time on the NCAA's strikeout list with 1,343. A three-time All-American, she was also the nation's leader in strikeouts per seven innings in both 1998 and 1999.
The Cardinal are coming off a season that saw them go 40-19 overall, 11-13 in the Pac-12 and reach the finals of the NCAA Lafayette Regional.
