Jennie Lynn Finch, is a former American softball player who pitched for the USA national softball team and the Chicago Bandits. Finch helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Finch was born in La Mirada, California to Doug and Bev Finch. Finch has two older brothers. She began playing softball at age five and pitching at age eight. Her father was her first pitching coach. Growing up, Finch was a bat girl for the University of California, Los Angeles. At La Mirada High School, Finch lettered four times in softball and twice each in basketball and volleyball. As a senior, she was the captain of all three sports. As a sophomore, she was an All-California Interscholastic Federation Division II choice in softball and All-Suburban League selection.
Finch played softball for the University of Arizona as a pitcher and first baseman. In 2002, Finch set a new National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record by winning her 51st consecutive game. She ended up with 60 consecutive wins breaking the previous record of 50 that was set by Florida State's Rebecca Aase in 1993. Finch's streak spanned nearly two seasons and included three straight wins in the 2001 Women's College World Series, where she won Most Outstanding Player honors.
Finch had a 2-0 win-loss record in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, striking out 13 batters in eight innings while giving up only one hit, one walk and no runs. Her pitching lead the USA team to a gold medal. The U.S.A. team started its bid for a fourth straight gold medal at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing with Finch pitching four no-hit innings in an 11-0 victory over Venezuela. Finch then pitched 5 shutout innings in a 7-0 victory over Chinese Taipei and two more shut out innings in a 9-0 victory over China. However, the U.S. lost 3-1 to Japan in the final game and came home with a silver medal.
Finch married then-Major League Baseball pitcher Casey Daigle on January 15, 2005. They have two sons; Ace Shane, born on May 4, 2006 and Diesel Dean, born on June 19, 2011. Finch welcomed her daughter Paisley Faye on January 12, 2013.
On July 20, 2010, Finch announced her retirement from softball to focus on her family.Finch was the most dominant and recognizable softball pitcher of her era.Combined with her pitching skills, Finch's beauty and charm landed her a place in the mainstream to become a pop culture icon and inspire many to follow in her footsteps.
Her jersey, number 27 (the date of her parents' first date), was retired by the University of Arizona in a pre-game ceremony at Hillenbrand Stadium on May 9, 2003.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennie_Finch