Kissimmee, FL- The USSSA Pride announced the signing of Texas Longhorn pitcher Blaire Luna today. Luna inked a two-year deal with the USSSA Pride, currently led by head coach J. T. D’Amico. Luna helped lead her Longhorns to 51 wins this season, the second most wins in school history. She capped her colligate career leading Texas to their fifth appearance in the Women’s College World Series. (WCWS)
Luna finished her career as one of the best pitchers in Texas, Big 12 and NCAA history. During the WCWS, Luna became the sixth player in Big 12 history to have 400 or more strikeouts in a season with 422. Luna also accomplished the feat as a freshman in 2010 with 404 strikeouts. This year, she won a career-high 32 games, her previous high was 20 wins as a freshman in 2010. Luna is an All-American pitcher whose Texas records stand second only to current USSSA Pride ace, Cat Osterman.
“It’s awesome to have Blaire join our staff. It’s been fun to watch her continue our tradition at Texas, and to have her join the Pride ensures she’s one of the elite,” Former Longhorn and now teammate Cat Osterman said. “I can’t wait to share the circle with her, and leave the game after this year knowing it’s in good hands”
Luna’s season started with throwing a season opening no hitter against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on February 7th and it ended at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
In her career, Luna finishes with a 112-30 career record and tallied 1,428 strikeouts as a Longhorn.
She joins Cat Osterman and Megan Willis as the third active Longhorn Alumni on the Pride roster.
When asked about what he thought about acquiring Blaire Luna, USSSA Pride General Manager Don DeDonatis wasn’t short on words.“ Blaire is the final piece to our rotation puzzle, and we are confident that her addition will impact the Pride this summer and many years to come.”
The USSSA Pride kick off their season this Sunday, June 9 against the NY/NJ Comets at 8:05. Go to dev.usssapride.com for live coverage!
About USSSA Florida Pride:
The USSSA Florida Pride is a professional franchise in the National Pro Fastpitch League that is owned and operated by USSSA. The amateur organization of USSSA has multi-sport coverage and encompasses teams and players from the United States and abroad.
About NPF:
National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, TN. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fastpitch softball since 2002.
About USSSA:
The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), headquartered in Osceola County, Florida, USSSA is the World’s Largest Multi-sport Athletic Organization. Founded in 1968, USSSA has grown to over 3.7 million participants, competing in 13 nationally sanctioned sports including Baseball, Fastpitch, Slow Pitch, Karate, Basketball, Soccer and more! For more information on USSSA and to register your team visit USSSA.com. Also be sure to visit USSSAToday.com for the latest USSSA News!