Megan Bush Accepts Invitation to USA Softball National Team Selection Camp
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 | Softball
Florida softball senior Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) will join Gator teammates Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif.) at the 2011 USA Softball Women's National Team Selection Camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., June 12-17, announced by the Amateur Softball Association of America Wednesday. Bush was among nine softball student-athletes in the country that recently accepted invitations to join the already released 21 athletes who have accepted invitations. Both Moultrie and Schutte accepted invitations April 6.
“I'm so proud of Megan for being invited to the USA National Team Selection Camp,” Florida head coach Tim Walton said. “In her entire career at the University of Florida, she has flown completely under the radar. She's been a very good college player and she's somebody who has improved each year in our program. Now she'll have an opportunity to showcase her skills among the nation's elite.”
Bush has laced the Florida and Southeastern Conference record books in her final campaign as a Gator, capturing the Florida and Southeastern Conference career home runs record, the UF single-season home runs, sac flies and RBI records, while also tallying a Florida record and career-long 20-game hit streak earlier this season. The first baseman was an initial candidate for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and is a top 25 finalist for USA Softball's Player of the Year, while also serving as Florida's candidate for the SEC's Brad Davis Community Service Post-Graduate Scholarship. Bush was additionally named to the SEC Community Service Team Wednesday, while ranking first in the country this season in sacrifice flies (9), second in RBI per game (1.41) and third in both home runs (20) and homers per contest (0.39).
On March 30, Bush was among three UF softball seniors drafted by the National Pro Fastpitch organization, with the opportunity to sign with the Akron Racers franchise after her college eligibility concludes. The Racers (Akron, Ohio) selected Bush as the second pick in the second round as the fifth overall pick in the 2011 Draft.
Former Gator standout Stacey Nelson became the first Gator to play for the USA National Team after being named to the team in the summer of 2009. Nelson pitched in three tournaments for the Red, White and Blue, including the Canada Cup, the World Cup and the Japan Cup, winning three gold medals. Nelson was also an alternate for the 2010 USA National Team.
The approximately 17 athletes selected to the USA Softball roster will compete in six different events in three countries. Fans in the United States will get four opportunities to see the team in action with three exhibition stops scheduled as well as the World Cup of Softball VI, July 21-25, in Oklahoma City. For ticket information on the World Cup as well as the tour stops in Plant City, Fla., Salem, Va., and Bowie, Md., go to www.usasoftball.com
The 2011 Women's National Team also will seek the program's eighth Pan American Championship title at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct. 17-23. Two previous announcements of participants were made on March 16 and April 6 with the final announcement to come on May 31.
Below are the nine athletes who recently accepted the invitation to compete for a spot on the 2011 USA Softball Women's National Team:
Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Florida)
Whitney Canion (Aledo, Texas/Baylor)
Brigette Del Ponte (Peoria, Ariz./Arizona)
Dallas Escobedo (Glendale, Ariz./Arizona State)
Andrea Harrison (Garden Grove, Calif./UCLA)
Ashley Lane (Escondido, Calif./Michigan)
Stacey May (Reno, Nev./Iowa)
Jenna Rich (El Segundo, Calif./Stanford)
Chelsea Thomas (Pleasantville, Iowa/Missouri)
March 16 and April 6 Selections
Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif./California)
Ashley Holcombe-Bell (Fayetteville, Ga./Alabama)
Katelyn Boyd (Phoenix, Ariz./Arizona State)
Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Tennessee)
Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif./Arizona State)
Kat Dotson (Savannah, Ga./Tennessee)
Taylor Hoagland (Flower Mound, Texas/Texas)
Molly Johnson (Tucson, Ariz./Kentucky)
Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif./UCLA)
Whitney Larsen (Vestavia Hills, Ala./Alabama)
Jenae Leles (Sacramento, Calif./Arizona)
Blaire Luna (Austin, Texas/Texas)
Meagan May (Spring, Texas/Texas A&M)
Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida)
Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif./Oklahoma)
Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif./Florida)
Jessica Shults (Valencia, Calif./Oklahoma)
Jordan Taylor (Valencia, Calif./Michigan)
Rhea Taylor (Buford, Ga./Missouri)
Niki Williams (Mission Viejo, Calif./Washington)
Shawna Wright (Lancaster, Calif./Washington)
