Fresno State Athletics
Playoff MVP Scott Pitches Juggernaut to NPF Championship Title
8/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Aug. 30, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - It was just six years ago that Bulldog softball All-America pitcher Amanda Scott collected a collegiate national championship crown and garnered college world series MVP honors. After a four-year hiatus, Scott stepped onto a softball field once again and, in the process, added another national title and another MVP honor to her illustrious resume. This time, however, the stakes were larger as she played her first season as a professional softball player for the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut. As the Juggernaut captured the inaugural Cowles Cup as the 2004 National Pro Fastpitch champion, Scott was the staff workhorse in the circle in the playoffs and championship. Going 3-0 while toeing the rubber, Scott allowed 13 hits, three runs (two earned), walked six and struck out 21 in 19.0 innings of work. Scott opened the playoffs with a 2-0, three-hit shutout victory over the Akron Racers. With the Juggernaut dropping game two to the Racers, Scott followed with a six-hitter and fanned eight in a 3-2 win over Akron in the deciding game. Scott had help from her younger sister in the deciding game against Akron. At catcher, Courtney Scott gave the Juggernaut the offense it needed with a two-out two-run home run in the fourth for a 3-1 lead. Mother nature wreaked havoc for the first two days of championship play and the three-game championship format was forced to one. With No. 4 seed New England Riptide upsetting the Texas Thunder, which won the regular-season title, and No. 3 New York/New Jersey Juggernaut battling it out, it was guaranteed that one of the two lowest seeds would walk away as the champion. Like she did as a Bulldog, Scott faithfully took the team on her shoulders and pitched them to a 10-1 victory over New England. Against the Riptide, Scott allowed four hits, one run (earned), walked three and struck out four in 5.0 innings. Fellow hurlers Gina Oaks and Kaci Clark tossed the final two innings and allowed two hits, a walk and a strikeout to wrap up the victory. Winning her last five starts, Scott finished the year at 18-7 with two saves, 24 starts (20 complete), 34 runs (22 earned), 107 hits, 51 walks and 160 strikeouts in 179.0 innings for a 0.86 ERA. New York/New Jersey, which went 3-1 in the postseason, ended the year by winning 10 of its last 11 and 18 of its final 22 games to wrap up the inaugural pro fastpitch season with a 44-22 overall mark.
