Aleshia Ines Ocasio (born August 15, 1996) is an American professional

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player for the Blaze of the

Athletes Unlimited Softball League The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a women's professional softball league in the United States, founded in 2024 and run by Athletes Unlimited. History On June 4, 2024, Athletes Unlimited announced a new softball league, that w ...

(AUSL). She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Ocasio previously played in the Athletes Unlimited Softball, where she won the 2021 championship as the top individual points leader. She has been a member of the Puerto Rico women's national softball team since 2015.

Playing career

College career

On April 16, 2014, Ocasio signed her national letter of intent to play

. During her freshman season in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

she posted an 18–3 record, with 155 strikeouts, two saves, ten complete games, four shutouts, and a 2.01 ERA in 136 innings. On March 2, 2015, Ocasio was named SEC Freshman of the Week after she posted a 2–0 record with a save during the week. On May 16, 2015, during the Gainesville Regional at the

2015 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2015 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 14 through June 3, 2015 as the final part of the 2015 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May ...

, she tied the single-game program record for strikeouts in a seven-inning game with 17. She helped the Gators win the 2015 Women's College World Series. Following an outstanding season, she was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team, a NFCA third-team All-American, and a top-25 finalist for the

NFCA National Freshman of the Year The NFCA National Freshman of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. ...

. During her sophomore year in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, she posted a 20–1 record, with 130 strikeouts, six saves, ten complete games six shutouts, and a 0.77 ERA in innings. She ranked in the top ten in the conference in opposing batting average, strikeouts, wins and saves, and led the NCAA in ERA. Her 0.77 ERA ranked third best in Florida single-season history. On March 28, 2016, she was named SEC Pitcher of the Week. She earned two wins and one save in 10 shutout innings during the weekend. Following an outstanding season, she was named first-team All-SEC, NFCA first-team All-American and a top-three finalist for the

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is an award given by USA Softball to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United St ...

. During her junior year in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, she posted an 8–2 record, with 55 strikeouts, four complete games, one shutout and a 1.51 ERA in 69.1 innings. Following the season she was named to the All-SEC first-team, and the WCWS All-Tournament team. During her senior year in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, she posted a 23–7 record, with 192 strikeouts, two saves, 16 complete games, seven shutouts, and a 1.45 ERA in innings. She ranked in the top ten in the conference in ERA, opposing batting average, innings pitched, appearances, strikeouts, and wins. She ranked second in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 9.14. On March 30, 2018, Ocasio pitched a combined

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

with Natalie Lugo, the second combined perfect game in Florida history. On May 20, 2018 during the regional finals of the

2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 6, 2018 as the final part of the 2018 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remainin ...

, Ocasio pitched the first seven-inning postseason

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

in Florida program history. Following the season, she was named to the All-SEC first-team. She finished her career at Florida ranked first in combined shutouts (25), fourth in strikeouts per seven innings (7.45) and saves (10), fifth in opposing batting average (.192) and games finished (43), and seventh in ERA (1.41), wins (70), and strikeouts (549).

Professional career

On April 13, 2018, Ocasio was selected tenth overall in the 2018 NPF Draft by the

Chicago Bandits The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington ...

of the

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

league. On June 11, 2018, she signed a three-year contract with the Bandits. During her rookie season in

, she posted 17 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched, with a 1.27 ERA. During her second season with the Bandits in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

she posted 29 strikeouts, with a 0.89 ERA in innings. Following the season she was named to the All-NPF team. On February 29, 2020, she announced her retirement from professional softball. During the second season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball league, Ocasio won the 2021 championship as the top individual points leader with 2,096 points. She led the league with a 6–5 record, and 55 strikeouts in 66 innings pitched, and tied for the lead with 13 appearances. She also threw four complete games and compiled a 2.32 ERA. Her 66 innings pitched surpassed the previous record of 64 innings set by

Cat Osterman Catherine Leigh Osterman (born April 16, 1983) is a retired American softball player and currently the general manager of the Volts for the inaugural 2025 season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Osterman pitched on the United Stat ...

in 2020. On January 29, 2025, Ocasio was drafted fifth overall by the Blaze in the inaugural

draft.

International career

Ocasio has been a member of the Puerto Rico women's national softball team since 2015. During the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, she posted a 3–1 record in five games, and batted .375 (6-for-16) with five RBI and four runs scored, to help lead Puerto Rico to a bronze medal. She again won a bronze medal at

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

. She represented Puerto Rico at the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines ...

. During the classification stage in a game against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, she hit a double to right field in the first inning for the only run of the game. She also pitched a two-hit shutout to lead Puerto Rico to a 1–0 win over Canada and clinch the fifth place at the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

. She represented Puerto Rico at the

2023 Central American and Caribbean Games The 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish language, Spanish: Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe San Salvador 2023), also known as the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games and commonly known as San Salvador 2023, wa ...

. During the championship game she pitched a complete-game shutout in a 2–0 win over

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and won a gold medal.

Personal life

Ocasio is openly lesbian and was married to professional basketball player

Natasha Cloud Natasha "Tash" Cloud (born February 22, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Early life During high school, Cloud led Cardinal O'Hara to the Penns ...

. They separated in 2022.

References

External links