Allyson "Ally" Nicole Carda (born January 15, 1993) 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) ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Carda has been a member of the

United States women's national softball team The United States women's national softball team is the national softball team of the United States. It is governed by USA Softball (formerly known as the Amateur S ...

since 2015 and was a member of the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

from 2012 to 2015, earning three First Team All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

and back-to-back conference

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

awards. She also earned back-to-back National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-American honors. Carda represented Team USA at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and won a silver medal.

Early life

Carda was born on January 15, 1993, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, to parents Heather and Jim Carda. Carda and her family moved to

Elk Grove, California Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. Located just south of the state capital of Sacramento, it is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 176,124. A 2021 C ...

, where she attended Pleasant Grove High School, from where she graduated in 2011. She is openly lesbian and her partner is Kelly Kretschman.

UCLA Bruins

Carda signed a letter of intent to play for UCLA during her senior year of High School. Carda became one of the all-time greats in the winningest program in history, becoming the best 2 way player for the Bruins since

Lisa Fernandez Lisa Maria Fernandez (born February 22, 1971) is an American former softball player and current associate head coach at UCLA Bruins softball, UCLA. She is also the general manager of the Talons for the inaugural 2025 season of the Athletes Unlim ...

International career

Carda was named to the

roster in 2015. Carda also played for the Red, White, and Blue in 2016 and 2017. Carda helped the Red, White, and Blue to a

World Cup of Softball The USA Softball International Cup previously known as the World Cup of Softball, was an annual women's softball tournament. The first eight World Cups were held at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The competition is gover ...

Gold Medal in 2015, and a Silver in 2016. Carda also won a silver medal at 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, ...

and a gold medal at the

2016 Women's Softball World Championship The 2016 Women's Softball World Championship was an international softball competition to be held in Surrey, British Columbia between July 15 and July 24, 2016.2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and won a silver medal. At the Tokyo Games, Carda suffered the loss in the gold medal game to

Team Japan Team Japan is a professional wrestling group that was brought together as a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's World X Cup Tournament. History 2004 Team Japan started as six-man team as team captain Nosawa from All Japan Pro Wrestling tea ...

in two innings of work on July 27, 2021. For the tournament, Carda pitched eight innings and scored a run for Team USA. On August 31, 2023, Carda was named to the U.S. women's national team for the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

. Carda represented the United States at the

2024 Women's Softball World Cup The 2024 Women's Softball World Cup was the 18th Women's Softball World Cup, an international softball tournament taking place in Balbriggan, Ireland; Buttrio and Castions di Strada, Italy and Valencia, Spain. The group stage took place from 11 ...

and won a silver medal.

Statistics

References

External links

Ally Carda
at

USA Softball USA Softball (formerly the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and ASA/USA Softball) is the national governing body for the sport of softball in the United States, including the United States women's national softball team, United States national ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carda, Ally 1993 births Living people American softball players Softball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Softball players at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in softball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in softball UCLA Bruins softball players Chicago Bandits players Japan Diamond Softball League players World Games gold medalists for the United States World Games medalists in softball Olympic softball players for the United States People from Elk Grove, California Sportspeople from Sacramento, California Softball players from California Softball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in softball Olympic medalists in softball LGBTQ baseball players LGBTQ softball players 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American sportswomen American lesbian sportswomen Medalists at the 2022 World Games American expatriate sportspeople in Japan