Danielle Henderson (born January 29, 1977) is an American, former collegiate

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, medal-winning Olympian, retired professional All-Star

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, ...

who is currently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at UMass. Henderson was a starting pitcher for the UMass Minutewomen softball from 1996 to 1999. Henderson also played professionally in

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 ...

from 2004 to 2007, where she currently ranks top-10 in career strikeout ratio (6.8). Along with numerous school records, she is the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

career leader in

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

, shutouts, perfect games (3) and

WHIP A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

. Henderson represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and won a gold medal.

Early life and education

Born in

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

, Henderson grew up in nearby Commack and graduated from Commack High School in 1995.

College

In her freshman season of 1996, Henderson led the team in wins, ERA, shutouts and strikeouts. Henderson threw her first

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 the NCAA play-in opener against

Marist Red Foxes The Red Foxes are the athletic teams of Marist University. The Marist Red Foxes compete in NCAA Division I athletics as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) the only exception being football, a member of the Pioneer Football L ...

. In 1997 as a sophomore, Henderson would earn her first National Fastpitch Coaches Association

and Atlantic 10 Pitcher of Year awards, as well as tossing two no-hitters and breaking the UMass season records for strikeouts,

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

and strikeout ratio. Her wins and shutouts were at the time both second best in school history. For the year, Henderson won her first pitching Triple Crown for the conference best in wins, strikeouts and ERA, while ranked in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

top-10 for both ERA and strikeout ratio. On April 26, 1997, Henderson struck out a then school and a career best 18 Fordham Rams in regulation, this was tied third all-time for an

single game and now is tied fourth overall. The day prior on April 25, Henderson also began a 63 scoreless inning streak that endured until May 17 for a then career best. UMass qualified for the 1997 Women's College World Series. However, Henderson was selected to the All-Tournament Team. Throwing five no-hitters (NCAA top-5 season tying record and one perfect game vs. the Fordham Rams on March 29, 1998) earned her all-season honors from conference and the NFCA in her junior season of 1998, moving from third to the second Team. Henderson broke four school records with her wins, strikeouts, shutouts (still the record) and a strikeout ratio of nearly 12; along with her ERA, she won a second conference Triple Crown. In addition, she again cracked the top-10

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

season records with her strikeouts (led the

), shutouts and then second best all-time season strikeout ratio mark, which also led the

that year. A return trip to the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

ended by shutout as the Minutewomen lost their second game to Oklahoma State Cowgirls and would be Henderson's last appearance in the series. In her senior season of 1999, Henderson posted six no-hitters (another top-five tying NCAA season record), two perfect games and repeated all-season honors, including a First Team

highlight and her third straight Atlantic 10 Pitcher of The Year and pitching Triple Crown. Henderson won 30 games, struck out a then school and conference record (total led the nation) and tied the best season ERA mark at UMass. She had a career best

and her strikeout ratio of 13.9, set a new

season mark that is now 6th all-time. Her 105 scoreless innings streak from March 16 − May 2, 1999 remains the

record. Henderson closed her career at UMass with the best strikeouts, ERA, shutouts, wins, WHIP, innings pitched, strikeout ratio, perfect games and no-hitter numbers, of which she still owns the ERA, WHIP, perfect games and shutout crowns. She holds the same career records for the Atlantic 10. Finally, in the

Henderson is tied 6th in no-hitters (14) and 5th in perfect games (3) all-time for a career. In May 1999, Henderson was awarded the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

as the best softball player in the country. After her playing career, Henderson served as a private pitching instructor and was an assistant coach with

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. She rejoined her alma mater UMass as associate head coach for the 2014 season and was head coach at UMass Lowell from 2015 to 2021.

Professional softball career

2000 Olympics

Henderson began playing for Team USA the summer after she graduated in 1999. On July 29, 1999, Henderson threw a perfect game defeating

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

9–0 at the start of the Pan American Games. She competed at the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

where she received a gold medal with the American team. Her only game was a 3–0 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 ...

National Pro Fastpitch

Henderson began playing with the rejuvenated

in 2004 with the now defunct

Arizona Heat The Arizona Heat was a women's softball team based in Tucson, Arizona. From the 2004 season, it played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. The team's home games were played at historic Hi Corbett Field. Six of the players on the 2006 roster ...

. She debuted on June 1, throwing two innings in a loss. Beginning on June 7-July 31, Henderson won a career best 7 consecutive decisions in 12 games, 5 complete. She struck out 55 batters and surrendered 35 hits, 30 walks and 9 earned runs for a 1.05 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. With the

New England Riptide The New England Riptide was a women's professional fastpitch softball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. They began play in the 2004 season as a member of National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball ...

on June 5, 2005, she tallied a career best 13 strikeouts in a 3-0 shutout victory. She currently ranks top-10 in career strikeout ratio at 6.8. In 2005, Henderson made the All-NPF East Team. Although she did not play, Henderson also won a NPF Cowles Cup Championship with the defunct

on August 28, 2006.

Coaching career

Henderson had two stints as an assistant coach at UMass, first from 2000 to 2003 then as associate head coach in 2014. In between these stints, Henderson worked as a private pitching instructor before returning to college softball as assistant coach at

from 2011 to 2012 and

under John Rittman in 2013. On July 30, 2014, she was named head softball coach at the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of M ...

Honors

In 2001, while serving a second term as Assistant Coach, the

University of Massachusetts-Amherst A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a co ...

ceremoniously retired Henderson's #44 jersey. In her last season with her the Minutewomen, Henderson was also inducted into the New England Women's Hall of Fame on September 24, 2002. On October 9, 2009, Henderson was honored with an invitation into the UMass Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

College

Professional

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Danielle 1977 births Living people American softball players American softball coaches UMass Minutewomen softball players UMass Minutewomen softball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes softball coaches Stanford Cardinal softball coaches Olympic softball players for the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in softball Softball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics People from Commack, New York Sportspeople from Huntington, New York Softball players from New York (state) Isenberg School of Management alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni UMass Lowell River Hawks softball coaches

Early life and education

College

Professional softball career

2000 Olympics

National Pro Fastpitch

Coaching career

Honors

Career statistics

College

Professional

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links