Taran Mackenzie Alvelo (born June 14, 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

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride is a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida, and a former member of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Founded in 2009, they previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play their home ...

of the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). 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 ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, where she led the Huskies to three consecutive

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 ...

appearances from

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 ...

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 represented

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

at the

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 ...

, and won a gold medal 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 ...

. Alvelo stands at 5’10. Weighing 350

Early life

Alvelo attended Bloom-Carroll High School in

Carroll, Ohio Carroll is a village in Fairfield County, Ohio, United States. The population was 501 at the 2020 census. History Carroll was laid out in 1829 at the junction of two canals. The village was named after Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737&ndas ...

College career

Alvelo made her

debut for

on February 12, 2016, throwing a complete game in a 10-3 shutout of No. 9 Oklahoma. She finished her freshman season with an 18-7 record, leading the Huskies in starts, complete games, innings pitched, and strikeouts, despite missing the final two series of the regular season with an ankle injury. Following the season she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. She returned on the final day of the 2016 Seattle Regional against No. 12 Minnesota, then appeared in both games of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional as the Huskies were knocked out in two games by

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. As the Huskies' No. 1 starter in 2017, Alvelo led the Pac-12 with 254.0 innings pitched, and her 35 wins are fourth-most in Washington history. She opened the 2017 season with a 10-inning complete game, allowing one run on four hits as the No. 13 Huskies upset No. 2 Auburn at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Two days later, she threw a complete-game shutout against No. 1 Oklahoma. The weekend earned her NFCA Pitcher of the Week, ESPNW Pitcher of the Week, and the first of three Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors that season. Alvelo threw her first collegiate no-hitter against Montana on May 19, 2017 in Washington's first game of the Seattle Regional and went on to throw 55 innings in 10 postseason games. As a junior, Alvelo threw 31.1 scoreless innings to open the 2018 season, not allowing a run threw her first five outings. As the season went on, Alvelo began to split pitching duties more and more with freshman Gabbie Plain, and an injury to her ribs limited Alvelo in May. She only made one appearance in each of the Huskies' final two regular-season series, and only threw three innings at the 2018 Seattle Regional. After Plain pitched the first game of the 2018 Seattle Super Regional against No. 12 Alabama, Alvelo got the start in Game 2, striking out eight in a 94-pitch shutout. Alvelo came out of the bullpen in Washington's first two games at the 2018 Women's College World Series, before taking the ball to start against No. 4 Oklahoma. Throwing another complete-game shutout, she struck out six Sooners to send the Huskies to the National Championship. Alvelo started Game 2 of the championship series, allowing seven runs in 3.1 innings and taking the loss as Florida State won its first Women's College World Series. Coming into her senior season, Alvelo ranked seventh all-time in UW history with 595 strikeouts. In 16 nonconference appearances, she racked up 118 more, compiling a 1.11 ERA. Washington opened up conference play against No. 1 UCLA, with Plain coming off of two straight no-hitters. Alvelo came out of the bullpen in the Friday night game and took the loss, allowing a three-run double in the sixth inning of a 3-0 loss. Two days later, Alvelo gave up 15 runs on 15 hits in a loss. Following the UCLA series, Alvelo bounced back. In her final 17 appearances of the regular season, she went 13-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 114 strikeouts. With the Huskies making their third straight trip to the WCWS, Alvelo started their first game and took the loss in a complete game against Arizona. She came out of the bullpen with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and the tying run on second against Minnesota, getting a strikeout to keep the Huskies' season alive. Later that day, Alvelo started against Oklahoma State and struck out 16 in a 1-0 shutout, the most by a UW pitcher at the WCWS. In Washington's 10-inning loss to UCLA in the semifinals, Alvelo threw three innings of relief before giving Plain the ball back. With the final pitch of her collegiate career, she struck out Kinsley Washington looking for her 895th career strikeout, passing Jennifer Spediacci for second all-time in UW history.

Professional career

On April 16, 2019, Alvelo was selected eighth overall in the

2019 NPF Draft The 2019 NPF College Draft was the 16th annual collegiate draft for the National Pro Fastpitch. It took place April 15, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee at Acme Feed & Seed, a downtown entertainment venue. It was available for internet viewing via NPF ...

by the Aussie Peppers 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. In her rookie season, she put up a 7-1 record and a 1.38 ERA in 45.2 innings pitched. On Jan. 15, 2020, Alvelo signed with the Chicago Bandits.

Statistics

References

External links

Washington bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvelo, Taran 1996 births Living people Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in softball Competitors at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists in softball Pan American Games bronze medalists in softball Pan American Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Sportspeople from Fairfield County, Ohio Puerto Rican softball players Smash It Sports Vipers players Softball players from Ohio Softball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Softball players at the 2023 Pan American Games USSSA Pride players Washington Huskies softball players