Christa Williams (softball)

Christa Lee Williams-Yates (born February 8, 1978) is an American, former collegiate three-time All-American, two-time Gold Medal winning Olympian, retired three-time pro All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher originally from Houston, Texas. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she received a gold medal with the American team. Four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she won her second gold medal. Williams-Yates began her college career with the UCLA Bruins in 1997 before transferring to play softball with the Texas Longhorns (1998-99). Joining in its inaugural year, she played three years in the National Pro Fastpitch with the Texas Thunder (2004-06) and still ranks top-10 in career wins, strikeouts, ERA among other records. In 2018, Williams-Yates was named to the USA National Softball Hall of Fame.[1] Currently, Williams-Yates teaches high school softball in Houston.

Christa Williams
Personal information
Full nameChrista Lee Williams
Born (1978-02-08) February 8, 1978
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Medal record
Women's softball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
1996 Atlanta Team competition
2000 Sydney Team competition

College

In her freshman year, Williams-Yates was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Third Team All-American.[2] She was also named First Team All-Pac-12[3] She led the Bruins to the Women's College World Series and into the championship final where they lost to the Arizona Wildcats on May 26. Williams-Yates was named to the All-Tournament Team going 4-2, throwing two shutouts with 46 strikeouts.[4][5]

Williams-Yates transferred to University of Texas for the next two seasons. She was named a NFCA First Team in 1998 and the Second Team in 1999.[6][7] She also would earn two First-Team All-Big 12 selections.[8] This helped earn her a place on Team USA for the 2000 Summer Olympics and Williams-Yates opted not to return for her senior year.

NPF

Williams-Yates was named an All-Star all three years of her career with the Texas Thunder. She debuted on June 1, 2004, throwing a two-hit shutout with 6 strikeouts over the Akron Racers.[9] She no hit the Arizona Heat on June 18 with a 15 strikeout performance. On June 28, 2005, she set a personal best by fanning 17 of the Stratford Brakettes. Later that year beginning on July 7-August 6 she pitched a 10 consecutive game win streak, throwing 65.0 innings with 25 hits, 6 earned runs, 16 walks and 74 strikeouts for a 0.64 ERA and 0.63 WHIP.[10]

Williams-Yates is the only NPF player to have played at least three seasons and be recognized as an All-Star every year of their career. She currently ranks top-10 in career statistics for wins, strikeouts, ERA, shutouts, strikeout ratio and WHIP.

Statistics

UCLA Bruins & Texas Longhorns

[11][12][13]

YEAR W L GP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
1997 21 8 34 29 28 14 4 205.0 149 64 53 84 218 1.81 1.13
1998 28 6 43 33 27 16 5 230.1 81 24 15 67 364 0.45 0.64
1999 23 9 38 30 23 11 1 223.1 97 46 31 54 314 0.97 0.67
TOTALS 72 23 115 92 78 41 10 658.2 327 134 99 205 896 1.05 0.81

Team USA Olympic Games

[14][15]

YEAR W L GP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
1996 2 0 2 1 1 1 0 9.2 3 0 0 2 15 0.00 0.54
2000 2 0 5 1 0 0 2 16.0 5 0 0 3 23 0.00 0.50
TOTALS 4 0 7 2 1 1 2 25.2 8 0 0 5 38 0.00 0.51

National Pro Fastpitch Texas Thunder

[16]

YEAR W L GP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
2004 14 6 21 19 17 10 0 142.1 64 21 13 38 132 0.64 0.72
2005 17 5 24 23 18 7 1 157.1 85 24 17 37 172 0.75 0.77
2006 11 8 26 20 12 3 1 142.2 103 45 35 59 161 1.72 1.14
TOTALS 42 19 71 62 47 20 2 442.1 252 90 65 134 465 1.03 0.87

References
  1. "Some of softball's Finest inducted Into National Softball Hall of Fame At 38th Annual Induction Ceremony". Teamusa.org. 2018-10-27. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  2. "1997 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  3. "Pac 12 Conference 2020 Softball Media Guide". E-digitaleditions.com. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
  4. "Division I Softball Championship Record Book" (PDF). Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  5. "UCLA WCWS Stats". Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  6. "1998 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  7. "1999 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  8. "Big 12 Record Book" (PDF). Big12sports.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. "Thunder shut out Racers in season opener". Profastpitch.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  10. "Christa Williams Game Log 2005 Summer". Profastpitch.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  11. "Final 1997 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  12. "Final 1998 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  13. "Final 1999 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  14. "Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia". Teamusa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  15. "Olympic Games Sydney, Australia". Teamusa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  16. "Individual Leader Board". Profastpitch.com. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
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