Best All-Time SEC Softball Player

Monica Abbott may be the greatest player in the history of women's college softball, never mind the Southeastern Conference alone. And it seemed, from her early years, that she was indeed an athlete destined for greatness.

Her high school career was nothing short of spectacular. She attended North Salinas High School in Salinas, California. Over the course of his three seasons there, she averaged a superb 300 plus strikeouts per season, regularly making otherwise elite level high school batters look average in the process. In her junior season, she threw seven perfect games and amassed a stellar 0.17 ERA along the way.

Her senior season was similarly dominant, and as a result of her high school success, she was heavily recruited by a number of in state universities. She ultimately chose to attend the University of Tennessee, a university that did not have the same cache of many of the larger PAC-10 schools, but one whose softball program was up and coming.

Abbott's high school dominance carried over into her years at UT. She tossed a no-hitter in her very first collegiate game, an 8-0 win over Saint Mary's. And in only her third start, she one upped herself by firing a perfect game. Over the course of her freshman season, she shattered a number of freshman female softball records at UT as well as across the SEC, and ultimately was named one of the ten finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, the first ever Lady Vol to receive the honor.

Abbott's staggering success continued over the remainder of his college career, and eventually, she would go on to set a number of career and single season records at UT, within the SEC, and in fact, in all of the NCAA. All told, over the course of her collegiate career, she won 189 games, threw or 2440 strikeouts, achieved 112 shutouts, pitched a total of 1448.0 innings, and appeared in 253 games, all NCAA records. She also finished her career with 23 no-hitters and 6 perfect games to her credit.

She received the 2007 Honda Award as the nation's top collegiate softball athlete, and was also named USA Softball Player of the Year that season. The first All-American in UT softball history, Abbott also was a four-time Louisville Slugger/NFCA All- American. She was the three-time Pitcher of the Year in the SEC, and the other season, she shared the award. She was also a four-time First Team All-SEC selection.

Following her outstanding career at UT, Abbott went on to have a tremendous post collegiate amateur career, primarily in regards to her appearances and performance on a number of national teams. Among these outstanding appearances were stints in the Pan American Games, in which she won a Gold medal with the American women in 2007.

During those games, she went 2-0 over 10 innings pitched, and struck out 20. Prior to that, she also was practically perfect in the 2006 World Cup, in which she posted a 2-0 record in six innings, striking out 10, en route to a championship there as well.

All of this leads us to conclude that Monica Abbott was the best all-time SEC Softball Player.

You can read more about Abbott's career at Pac-10 vs. SEC Softball and about her Vols at Tennessee Volunteers Softball.

Read about other great players at:

• Best Pro-Football-Player of All-Time
• Best All-Time NCAA-College-Football Player
• Best All-Time SEC Football Player
• Best All-Time NBA Basket Player
• Top All-Time SEC Basketball Player
• Best All-Time Womens-College-Basketball Player
• Best All-Time SEC-Baseball Player
• Best All-Time SEC Soccer Player
• Best All-Time SEC Volleyball Player
• Best All-Time Golfer
• Best All-Time Tennis Player

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