Allyson "Ally" Nicole Carda (born January 15, 1993) is an American professional softball pitcher and first baseman. Carda has been a member of the United States women's national softball team since 2015 and was a member of the UCLA Bruins from 2012 to 2015, earning three First Team All-Pac-12 and back-to-back conference Player of the Year awards.[2][3][4] She also earned back-to-back National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-American honors.[5][6] Carda represented Team USA at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal.[7]

Ally Carda
Pitcher/Utility
Born: (1993-01-15) January 15, 1993 (age 31)[1]
Sacramento, California
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Teams
Medals
Women's softball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2024 Castions di Strada Team
World Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Team
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Team

Early life

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Carda was born on January 15, 1993, in Sacramento, California, to parents Heather and Jim Carda. Carda and her family moved to Elk Grove, California, where she attended Pleasant Grove High School,[8] from where she graduated in 2011. She is openly lesbian and her partner is Kelly Kretschman.[9]

UCLA Bruins

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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.[10]

International career

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Carda was named to the United States women's national softball team roster in 2015.[10] Carda also played for the Red, White, and Blue in 2016[11] and 2017.[12] Carda helped the Red, White, and Blue to a World Cup of Softball Gold Medal in 2015, and a Silver in 2016. Carda also won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games and a gold medal at the 2016 Women's Softball World Championship. Carda represented Team USA at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal.[13] At the Tokyo Games, Carda suffered the loss in the gold medal game to Team Japan in two innings of work on July 27, 2021. For the tournament, Carda pitched eight innings and scored a run for Team USA.[14][15]

On August 31, 2023, Carda was named to the U.S. women's national team for the 2023 Pan American Games.[16]

Carda represented the United States at the 2024 Women's Softball World Cup and won a silver medal.[17]

Statistics

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UCLA Bruins
Year W L GP GS CG Sh SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
2012 13 5 37 25 6 1 1 120.0 101 65 58 71 97 3.38 1.43
2013 23 10 46 27 12 3 0 206.2 154 87 71 88 217 2.41 1.17
2014 32 5 46 32 18 9 2 220.2 169 79 60 65 230 1.90 1.06
2015 32 8 49 33 18 9 3 240.0 184 106 90 123 281 2.62 1.28
TOTALS 100 28 178 117 54 22 6 787.1 608 337 279 347 825 2.48 1.21
UCLA Bruins
Year G AB R H BA RBI HR 3B 2B TB SLG BB SO SB SBA
2012 52 108 16 31 .287 25 4 1 5 50 .463% 15 24 1 1
2013 60 117 16 60 .339 50 18 1 7 123 .695% 31 18 1 2
2014 60 175 56 69 .394 65 13 2 11 123 .703% 39 16 9 18
2015 63 183 59 60 .328 50 8 0 15 100 .541% 57 23 4 5
TOTALS 235 643 173 220 .342 180 43 4 38 395 .614% 142 81 15 26
Team USA
Year W L GP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
2015 3 0 8 4 2 2 0 24.2 14 2 2 10 20 0.57 0.99
2016 5 0 9 6 0 0 0 24.0 10 5 3 8 32 0.88 0.75
2020 2 0 9 4 2 0 0 23.1 15 11 10 7 33 3.03 0.95
2021 8 0 15 5 0 0 0 51.2 29 7 6 25 52 0.82 1.05
Olympics 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 8.0 7 4 3 3 11 2.62 1.25
TOTALS 17 1 43 20 4 2 0 131.2 75 29 24 53 148 1.28 0.97

[18][19]

NPF
YEAR G AB R H BA RBI HR 3B 2B TB SLG BB SO SB
2017 5 6 1 1 .166 0 0 0 0 1 .166% 1 1 0
2018 26 21 4 9 .428 5 1 1 0 14 .666% 3 3 0
2019 3 6 1 2 .333 0 0 0 0 2 .333% 3 2 1
TOTALS 34 33 6 12 .363 5 1 1 0 17 .515% 7 6 1
YEAR W L GP GS CG Sh SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
2017 3 1 5 4 1 0 0 23.1 21 5 5 6 28 1.51 1.17
2018 5 3 27 6 0 0 4 44.0 26 12 10 21 45 1.59 1.07
2019 0 0 5 1 0 0 1 7.2 7 6 6 3 8 5.83 1.39
TOTALS 8 4 37 11 1 0 5 75.0 54 23 21 30 81 1.96 1.12

References

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  1. ^ "Ally Carda - Softball".
  2. ^ "Pac-12 announces softball all-conference honors". Pac-12.com. May 12, 2013. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  3. ^ "Pac-12 announces softball all-Conference honors". Pac-12.com. May 14, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  4. ^ "Pac-12 announces 2015 softball all-Conference honors". Pac-12.com. May 13, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "2014 ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS". Nfca.org. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  6. ^ "2015 ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS". Nfca.org. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "2020 U.S. Olympic Softball Team". Teamusa.org. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  8. ^ Ip, Jennifer (August 2, 2021). "Silver Medal For Elk Grove Native Ally Carda In Softball". Elk Grove Tribune. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  9. ^ Schultz, Ken (July 13, 2021). "Out Olympian Ally Carda turns to her partner for Olympic inspiration". Outsports. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Ally Carda - Softball". UCLA. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "Four Players, Two Coaches on Team USA". UCLA. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "Three Bruins Named to USA Women's National Team". UCLA. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "Ally Carda". Team USA. June 3, 2022. Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  14. ^ "JPN 2, USA 0". Olympicssoftball.wbsc.org. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  15. ^ "Carda". Olympicssoftball.wbsc.org. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  16. ^ "USA Softball announces 16-player Women's National Team roster set to represent Team USA at 2023 Pan American Games". usasoftball.com. August 31, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  17. ^ "Japan outscore USA in the final to become Women's Softball World Champions". wbsc.org. July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  18. ^ "United States | Summer 2015 | Adult Softball".
  19. ^ "United States | Summer 2016 | Adult Softball".
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