Osterman, NPF take playoffs on the road

Traveling to obscure places for tournaments isn't unusual in youth softball.

That's why Rockford Thunder pitcher Cat Osterman, once a youth softball junkie, is convinced she will feel right at home this weekend.

Osterman, her teammates and three other of the country's best pro softball teams are in Kimberly, a small town in northern Wisconsin, because National Pro Fastpitch is staging its 2007 Championship Series there.

Keep in mind that no team in the league is from the area, let alone Wisconsin.

"We don't know much about the town," said Osterman, a U.S. national team player and collegiate megastar from Texas who will be coaching softball at DePaul in her off-seasons. "But we do know that they really know how to run a tournament."

The concept of the league going out of network for its grand finale is puzzling, yet interesting at the same time.

The cash-strapped league awarded its tourney to the highest bidder -- no matter where it was located.

That's how the Thunder, the Washington Glory, the Akron Racers and the New England Riptide ended up in Kimberly, which is about 25 miles south of Green Bay, just east of Appleton.

The town is home to Cardinal Youth Softball, a popular travel softball program with a 4,500-seat stadium.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Cardinal president Bryan Menting said. "I met a few of the NPF owners and I love their attitude about trying to improve and expand the league. What they're trying to do for the players is outstanding. I'm confident Cardinal Youth Softball can help them out while getting our name out there so we can all do something for the game."

The Chicago Bandits won't be there since they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

So with league icon Jennie Finch out of commission, that makes Osterman the biggest name in town. She is the NCAA's all-time strikeout leader, a national player of the year and the 2004 Olympic team's youngest player.

What a hire for DePaul.

No wonder head coach Eugene Lenti is willing to work around Osterman's professional and U.S. national-team obligations, which will keep her away from the program for much of 2008. She likely will settle into a more traditional role with the team in 2009.

"I've wanted to coach since I was like 12," said Osterman, whose father coached her youth teams in Texas.

She does have Chicago ties. Her mother is from Chicago and her uncle works at DePaul.

"My dad is a really good coach, and I also have an aunt and uncle that coach really good high school teams in Texas," she said. "So it's kind of in the family.

"When I heard about the DePaul job, I thought it would be great. I wanted to coach at a top-10 institution so I could learn from great people. I want to be a head coach some day."

Hoopin' with Granny: If the WNBA's oldest players are wondering what they're going to do in 20 or 30 years, here's a great option.

Bring on Granny Ball.

Next month, Windy City Fieldhouse will audition female basketball players ages 50-90 who want to become members of Chicago's first Granny basketball teams.

Granny Ball -- which originated in Iowa, where there are 14 teams -- is 32 minutes of low-impact, noncontact 6-on-6 basketball. And players wear colorful, 1920s-themed ensembles as uniforms.

Chicago-based Silver Lining Expo, an organization developing a variety of programs for the growing "silver" (over 50) crowd, will coordinate the program.

"We've done some work with senior programs before and we've found that this is an area that needs more attention," said Barbara Lee Cohen, president of Silver Lining. "I'm going to be 70 soon, but I don't look like it or act like it. The fact is, when you hit 50, life doesn't stop.

"Granny Ball is absolutely a great opportunity for women. We're living longer, we're in better health, and a program like this promotes movement and competition in a fun and gentle environment."

Tryouts at Windy City will run from 6-10 p.m. Sept. 12. Anyone interested may contact Cohen at (773) 296-6200.

Miss USA: Baseball seems to agree with 15-year-old Lindsay Horwitz, a sophomore at Warren in Gurnee.

She earned a spot -- and was the only girl -- on Warren's freshman baseball team last spring. This summer she played with the Pioneers, one of the few girls-only baseball teams in the country.

Now Horwitz will be taking her game nationally.

Earlier this week she was selected to join the 2007 USA Baseball women's national team for a tournament next weekend in North Carolina.

The Women's International Friendship Tournament, which also involves Canada and Japan, is one of many events national teams play in during off years as preparation for the International Baseball Federation's Women's World Cup of Baseball, which is held in even years.

Although the United States has yet to finalize its Cup roster, playing in it gives Horwitz an inside track. She would be one of the team's youngest players.