Libertyville team trains with Olympic Silver Medalist Lauren Lappin

Team USA softball catcher and 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Lauren Lappin brought her extensive softball knowledge and experience to Libertyville this past Sunday. A clinic focused on the position of catcher was held for the Libertyville Girls Softball Association's travel team catchers.

Currently, Lappin is the starting catcher for the U.S. National team and handles the world's best pitching staff that includes Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott, Eileen Canney, and the recently retired Jennie Finch.

Lappin is frequently called the most versatile softball player in the world. She plays virtually every position, switch hits, slap hits, and hits for power. She was a Team USA alternate for the 2004 Olympic Games, when the U.S. National Team won the Olympic Gold Medal in Athens, Greece. She returned to the national team in 2007 and became a gold medalist at the Pan American Games as well as a World Cup Champion.

Lappin became an Olympic silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing, China. A Stanford University graduate, Lappin was a two-time Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. Her honors also include multiple selections to the First-team All-Pac-10 team as well as an All-Tournament team selection at the Women's College World Series.

Lappin played this past summer for the National Pro Fastpitch (www.profastpitch.com) league champions USSSA Pride (www.usssapride.com) who beat the Chicago Bandits in a best-of-three series that went the distance. She has also served as an assistant coach at Northwestern University the past couple seasons.

At the clinic, Lappin focused on the fundamentals and strategy of the catching position including stance, framing pitches, pitch signals, blocking pitches, defending the steal, playing the bunt, and blocking the plate. She impressed upon the players how important the catcher's position is to the rest of the team and how to be a leader on and off the field. She emphasized the importance for the girls to go find their passion, and no matter what it is, to go for their dream. Lauren is very passionate about softball, was very inspiring to the girls, and is an excellent role model for young softball players.