University of Minnesota Athletics
Gretchen Larson - M Club Hall of Fame
Gretchen Larson
Softball, 1980-83
HOF Class of 1985
This versatile student-athlete played nearly every softball position – pitcher, catcher, outfielder and first base – as a Golden Gopher, and played them expertly.
Larson won AIAW All-America honors as an outfielder in 1982, and was an NCAA All-American in 1983, when that group adopted softball. Pitching? At graduation, she had posted a formidable career ERA of 0.81, a school record.
Larson went on to compete internationally with the Raybestos Brakettes, winners of the American Softball Association’s women’s major fast pitch national titles in 1983 and 1985, and runners-up honors the season between.
She also played on the U.S. Tri-Nations team in 1984, and on first-place teams at the World Championship Tournament in London in 1985, the Netherlands Invitational in 1985, and the World Championship Tournament in New Zealand in 1986.
Larson was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 1987.