The 1981 AIAW women's college slow-pitch softball championship was held near Raleigh, North Carolina on May 14–16. Thirteen college softball teams met in the first AIAW national slow-pitch softball tournament. The AIAW conducted only two slow-pitch softball national championships, in 1981 and 1982, as the NCAA sought to and eventually did vanquish the women's collegiate athletic organization.
Teams The double-elimination tournament included 13 teams seeded in the following order:
Florida State East Carolina North Carolina South Florida North Carolina State Auburn Florida Wilmington College (Ohio) Western Carolina Northern Kentucky Georgia Southern Morehead State (Kentucky) Lakeland Community College (Ohio)
Top-seeded Florida State was the victor in the tournament, winning all four of its games. The team eliminated North Carolina in the final, 4-1, and placed five players on the all-tournament team. Darby Cottle was voted the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The Lady Seminoles won 16 consecutive games to finish out the season with a record of 54-7. JoAnne Graf, who went on to have a legendary career at the university, coached the team to Florida State's first softball national championship.
Bracket
Source:
Ranking Place School WCWS Record 1st Florida State4-0 2nd North Carolina4-2 3rd East Carolina2-2 4th North Carolina State3-25th South Florida3-2 Auburn2-27th Florida2-2 Northern Kentucky2-29th Georgia Southern1-2 Western Carolina1-2 Lakeland Community College1-212th Morehead State0-2 Wilmington College0-2
See also
1982 AIAW slow-pitch softball tournament 1983 National Collegiate slow-pitch softball championship
References