OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Shortstop Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) was selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Female Athlete of the Month for her impressive performances with the USA Softball Women’s National Team in July 2009, the USOC announced today. She led the team in several categories including hits, RBI and stolen bases.

“I am truly honored and excited to receive the USOC July Athlete of the Month as I know I was on a list of highly talented individuals. This summer was a great one for USA Softball and I, as always, am honored to be a part of this team,” said Watley. “The year after the Olympics is always a tough year because you are training nonstop before the Games and then the letdown after is tough. It can be hard to come back out and get back in the training mode but I am happy with the success USA Softball has had this summer.”

Watley, who won 53-percent of the online vote, topped World 2009 FINA World Champion water polo player Kelly Rulon (Point Loma, Calif.) to take home the individual honor for the first time, although she was a part of the USOC Team of the Month as recently as July 2007. USA Basketball’s Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.), swimmer Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) and tennis player Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) tied for third.

The USA Softball Women’s National Team was nominated for the Team of the Month award for two Gold Medal performances but did not place in the top three, despite winning 87-percent of the online vote. Twitter votes account for ten percent of the final tally, with a voting panel of U.S. Olympic family members comprising the remainder.

The top three in the team category were the U.S. Men’s 4×100m Freestyle Relay Swim Team, Swimming; U.S. Men’s U-19 National Team, Basketball; and USA Women’s Senior National Team, Water Polo. Swimmer Ryan Lochte, diver Troy Dumais and tennis player Andy Roddick were the top there for the Men’s Athlete of the Month.

The Women’s National Team went undefeated in July, winning the Gold Medal at the Canada Cup, July 3-12, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, the KFC World Cup of Softball presented by Six Flags, July 16-20, in Oklahoma City, Okla., and starting Gold Medal runs at two other tournaments.

At the Canada Cup and World Cup, the USA went undefeated for 18 consecutive wins, ten of which were by the run rule. Watley and her team outscored opponents 78-5 over 12 games at the Canada Cup and facing competition from five teams including Olympic Champion Japan, Team USA went 50-4 over six games at World Cup.

Watley started all of the games at shortstop. She led the team at the plate, going 25 for 47 at the two events with 20 of the team’s 116 RBI. The entire team went 172 for 437, with 17 home runs, 15 doubles and eight triples. The team also went 33 for 37 in stolen bases while opponents were only 3 for 5.

Among the highlights at the plate for Watley were two doubles and two home runs, including a grand slam against Canada in a 14-0 win at the World Cup. She also went 8 for 8 in stolen bases, another category in which she led the team.

In Surrey and Oklahoma City, Team USA had a strong pitching staff of five including 2008 Olympians Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) and Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.). Osterman struck out 68 batters over 33 innings, allowing nine hits and three runs. Abbott struck out 62 over 29 innings, allowing 11 hits and two runs.

Olympic gold and silver medalist Watley ended the month with a solid performance against Australia on July 31 at the Japan Cup in Sendai City, Japan, which Team USA would go on to win on Aug. 2. In the Australia game, Watley went 2-for-4, including one double, with three RBI.

Also on July 31, at the Pan American Qualifier in Maracay, Venezuela, Team USA started a run for the championship with an 11-0, five inning win against Colombia. En route to winning the Gold Medal, the team qualified for the 2010 International Softball Federation (ISF) Women’s World Championship in Oklahoma City and the 2011 Pan American Championships.