When Carol Spanks threw out the ceremonial first pitch before UCLA played Washington for the NCAA title May 31, 1999 in Oklahoma City it could have been her last pitch. After the delivery, Spank came to the sidelines, where she was greeted by well-wishers and former players, including Lisa Fernandez, who hugged. Spanks announced earlier her retirement from softball. It closed the book on one of the outstanding careers in softball as a player and a coach spanning more than four decades.For five years, Spanks served as co-head coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas after spending 15 years as head coach at Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA. She concluded her coaching career with an overall record of 725 wins, 433 losses and five ties. UNLV honored Spanks May 6th, 1999 following its game against Utah. In 15 seasons at Cal Poly, she had a record of 577 wins, 310 losses and five ties for a winning percentage of .650. She led them to 11 postseason appearances (three AIAW and eight NCAA). As a player, Spanks was one of the greatest of all-time, earning ASA All-America honors 14 times in 19 national championships. She was a member of four national championship teams, 1962, 1965, 1969 and 1970, playing for the Orange, CA Lionettes. She started playing softball in 1951 for the Buena Park, CA Kittens and eventually joined the Buena Park Lynx, a nationally known team, and stayed with them until joining the famed Orange, CA Lionettes in 1958. She retired in 1975.
