Recently, during a coaches’ gathering at PGF Nationals, PGF President Dan Hay reportedly announced that PGF owns Line Drive Media, a softball-related rankings company.
A comparison of the publicly available business records for both entities reflects the same business address. The filings can be viewed through the California Secretary of State's online business records database.
The announcement has raised important conversations that extends beyond any single organization.
Should a rankings company disclose who owns it?
Should families know whether a media outlet has affiliations with a tournament organization or governing body?
Should athletes be evaluated the same way regardless of whether they compete in PGF, Alliance Fastpitch, USA Softball, USSSA, Triple Crown, or any other national event?
How can families be confident that rankings are based solely on performance?
What do college coaches think about rankings companies that are owned by major softball organizations?
These are questions that deserve thoughtful discussion as youth softball continues to evolve.
Recently, conversations throughout the softball community have brought renewed attention to ownership and transparency within softball media. Those conversations have prompted many families and coaches to ask an important question: What should independence in athlete rankings actually look like?
At Extra Inning Softball, we believe the answer begins with transparency.
We Want to Hear From You
The goal of this article is not to tell the softball community what to think—it’s to start an important conversation.
Transparency, trust, and independence are topics that affect every athlete, family, coach, and organization in our sport.
We invite you to take our brief anonymous survey and share your perspective. It takes less than two minutes to complete, and your feedback will help us better understand what matters most to the softball community.
Your voice matters, and we’d genuinely appreciate your participation. Share your opinion HERE!
Built Around Fairness
When Bonnie Holland became the sole owner of Extra Inning Softball in January 2024, one of her first priorities was strengthening the integrity of the rankings process.
“The credibility of any rankings platform depends on the integrity of its evaluation process. From day one, our focus has been building a system that is structured, consistent, and designed to evaluate athletes based on performance—not relationships or outside influence. Every athlete deserves an equal opportunity to earn recognition.”
That philosophy became the foundation for how Extra Inning Softball evaluates athletes today.
Independence Matters
Across journalism, sports, and business, transparency regarding ownership and potential conflicts of interest is widely recognized as a best practice. Athltes and their families deserve to understand who owns the organizations producing news, rankings, and evaluations so they can make informed decisions.
Youth softball has grown into a national industry with multiple sanctioning bodies, premier events, recruiting platforms, and media companies. As the sport continues to evolve, transparency becomes increasingly important.
Extra Inning Softball is independently owned by CEO Bonnie Holland. The company is not owned by any tournament organization, sanctioning body, league, or softball governing association.
That independence allows us to evaluate athletes from every corner of the sport using the same philosophy and standards.
Outstanding players are found everywhere.
Our responsibility is to recognize athletes—not promote organizations.
The SERV Methodology
Building trust requires more than simply publishing rankings—it requires a process that is structured, repeatable, and designed to evaluate every athlete under the same standards. That’s why Extra Inning Softball developed the SERV™ Methodology our comprehensive four-part evaluation framework that guides every rankings cycle.
Rather than relying on a single opinion or isolated performance, SERV brings together Software, Evaluation, Research, and Verification to help ensure each athlete receives a thorough and consistent review before rankings are finalized.
Throughout the summer, members of the Extra Inning Softball team have met personally with dozens of college coaches at national championships, showcases, and tournaments across the country to discuss our evaluation process.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with many coaches expressing appreciation for the structure, transparency, and consistency that the SERV™ Methodology brings to athlete evaluations.
Those conversations have reinforced what we believe is essential: credible rankings are built on a clearly defined process, not individual opinions, popularity, or isolated performances.
S — Software
Technology helps organize nominations, statistics, schedules, evaluation notes, historical data, and athlete information so every submission can be reviewed through a consistent process.
E — Evaluation
Athletes are evaluated using multiple performance factors, including skill set, positional value, competitiveness, athletic projection, consistency, and impact against quality competition.
R — Research
Our staff spends months researching athletes through statistics, video, tournament coverage, coach feedback, nominations, regional input, and extensive data collection.
V — Verification
Before rankings are finalized, information is verified through multiple rounds of review and committee discussion to help ensure accuracy and consistency.
The SERV™ Methodology was designed to reduce subjectivity—not eliminate human evaluation, but strengthen it through structure, accountability, and multiple layers of review.
Why We Use a Rankings Committee
One of the most important safeguards within our process is our Rankings Committee.
Rather than relying on a single evaluator, rankings are reviewed collectively by a committee using established evaluation standards and the SERV™ Methodology
Committee discussions encourage multiple perspectives, challenge assumptions, and help ensure that no single opinion determines an athlete’s placement.
To protect the integrity of that process, Extra Inning Softball does not publicly identify committee members.
That decision is intentional.
By keeping committee members anonymous, we help protect them from outside lobbying, personal pressure, and attempts to influence evaluations. The focus remains where it belongs—on the athletes and the established evaluation criteria.
Rankings Should Serve the Entire Sport
The softball landscape has never been more diverse. Elite athletes compete in numerous independent events across the country.
No single organization represents every top athlete.
A truly national rankings platform should strive to evaluate players wherever they compete, using consistent criteria and an objective review process that places performance ahead of organizational affiliation.
That commitment builds credibility—not only with athletes and families, but also with college coaches who rely on accurate information.
Transparency Builds Confidence
Ownership relationships are not inherently problematic. Many respected media organizations operate under larger corporate structures or have affiliations with sports organizations but not Extra Inning Softball.
Clear disclosure allows the community to understand those relationships and evaluate content with full context. Transparency strengthens trust, while the absence of transparency can create unnecessary questions—even when none are warranted.
As youth softball continues to grow, adopting high standards for disclosure and editorial independence will only benefit the sport.
Answering the Hard Questions
In response to the questions we posed above…
Should a rankings company disclose who owns it?
Yes. Transparency about ownership helps build trust and gives the public confidence in understanding who is behind the rankings they rely on.
Should families know whether a media outlet has affiliations with a tournament organization or governing body?
Yes. Families deserve to know about those relationships so they can evaluate rankings and media coverage within the appropriate context.
Should athletes be evaluated the same way regardless of whether they compete in PGF, Alliance Fastpitch, USA Softball, USSSA, Triple Crown, or any other national event?
Yes, absolutely! Every athlete should be evaluated under the same standards, regardless of where she competes. Consistency is essential to maintaining fairness and credibility.
How can families be confident that rankings are based solely on performance?
Ask questions. Do your research. Understand the evaluation process, and consider the reputation, transparency, and long-term track record of any rankings company before placing your trust in its results.
What do college coaches think about rankings companies that are owned by major softball organizations?
We prefer not to speak on behalf of college coaches. However, we have had many private conversations with coaches throughout the country and remain confident that our platform provides the structure, transparency, and checks and balances necessary to support the credibility of our rankings.
The Bottom Line
Healthy competition drives innovation, and multiple media outlets ultimately benefit the softball community. At the same time, transparency should remain a shared value throughout the industry.
The softball community deserves confidence that athletes are evaluated fairly.
Players deserve recognition based on what they accomplish between the lines.
Those principles transcend any one company, tournament, or sanctioning body.
As the game continues to grow trust should remain at the center of every conversation.
At Extra Inning Softball, we believe the future of athlete evaluations depends on three things:
Transparency. Consistency. Integrity.
Our commitment is simple.
Evaluate every athlete fairly with our SERV™ Methodology.
Apply the same standards to every nomination.
Continue improving the process.
And earn the trust of the softball community through the quality of our work—not the affiliations behind it.
Because at the end of the day, the rankings should always serve one purpose:
Recognizing the athletes who have earned it.
If you would like a member of the Extra Inning Softball staff to meet virtually with your team, organization, or families to answer questions about our rankings process, SERV™ Methodology, or how athletes are evaluated, we’d be happy to help.
📧 Email us at: rankings@extrainningsoftball.com to schedule a meeting.
Editor’s Note: This article is intended to encourage discussion about transparency and editorial independence within youth softball media. It does not allege wrongdoing by any organization or individual. References to ownership are based on publicly available corporate records and public statements reportedly made during the 2026 PGF Nationals coaches gathering. View public records on the California Secretary of State website.
COPYRIGHT © 2026, Extra Inning Softball INC
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