2008 NPF Season | |
---|---|
League | National Pro Fastpitch |
Sport | softball |
Duration | May 29, 2008 – August 17, 2008 |
Number of teams | 6 |
2008 NPF Draft | |
Top draft pick | Katie Burkhart Arizona State |
Picked by | Philadelphia Force |
Regular Season | |
Majestic Cup (Best record) | Chicago Bandits |
Cowles Cup | |
Champions | Chicago Bandits |
Runners-up | Washington Glory |
Finals MVP | Nicole Trimboli Chicago Bandits |
The 2008 National Pro Fastpitch season was the fifth season of professional softball under the name National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) for the only professional women's fastpitch softball league in the United States. From 1997 to 2002, NPF operated under the names Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.
Teams, cities and stadiums
Team | City | Stadium |
---|---|---|
Akron Racers | Akron, Ohio | Firestone Stadium |
Chicago Bandits | Elgin, Illinois (Chicago Area) | Judson University |
New England Riptide | Lowell, Massachusetts | Martin Softball Field[1] |
Philadelphia Force | Allentown, Pennsylvania | ECTB Stadium |
Rockford Thunder | Roscoe, Illinois | Thunder Park[2] |
Washington Glory | Dulles, Virginia[3] | Westfield Sports Complex[4] |
Milestones and events
The Chicago Bandits started their first season in Elgin, Illinois at Judson University. The original plans were for the Bandits to play at Judson temporarily while a potential $5 million softball stadium was built nearby.[5] Those plans did not come to fruition, and the Bandits eventually moved to a new ballpark in Rosemont, Illinois for 2011.[6]
Team NPF and Bound-4-Beijing Tour
As part of the USA Softball Team Bound 4 Beijing Tour in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, two games were scheduled between the US Olympic softball team and a team of NPF All-Stars. The announced roster for Team NPF was:[7]
Team NPF | ||
---|---|---|
Name | Position | NPF Team |
Kristen Butler | C | Akron Racers |
Norelle Dickson | IF | Akron Racers |
Veronica Wootson | IF | Akron Racers |
Jaime Clark | IF | Chicago Bandits |
Kristina Thorson | P | Chicago Bandits |
Jocelyn Forest | P | New England Riptide |
Carri Leto Martin | IF | New England Riptide |
Shanel Scott | OF | New England Riptide |
Sharonda McDonald | OF | Philadelphia Force |
Kellie Wilkerson | OF | Philadelphia Force |
Kristen Zaleski | OF | Rockford Thunder |
Desiree Serrano | P | Washington Glory |
Amber Jackson | IF | Washington Glory |
Savannah Brown | C | Rockford Thunder |
Tonya Callahan | IF | Rockford Thunder |
Megan Gibson | 1B/P | Philadelphia Force |
Katie Burkhart | P | Philadelphia Force |
NPF veterans Monica Abbott, Cat Osterman, Kelly Kretschman, Vicky Galindo and Jennie Finch were on the Olympic team roster. Team NPF was coached by Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso and private instructor Cindy Bristow. Bristow was head coach and assistant general manager of the Georgia Pride, which later became the Florida Wahoos, a team in the WPSL.[8]
The Olympic team beat Team NPF in both games,[9] on June 6 by a score of 10-8[10] and on June 14 by a score of 6-0.[11]
On the same tour, the US Olympic team beat the Washington Glory 2-0 on May 10,[12] and beat the Akron Racers 6-2 on July 22.[13]
Player acquisition
College draft
The 2008 NPF Senior Draft was held February 18, 2008 via conference call. First-Team All-American pitcher Katie Burkhart of Arizona State was selected first by the Philadelphia Force.[14]
Notable transactions
League standings
Source [15]
Team | GP | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago Bandits | 48 | 32 | 16 | .667 | - |
Philadelphia Force | 48 | 31 | 17 | .646 | 1 |
Washington Glory | 48 | 30 | 18 | .625 | 2 |
New England Riptide | 48 | 22 | 26 | .458 | 10 |
Akron Racers | 48 | 19 | 29 | .396 | 13 |
Rockford Thunder | 48 | 18 | 30 | .375 | 14 |
In each NPF team's 48-game schedule were games against international teams, which counted in the standings. Chinese Taipei, Venezuela, Canada and the Netherlands each played at least two series against NPF teams.[16]
NPF Championship
The 2008 NPF Championship Series was held at Sunset Point Park in Kimberly, Wisconsin August 21-4. The top four teams qualified and were seeded based on the final standings. The series matched the teams up in a double-elimination bracket.[17]
August 22 and 23, 2008 | August 23, 2008 | August 24, 2008 | |||||||||||
1 | Chicago Bandits | 4 | |||||||||||
4 | New England Riptide | 1 | |||||||||||
W1 | Chicago Bandits | 5 | |||||||||||
W2 | Philadelphia Force | 1 | |||||||||||
2 | Philadelphia Force | 7 | |||||||||||
3 | Washington Glory | 4 | |||||||||||
W4 | Chicago Bandits | ||||||||||||
W5 | Washington Glory | ||||||||||||
Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
W3 | Washington Glory | 3 | |||||||||||
L1 | New England Riptide | 2 | L4 | Philadelphia Force | 2 | ||||||||
L2 | Washington Glory | 11 | |||||||||||
2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 1 #1 seed vs. #4 seed | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
1 | August 22 | Chicago Bandits 4, New England Riptide 1[18] | Kimberly, Wisconsin | ||||
Chicago Bandits advance; Riptide to losers bracket |
2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 2 #2 seed vs. #3 seed | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
2 | August 22 | Philadelphia Force 7, Washington Glory 4[18] | Kimberly, Wisconsin | ||||
Philadelphia Force advance; Glory to losers bracket |
2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 3 Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
3 | August 23 | Washington Glory 11, New England Riptide 2[19] | Kimberly, Wisconsin | ||||
Glory eliminate Riptide |
2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 4 Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
4 | August 23 | Chicago Bandits 5, Philadelphia Force 1[20] | Kimberly, Wisconsin | ||||
Bandits to final; Force to losers bracket |
2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 5 Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
5 | August 23 | Washington Glory 3, Philadelphia Force 2[21] | Kimberly, Wisconsin | ||||
Glory to final; Force eliminated |
2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 6 Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
6 | August 24 | Chicago Bandits 6, Washington Glory4[22] | Kimberly, Wisconsin | ||||
Chicago Bandits win NPF Championship |
2008 NPF Championship Series MVP | ||
---|---|---|
Player | Club | Stats. |
Nicole Trimboli | Chicago Bandits | .555 (5/9) 5RBIs 2HRs SB[23] |
Annual awards
Source:[24]
Majestic Cup (Best regular season record) |
---|
Chicago Bandits |
Award | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
Player of the Year Award | Stacy May | Chicago Bandits |
Pitcher of the Year | Katie Burkhart | Philadelphia Force |
Rookie of the Year | Rachel Folden | Chicago Bandits |
Defensive Player of the Year | Kristen Butler | Akron Racers |
Offensive Player of the Year | Jaime Clark | Chicago Bandits |
Coaching Staff of the Year | Chicago Bandits—Head Coach Mickey Dean, assistant coaches Thomas Macera and Craig Nicholson |
2008 All-NPF Team[25] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Position | Name | Team | |
Pitcher | Katie Burkhart | Philadelphia Force | |
Pitcher | Eileen Canney | New England Riptide | |
Pitcher | Sarah Pauly | Washington Glory | |
Pitcher | Angela Tincher | Akron Racers | |
Catcher | Kristen Butler | Akron Racers | |
1st Base | Lyndsey Angus | New England Riptide | |
2nd Base | Emily Friedman | Philadelphia Force | |
3rd Base | Stacy May | Chicago Bandits | |
Shortstop | Chelsea Spencer | Philadelphia Force | |
Outfield | Jaime Clark | Chicago Bandits | |
Outfield | Sharonda McDonald | Philadelphia Force | |
Outfield | Kellie Wilkerson | Philadelphia Force | |
At-Large | Gina Carbonatto | New England Riptide | |
At-Large | Rachel Folden | Chicago Bandits | |
At-Large | Lindsay Gardner | Rockford Thunder | |
At-Large | Oli Keohohou | Washington Glory | |
At-Large | Sara Larquier | Washington Glory | |
At-Large | Lisa Modglin | New England Riptide |
See also
References
- ↑ "Stadium". New England Riptide. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ↑ "ROCKFORD THUNDER". Archived from the original on 8 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
- ↑ "Contact". WashingtonGlory.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ↑ "Stadium". WashingtonGlory.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ↑ George Houde (15 November 2007). "Elgin offers $350,000 to lure softball team". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ John Radtke (22 August 2010). "Will move to Rosemont be catalyst Bandits need to survive?". Daily Herald. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ Garland Cooper (24 May 2008). "NPF set to play USA Team". rivals.com. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "Gasso to Coach All-Star Team". SoonerSports.com. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "Bound 4 Beijing". ASA/USA Softball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "NPF vs United States (Jun 06, 2008)" (PDF). ASA/USA Softball. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "2008 KFC Bound 4 Beijing Tour NPF vs United States Jun 14, 2008 at Normal, Illinois (Maxwell Park)" (PDF). ASA/USA Softball. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "Washington Glory vs United States (May 10, 2008)" (PDF). ASA/USA Softball. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "2008 KFC Bound 4 Beijing Tour United States at Akron Racers Jul 22, 2008 at Akron, Ohio (Firestone Stadium)" (PDF). ASA/USA Softball. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ "NPF MAKES 2008 DRAFT SELECTIONS". profastpitch.com. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ "2008". profastpitch.com. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ↑ "NPF Announces 2008 Season Schedule". profastpitch.com. 11 December 2007. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ "Top four teams head to Kimberly this weekend". OurSportsCentral.com. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- 1 2 "Friday's NPF games". Appleton Post-Crescent. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ "Glory score five first inning runs to defeat Riptide". OurSportsCentral.com. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ "Bandits send Force to the brink of elimination". OurSportsCentral.com. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ "Pauly pitches gem; Washington back in finals". OurSportsCentral.com. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ "Chicago wins first-ever NPF Championship Title". OurSportsCentral.com. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ "Chicago wins first-ever NPF Championship Title". Oursportscentral.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
- ↑ "Bandits Win Five of Seven Awards". OurSportsCentral.com. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ "NPF Names 18 to ALL NPF Team". OurSportsCentral.com. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
External links
- National Pro Fastpitch[usurped]