2008 National Pro Fastpitch season

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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
NPF seasons
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 National Pro Fastpitch season is the fifth season of professional softball under the name National Pro Fastpitch 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

Lua error in Module:Details at line 30: attempt to call field '_formatLink' (a nil value). 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

2008 NPF Championship.jpg

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 6
  W5  Washington Glory 4
L1  New England Riptide 2  
L2  Washington Glory 11  
  W3  Washington Glory 3
  L4  Philadelphia Force 2  
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
Nicole Trimboli[22] Chicago Bandits

Annual awards

Source:[23]

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[24]
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

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External links

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