Wikipedia

National Pro Fastpitch

(Redirected from Women's Professional Softball League)

National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup.

National Pro Fastpitch
FormerlyWomen's Pro Fastpitch,
Women's Pro Softball League
SportSoftball
Founded2004; 20 years ago (2004)
First season2004
Ceased2021
CountryUnited States United States
Last
champion(s)		USSSA Pride (5 titles)
Most titlesUSSSA Pride (5 titles)
Official websitewww.wprofastpitch.com

The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revived the league in 2004 and disbanded in 2021 after two cancelled seasons due to COVID-19. A new softball league, the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF), launched in 2022.[1]

Teams

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Progression of NPF Expansion
Years No. of teams
2004 6
2005 6
2006 7
2007 6
2008 6
2009 5
2010 4
2011 4
2012 4
2013 4
2014 4
2015 5
2016 6
2017 6
2018 5
2019 6
2020 5

Timeline of NPF teams

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Timeline Key
  • Current NPF teams in tan
  • Former NPF members or defunct teams in blue
California CommotionCanadian WildAussie PeppersBeijing Shougang EaglesScrap Yard DawgsTexas ChargePennsylvania RebellionNY/NJ CometsUSSSA PrideWashington GloryConnecticut BrakettesPhiladelphia ForceChicago BanditsCalifornia SunbirdsNY/NJ JuggernautArizona HeatNew England RiptideCarolina DiamondsCleveland Comets

League history

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Further information: 2003 National Pro Fastpitch season

On November 21, 2002, WPSL announced a rebranding strategy and official name change to National Pro Fastpitch. Major League Baseball partnered with NPF as its Official Development Partner as a continuation of MLB's efforts to connect with female athletes and women in general.

As "Official Development Partner" in 2003, Major League Baseball provided introductions to Major League Baseball Clubs, community partners, broadcast partners and to MLB.com.

As part of its long-term sales, marketing and promotional campaign, NPF featured an All-Star Tour in 2003. The tour provided each of the league's expansion team owners with tools to lay the groundwork in their marketplace for the official launch of league play in 2004.

In 2004, the league relaunched with six teams in six markets: California Sunbirds in Stockton, California; Arizona Heat in Tucson, Arizona; Texas Thunder in Houston, Texas; Akron Racers in Akron, Ohio ; New England Riptide in Lowell, Massachusetts; and NY/NJ Juggernaut in Montclair, New Jersey.

The 2004 season was distinguished by 178 league-wide games, 96 of the best female softball players in the country, the continued support of Major League Baseball as the Official Development Partner of NPF in the category of women's fastpitch softball, NPF playoffs (both best of three series went three games) and the inaugural NPF Championship with the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut capturing the Championship Cowles Cup with a victory over the New England Riptide, fourth-place finisher in the regular season.

Today, there are 5 National Pro Fastpitch teams: the Aussie Peppers, the California Commotion, the Chicago Bandits, the Cleveland Comets, and the Canadian Wild.[2] Each team has about 20 players on roster. The league's main goal is to provide entertainment and to secure fast-pitch as a professional sports for decades to come.

New ownership (2005)

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In December 2004, owners of the individual National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) teams announced a plan intended to transition operations of National Pro Fastpitch from the founding Cowles family to an operating group consisting of team owners.

The efforts of the new ownership group in 2005 focused on solidifying broadcast agreements locally and nationally, soliciting sponsorship support, and aligning with national softball associations to bring meaningful competition to each team market and various grassroots events across the country. The group continues to recruit new teams and strengthen team ownership in each market.

The 2005 regular season included 144 games and 23 opponents including six NPF teams, plus women's ASA major teams and international teams such as Canada, Mexico, Russia, Venezuela, China, and Australia. The season concluded the last weekend in August when the Akron Racers beat the Chicago Bandits 5–4 in extra innings to claim the NPF Championship Title.

The Juggernaut joined forces with Telecare to broadcast six games in 2005. Telecare reaches almost a million homes in the Long Island area. Comcast SportsNet Chicago aired seven original broadcasts of Chicago Bandits games in 2005. ESPN2 aired two games during the NPF Championship series. The final game was broadcast on ESPN2 with a very impressive .48 rating.

The Philadelphia Force and the Connecticut Brakettes joined NPF for the 2006 season. The Brakettes, the Akron Racers, the 2005 Regular Season Champions, the Chicago Bandits, the New England Riptide, the Arizona Heat, the Texas Thunder competed in league play during 2006. The New England Riptide defeated the Connecticut Brakettes to become champions.

For the 2007 season, The Texas Thunder moved to Rockford, Illinois to play as the Rockford Thunder. The Connecticut Brakettes left the NPF to return to exclusive amateur status. The Washington Glory was established as a new franchise, picking up many of the former Brakettes' pro players. The Arizona Heat franchise was officially suspended.

Each of the six established NPF teams played an official schedule of 44 games during 2007, including games against non-league opponents that counted in the NPF standings. The Michigan Ice played a more limited schedule as a provisional NPF team. Non-league opponents included Team China, Denso Japan, the Venezuela national team, and the Stratford Brakettes.

The league moved its playoffs to Kimberly, Wisconsin in a double-elimination format. Washington was the only team in the playoffs to go undefeated and won the championship in the first game on August 26. Rains on August 24 prevented the first day of competition to be played so all Friday games were played Saturday morning/afternoon and the scheduled Saturday games were pushed later into the evening. Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman threw no-hitters during the championship weekend.

In 2008, the league saw the addition of four more games as different international opponents appeared on the schedule and every team played in every other league city. The international opponents included Canada, Venezuela, Chinese Taipei, and Netherlands. Each team played two home series against two of the four international opponents.

The league also hosted Battle of the Bats throughout the 2008 season. At every Saturday night home game, or a selected date if a series is not played on a Saturday night, four players from each team were selected to represent a different bat manufacturer in a home-run-hitting contest. The contest puts manufacturer against manufacturer and player against player in a competition that concluded in Kimberly, Wisconsin as part of the championship weekend.

Contraction and expansion (2009–2021)

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The New England Riptide did not play the 2009 season, citing economic reasons.[3] The Washington Glory folded outright and were replaced by the USSSA Pride.

For 2011, the Diamonds became a traveling team, and the Pride split home games between two new venues.[4] In 2012, the Diamonds relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, and became the Carolina Diamonds. They played in various venues in North Carolina during the 2012 season.

The league announced that the Pennsylvania Rebellion would be added as an expansion team for the 2014 season, receiving the roster of the recently defunct NY/NJ Comets.[5]

In January 2015, the league announced the Dallas Charge as an expansion team for the 2015 season. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex-based team will split their home games between the Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney and a ballpark in Arlington.[6]

On October 23, 2015, the NPF announced that the Scrap Yard Dawgs would join the league as an expansion team based in The Woodlands, Texas.[7]

On January 16, 2017, the NPF announced that the ownership of the Pennsylvania Rebellion would be dissolving the team, effective immediately. All Rebellion players under contract were granted free agency.[8]

On May 2, 2017, NPF announced the addition of an expansion team, Beijing Shougang Eagles. Its roster is to be populated with members of China women's national softball team and selected American players. For 2017, the home half Beijing's schedule was played in the home venues of the other NPF teams. Beijing is expected to announce a permanent US home location in the future.[9]

On October 12, 2017, it was reported the Texas Charge would be dissolving, effective immediately.[10] The NPF did not make an announcement regarding the Charge, but all Charge players under contract were added to the league's transactions page as free agents.[11]

In an arrangement similar to the Beijing Eagles', NPF announced in December 2017 that Softball Australia would be operating a 2018 expansion team, the Aussie Spirit.[12]

On January 28, 2018, the Scrap Yard Dawgs announced via press release they would no longer be affiliated with the NPF. However, the NPF announced they had terminated the franchise on January 29 citing that the team had violated several league operating rules and franchise requirements.[13] The Scrap Yard Dawgs indicated they would continue as an independent team known as Scrap Yard Fastpitch for 2018.[14] On the same day, Ohio.com reported that the Akron Racers would be replaced by a Chinese team, similar to the Beijing Eagles.[15] However, on February 1, 2018, Akron, instead, changed their name to the Cleveland Comets. The Comets will still be an NPF travel team.[16]

On October 30, 2018, Softball Canada announced that it will be operating an expansion team called the Canadian Wild.[17]

On September 13, 2019, USSSA Pride announced they would not renew their partnership with NPF for the 2020 season, leaving the league after 11 years.[18]

On November 14, 2019, the California Commotion was announced to be an expansion team, representing the league's first presence on the west coast since the 2005 season. The Commotion's first season in the league was scheduled to be in 2020.[19]

Both the 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20][21]

On August 1, 2021, the league announced that, due to a lack of revenue after cancelling the previous two seasons, it would be suspending operations.[22]

Champions

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Cowles Cup Championship results
year champion runner up
2004 New York/New Jersey Juggernaut New England Riptide
2005 Akron Racers Chicago Bandits
2006 New England Riptide Connecticut Brakettes
2007 Washington Glory Rockford Thunder
2008 Chicago Bandits Washington Glory
2009 Rockford Thunder USSSA Pride
2010 USSSA Pride Chicago Bandits
2011 Chicago Bandits USSSA Pride
2012 No champion named
2013 USSSA Pride Chicago Bandits
2014 USSSA Pride Akron Racers
2015 Chicago Bandits USSSA Pride
2016 Chicago Bandits USSSA Pride
2017 Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs USSSA Pride
2018 USSSA Pride Chicago Bandits
2019 USSSA Pride Chicago Bandits
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021

Career leaders

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  • Stats updated as of 2019. Also note that every listed player was active for at least three seasons of play, while every pitcher also reached 200 innings pitched.[23]

Batting

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Rank Player BA
1 Natasha Watley .394
2 Crystl Bustos .380
3 Emily Allard .366
4 Jessica Mendoza .360
5 Caitlin Lowe .352
6 Kellie Wilkerson .348
7 Kelly Kretschman .346
8 Stacey Porter .341
9 Kristen Zaleski .337
10 Iyhia McMichael .333
Nerissa Myers .333
Rank Player RBI
1 Kelly Kretschman 265
2 Megan Wiggins 256
3 Kristen Butler 179
4 Brittany Cervantes 164
5 Kristyn Sandberg 161
6 Nicole Trimboli 157
7 Alisa Goler 156
8 Nerissa Myers 148
9 Oli Keohohou 140
10 Andrea Duran 133
Rank Player HR
1 Megan Wiggins 84
2 Kelly Kretschman 55
3 Brittany Cervantes 49
4 Kristen Butler 48
5 Oli Keohohou 45
6 Kristyn Sandberg 44
7 Rachel Folden 41
Shelby Pendley 41
8 Taylor Schlopy 39
9 Stacy May-Johnson 38
10 Crystl Bustos 37
Rank Player 2B
1 Kelly Kretschman 87
2 Megan Wiggins 66
3 Alisa Goler 52
4 Andrea Duran 39
5 Kristyn Sandberg 37
6 Brittany Cervantes 36
7 GiOna DiSalvatore 35
8 Taylor Schlopy 33
9 Shelby Pendley 31
10 Nerissa Myers 30
Tammy Williams 30
Rank Player 3B
1 Megan Wiggins 18
2 Brenna Moss 9
Amber Patton 9
Natasha Watley 9
Danielle Zymkowitz 9
3 Sammy Marshall 8
4 Vicky Galindo 7
5 Renada Davis 6
Sierra Romero 6
Rank Player H
1 Kelly Kretschman 512
2 Megan Wiggins 410
3 Natasha Watley 373
4 Amber Patton 282
5 Nicole Trimboli 279
6 Stacy May-Johnson 267
7 Tammy Williams 251
8 Alisa Goler 247
9 Kristen Zaleski 238
10 Nerissa Myers 231
Rank Player SLG%
1 Crystl Bustos .730%
2 Jessica Mendoza .662%
3 Samantha Marder .600%
4 Sierra Romero .587%
5 Rachel Folden .584%
6 Shelby Pendley .566%
7 Megan Wiggins .564%
8 Oli Keohohou .554%
9 Nerissa Myers .550%
10 Stacey Porter .539%
Rank Player BB
1 Kelly Kretschman 324
2 Megan Wiggins 156
3 Alisa Goler 139
4 Brittany Cervantes 136
5 Taylor Schlopy 134
6 Kelley Montalvo 131
7 Clare Burnum 126
8 Oli Keohohou 125
9 Nerissa Myers 124
10 Kellie Wilkerson 122
Kristen Zaleski 122
Rank Player SB
1 Kristen Zaleski 92
2 Shanel Scott 85
3 Natasha Watley 84
4 Megan Wiggins 64
5 Brenna Moss 63
6 Sharonda McDonald 61
Lisa Modglin 61
7 Sammy Marshall 60
8 Kelly Kretschman 59
9 Clare Burnum 58
Vicky Galindo 58
10 Trena Peel 53
Rank Player FP%
1 Allexis Bennett 1.000%
Kelsey Bruder 1.000%
2 Jenny Topping .997%
3 Jenna Hall .996%
4 Alisa Goler .994%
Ashley Smith .994%
Hallie Wilson .994%
5 Kaylyn Castillo .993%
Selena Collins .993%
Shannon Doepking .993%
Oli Keohohou .993%

Pitching

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Rank Player W
1 Monica Abbott 131
2 Sarah Pauly 107
3 Cat Osterman 95
4 Kristina Thorson 56
5 Lisa Norris 54
6 Jocelyn Forest 49
7 Rachele Fico 45
8 Jolene Henderson 44
Radara McHugh 44
9 Desiree Serrano 43
10 Keilani Ricketts 42
Christa Williams 42
Rank Player K
1 Monica Abbott 1,624
2 Cat Osterman 1,260
3 Sarah Pauly 956
4 Lisa Norris 646
5 Jocelyn Forest 474
6 Christa Williams 465
7 Eileen Canney 457
8 Kristina Thorson 455
9 Keilani Ricketts 408
10 Jennie Finch 382
Rank Player ERA
1 Cat Osterman 0.91
2 Christa Williams 1.03
3 Monica Abbott 1.05
4 Jennie Finch 1.11
5 Peaches James 1.60
6 Brandee McArthur 1.66
Jordan Taylor 1.66
7 Jolene Henderson 1.70
8 Jocelyn Forest 1.76
9 Amy Harre 1.80
10 Gina Oaks 1.94
Rank Player IP
1 Sarah Pauly 1,166.2
2 Monica Abbott 1,118.0
3 Cat Osterman 809.1
4 Lisa Norris 702.1
5 Jocelyn Forest 567.0
6 Angel Bunner 564.0
7 Kristina Thorson 559.0
8 Desiree Serrano 505.2
9 Radara McHugh 484.2
10 Eileen Canney 462.0
Rank Player SH
1 Monica Abbott 56
2 Cat Osterman 39
3 Sarah Pauly 32
4 Christa Williams 20
5 Lisa Norris 17
6 Jennie Finch 16
Jocelyn Forest 16
7 Kristina Thorson 15
8 Radara McHugh 13
9 Eileen Canney 12
10 Brandee McArthur 11
Rank Player G
1 Sarah Pauly 217
2 Monica Abbott 192
3 Angel Bunner 142
Cat Osterman 142
4 Lisa Norris 134
5 Kristina Thorson 129
6 Rachele Fico 128
7 Jordan Taylor 115
8 Haylie Wagner 113
9 Radara McHugh 111
10 Jocelyn Forest 109
Rank Player GS
1 Sarah Pauly 173
2 Monica Abbott 146
3 Cat Osterman 115
4 Lisa Norris 113
5 Kristina Thorson 92
6 Angel Bunner 80
Desiree Serrano 80
7 Rachele Fico 76
8 Jocelyn Forest 74
9 Jolene Henderson 69
10 Eileen Canney 66
Keilani Ricketts 66
Rank Player CG
1 Monica Abbott 115
2 Sarah Pauly 101
3 Cat Osterman 82
4 Lisa Norris 57
5 Christa Williams 47
6 Eileen Canney 43
Desiree Serrano 43
7 Radara McHugh 39
Kristina Thorson 39
8 Katie Burkhart 37
9 Brandee McArthur 35
10 Jodie Cox 33
Rank Player FP%
1 Nikki Nemitz 1.000%
2 Megan Gibson .980%
Jolene Henderson .980%
3 Jennie Finch .979%
4 Rachele Fico .971%
5 Haylie Wagner .966%
6 Desiree Serrano .965%
7 Jamee Juarez .963%
8 Brandee McArthur .961%
Lisa Norris .961%
9 Angel Bunner .960%
10 Peaches James .959%
Rank Player Srikeout Rate
1 Cat Osterman 10.9
2 Monica Abbott 10.1
3 Jennie Finch 9.4
4 Jordan Taylor 9.3
5 Christa Williams 7.3
6 Katie Burkhart 7.1
Keilani Ricketts 7.1
7 Eileen Canney 6.9
8 Danielle Henderson 6.8
Danielle Lawrie 6.8
9 Peaches James 6.7
10 Dallas Escobedo 6.5
Rank Player WHIP
1 Jennie Finch 0.68
2 Monica Abbott 0.75
Cat Osterman 0.75
3 Christa Williams 0.87
4 Gina Oaks 0.97
5 Peaches James 0.98
6 Jordan Taylor 1.01
7 Keilani Ricketts 1.02
8 Jolene Henderson 1.04
9 Kaci Clark 1.08
Brandee McArthur 1.08
10 Katie Burkhart 1.10

History of previous leagues

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IWPSA

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The NPF traces its origins back to the first professional softball league. Former LPGA Tour member Janie Blaylock, softball legend Joan Joyce, tennis icon Billie Jean King, sports entrepreneur Jim Jorgensen and Dennis Murphy co-founder of the WHA and WTT leagues, founded the International Women's Professional Softball Association (IWPSA) in 1976. The league featured 10 teams in cities across the nation, including Meriden, Connecticut, Chicago, Illinois, Prescott, Arizona, and San Jose, California. In the IWPSA's first season, each team played a 120-game schedule that featured 60 doubleheaders.

The fledgling association survived four seasons before lack of funds, high travel costs, and inadequate facilities ultimately led to its demise.

Teams

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  • Arizona/Phoenix Bird (1976)
  • Buffalo Breskis (1976–79)
  • Chicago Bandits (1976)
  • Connecticut Falcons (1976–79)
  • Michigan Travelers (1976)
  • Pennsylvania Liberties (1976)
  • Santa Ana Lionettes (1976–77)
  • San Diego Sandpipers (1976)
  • San Jose Sunbirds (1976–78); San Jose Rainbows (1979)
  • Southern California Gems (1976)
  • Bakersfield Aggies (1977)
  • St. Louis Hummers (1977–79)
  • Edmonton Snowbirds (1979)
  • New York Adventurers (1979)

Championships

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1976
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: San Jose Sunbirds
1977
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: Santa Anna Lionettes
1978
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: St. Louis Hummers
1979
Champion: Connecticut Falcons
Runner-up: St. Louis Hummers

Following the IWPSA

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In 1982, the National Collegiate Athletic Association began to sanction the Women's College World Series, a move that led to increased participation and exposure for the sport.

Internationally, the USA Softball Women's national team won back-to-back gold medals at the 1986 ISF Women's World Championship and the 1987 Pan American Games. The college game also benefited from rule changes enacted in 1987 that increased the game's offensive output and ultimately its popularity.

Women's Professional Softball League

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Former Utah State University softball player Jane Cowles and her collegiate coach, John Horan, developed a plan for a women's professional fastpitch softball league. In February 1989, Cowles introduced a blueprint for the league to her parents Sage and John Cowles, Jr., owners of the Cowles Media Company, who agreed to provide financial backing for the endeavor.

Field research and market studies began later that fall and continued to take place into 1993. In January 1994, plans for a barnstorming tour were announced, and 18 months later two teams, the Blaze and the Storm, composed of former collegiate all-stars played exhibition games in cities throughout the Midwest. Eight years of research and planning finally culminated in May 1997, with the Cowles family and title sponsor AT&T Wireless Services launching Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF). The League began with six teams: Orlando Wahoos, Tampa Bay Firestix, Georgia Pride (later the Akron-based Ohio Pride),[24] Carolina Diamonds, Durham Dragons, and Virginia Roadsters.

WPF Championships

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Further information: 2001 Women's Pro Softball League season and 2002 Women's Pro Softball League season
Results[25]
Year Champion Runner up
1997 Orlando Wahoos Virginia Roadsters
1998 Orlando Wahoos Carolina Diamonds

After completing two seasons as WPF, officials changed the name to the Women's Professional Softball League in 1998. The Orlando Wahoos moved to Akron, Ohio and become the Akron Racers, the only team which still remains in the league today.[24]

The WPSL consisted of four teams located in the Eastern United States in 2000. The world's most talented fastpitch softball players, including former Olympians, collegiate All-Americans, and all-conference selections highlighted the 15-player rosters of the league's four squads. The Akron Racers, Florida Wahoos,[n 1] Ohio Pride, and the Tampa Bay FireStix each participated in the WPSL regular season. The Florida Wahoos defeated the Ohio Pride in the championship series held in Springfield, Missouri.

The 2001 "Tour of Fastpitch Champions" allowed the WPSL to focus on expansion. The 2001 tour traveled to 11 cities that were targeted as WPSL expansion candidates. Competition featured games between the WPSL Gold and All-Star teams as well as Canada, the USA National Teams, and local all-star teams. Nine of these games were televised, seven on ESPN2 and two "live" on ESPN, a first for the WPSL. The season was deemed a success with more than three million households witnessing a WPSL game. Numerous cities are also being developed for future ownership in the league.

Play was suspended during the 2002 season to restructure the organization and allow the league additional time to develop and explore new expansion markets. However, a WPSL All-Star team competed in two exhibition games against the Tennessee All-Stars as part of the National Softball Association's A division Eastern World Series in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The WPSL All-Stars also conducted two clinics as part of the weekend activities.

WPSL Championships

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Results[25]
Year Champion Runner-up
1999 Tampa Bay FireStix Akron Racers
2000 Florida Wahoos Ohio Pride

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Women's Professional Fastpitch Kicks Off In June 2022". National Fastpitch Coaches Association. 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  2. ^ "The National Pro Fastpitch". the National Pro Fastpitch. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved 2021-03-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Riptide to Suspend Play for 2009". New England Riptide. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  4. ^ "NPF Announces 2011 Schedule". ProFastpitch.com. 13 January 2011. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "NPF Announces New Team in Pennsylvania". profastpitch.com. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "NPF Announces New Team in Texas for the 2015 Season". Nashville, TN: National Pro Fastpitch. January 9, 2015. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ Kayla Lombardo (23 October 2015). "NPF introduces Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs as league's sixth team". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Rebellion Out for 2017". Fastpitch News. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. ^ Chez Sievers (2 May 2017). "National Pro Fastpitch Adds Chinese Team To 2017 Season". FloSoftball.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  10. ^ "NPF'S TEXAS CHARGE DISSOLVED; WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN 2018 SEASON". Justin's World of Softball. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  11. ^ "TRANSACTIONS". ProFastpitch,com. 12 October 2017. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "National Pro Fastpitch Adds Aussie Spirit in 2018". ProFastpitch.com. 28 December 2017. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ "National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) Terminates Houston-Based Scrap Yard Dawgs". NPF. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ Chez Sievers (28 January 2018). "Scrap Yard Dawgs Announce They Are Leaving NPF". FloSoftball.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  15. ^ Michael Beaven (28 January 2018). "Professional softball: Future of Akron Racers in doubt, no pro games to be played at Firestone Stadium in 2018". Ohio.com. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Professional softball: Akron Racers become Cleveland Comets". Archived from the original on 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  17. ^ Walton, Julie (October 30, 2018). "Softball Canada Joins National Pro Fastpitch". National Pro Fast Pitch. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. ^ "USSSA Pride Part Ways With The NPF, Opt For Non-Renewal". flosoftball.com. September 13, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  19. ^ Kyllo-Kittleson, Michael (November 14, 2019). "Commotion Leads NPF Expansion to West Coast". National Pro Fast Pitch. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  20. ^ "National Pro Fastpitch Cancels 2020 Season due to COVID-19". National Pro Fastpitch. May 15, 2020. Archived from the original on May 17, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ "National Pro Fastpitch Suspends Games for 2021 season". National Pro Fastpitch. December 3, 2020. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. ^ "NPF Suspends League Operations". Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ "National Pro Fastpitch League Leaderboard All Time". Profastpitch.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved August 20, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ a b "Firestone Stadium - Akron Ohio - Home of the Akron Racers - NPF Professional Softball League". www.digitalballparks.com.
  25. ^ a b "Steve Dimitry's IWPSA Web Page". Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2009-10-04.

Notes

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  1. ^ This version was a new expansion team in Plant City, Florida, unrelated to the previous Orlando Wahoos that became the Akron Racers (ref)
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