2012 National Pro Fastpitch season

The 2012 National Pro Fastpitch season was the ninth season of professional softball under the name National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) for the only professional women's 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). The 2012 season is especially notable because due to weather and scheduling issues, the NPF Championship Series was not completed and no Cowles Cup champion was named.

2012 NPF Season
LeagueNational Pro Fastpitch
Sportsoftball
DurationJune 7, 2012 – August 19, 2012
Number of teams4
2012 NPF Draft
Top draft pickBrittany Mack
LSU
Picked byUSSSA Pride
Regular Season
Ringor CupUSSSA Pride
Cowles Cup
ChampionsNo champion named

Milestones and events

NPF announced the Carolina Diamonds as a new team for the 2012 season, owned by Amelia Nemeth and husband Alan Demaske . Carolina replaced the NPF Diamonds, a travelling team operated by NPF. The team was headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and played its home games in various venues throughout the Carolinas.[1]

Teams, cities and stadiums
Team City Stadium
Akron Racers Akron, Ohio Firestone Stadium
Carolina Diamonds Charlotte, North Carolina Various
Chicago Bandits Rosemont, Illinois (Chicago Area) Ballpark at Rosemont
USSSA Pride Kissimmee, Florida Osceola County Stadium and Champion Stadium
National Pro Fastpitch teams

Player acquisition

College draft
Further information: 2012 NPF Draft

The 2012 NPF College Draft was held in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee on March 7 at 5:00 CST.[2] USSSA Pride selected pitcher Brittany Mack of LSU as the first overall pick.[3]

League standings

Source:[4]

Team GP W L Pct. GB
USSSA Pride 43 31 12 .721 -
Chicago Bandits 44 25 19 .568 6.5
Carolina Diamonds 43 17 26 .395 14
Akron Racers 44 14 30 .318 17.5

NPF Championship

With only four teams in the league, every team qualified for the postseason. Teams are seeded by the final standings. No. 1 seed USSSA Pride faced No. 4 seed Akron Racers in one best-of-three semifinal series, while the No. 2 seed Chicago Bandits faced the No. 3 seed Carolina Diamonds in another. The winners were scheduled to advance to the best-of-three championship series.[5]

After winning their semifinal series, the Bandits and Pride played the first game of the championship series, with the Bandits winning 2-1.[6]

On Sunday August 26, the start of game was delayed for hours due to rain. After one out in the first inning, the field was deemed unplayable, and the game was cancelled. No makeup game was scheduled and the series was ended without naming a champion.

Conflicting comments were made regarding the possibility of finishing the series on Monday. Citing owners' costs and players' travel obligations, NPF commissioner Cheri Kempf said that "The Bandits had six players that could not change plans, including [starting pitcher] Monica Abbott going to Japan" and,"I can say that the championship wasn't complete, and it wasn't complete because Chicago stated it had six players that could not finish. So therefore, I don't feel like that the right thing to do is to award the championship on one game." However, Bandits owner Bill Sokolis said,"We could have put nine players on the field,".[7] On her blog Monica Abbott wrote that no one asked her to change her flight to Japan, but that she "would have done so in a heartbeat."[8]

NPF announced that a committee would be formed to make recommendations to avoid unfinished championships in the future.[9]

NPF Semifinals (Best-of-3) NPF Championship (Best-of-3)
      
1 USSSA Pride 2
4 Akron Racers 1
1 USSSA Pride 0
2 Chicago Bandits 1
2 Chicago Bandits 2
3 Carolina Diamonds 0
2012 NPF Semifinals
Chicago Bandits defeat Akron Racers 2-0
GameDateScoreSeries
(CHI-CAR)		Location
1August 23Chicago Bandits 11, Carolina Diamonds 1[10]1-0Rosemont, Illinois
2August 24Chicago Bandits 5, Carolina Diamonds 1[11]1-0Rosemont, Illinois
2012 NPF Semifinals
USSSA Pride defeat Akron Racers 2–1
GameDateScoreSeries
(USSA-AKR)		Location
1August 23USSSA Pride 4, Akron Racers 1[10]1-0Rosemont, Illinois
2August 24USSSA Pride 7, Akron Racers 8[11]1-1Rosemont, Illinois
3August 25USSSA Pride 9, Akron Racers 7[12]2-1Rosemont, Illinois
2012 NPF Championship Series
Incomplete
GameDateScoreSeries
(CHI-USSSA)		Location
1August 25Chicago Bandits 2, USSSA Pride 1[12]1-0Rosemont, Illinois

Annual awards

On August 22 NPF hosted a banquet in Rosemont, Illinois, at which the league's annual awards were announced and the All-NPF Team was named:[13]

Ringor Cup
(Best regular season record)
USSSA Pride
Award Player Team Stat
Player of the Year Award Caitlin Lowe USSSA Pride .440 Avg., 51 H, .496 OBP, .509 SLG
Pitcher of the Year Monica Abbott Chicago Bandits 14-3, 125.2 IP, 4 SV, 190 K (all led NPF), 1.06 ERA(2nd in NPF), 2 no-hitters
Rookie of the Year Kristyn Sandberg USSSA Pride .355 average(4th in League), 33 RBI (1st), .504 OBP (2nd), .624 SLG (2nd)
Defensive Player of the Year (tie) Amber Patton Chicago Bandits 1 error, .991 Fielding Percentage
Kelley Montalvo Akron Racers 3 errors, .978 Fielding Percentage
Offensive Player of the Year Sam Marder Akron Racers .343 Avg., 36 H, 8 HR, 27 RBI, 24 BB. 5th or better in 7 different offensive categories.
Home Run Award Megan Wiggins Chicago Bandits 12 HR
Diamond Spikes Award (tie)[note 1] Sharonda McDonald Akron Racers 13 SB for each player
Amber Patton Chicago Bandits
Coaching Staff of the Year Carolina Diamonds -- Lisa Navas–Head Coach, Miranda Ervin–Assistant Coach, Lisa Dodd–Assistant Coach
Jennie Finch Award[note 2] Natasha Watley USSSA Pride

Award notes
  1. The Diamond Spikes Award is given to the player(s) with the most stolen bases
  2. The Jennie Finch Award is awarded to the player who shows excellence in sportsmanship, leadership and humility both on and off the field.
2012 All-NPF Team
Position Name Team
PitcherCat OstermanUSSSA Pride
PitcherMonica AbbottChicago Bandits
PitcherMichelle GascoigneChicago Bandits
PitcherAndi WilliamsonChicago Bandits
CatcherRachel FoldenCarolina Diamonds
1st BaseGiOnna DiSalvatoreCarolina Diamonds
2nd BaseAshley ChartersUSSSA Pride
3rd BaseAmber PattonChicago Bandits
ShortstopNatasha WatleyUSSSA Pride
OutfieldMegan WigginsChicago Bandits
OutfieldCaitlin LoweUSSSA Pride
OutfieldSharonda McDonaldAkron Racers
At-LargeSam MarderAkron Racers
At-LargeVicky GalindoChicago Bandits
At-LargeJessica MendozaUSSSA Pride
At-LargeBianca MejiaCarolina Diamonds
At-LargeKelly KretschmanUSSSA Pride
At-LargeNicole PaulyAkron Racers

See also

References
  1. "NPF Announces New Franchise". www.profastpitch.com. 24 January 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  2. "NPF Announces 2012 College Draft Date and Location". www.profastpitch.com. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  3. "NPF Holds 2012 Senior Draft Live Presented by MIKEN". www.profastpitch.com. 7 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  4. "National Pro Fastpitch - Standings". Pointstreak. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  5. Rayburn (23 August 2012). "8-23-2012 NPF Championship". Spy Softball. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  6. "2012 NPF Championship Series Ends Early Due to Weather". National Fastpitch Coaches Association. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  7. Graham Hays (26 August 2012). "NPF season ends without champion". www.espnW.com. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  8. Monica Abbott (28 August 2012). "2012 NPF Championship Series – Cheri Kempf Quotes". MonicaAbbott.com. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  9. "NPF Commissioner Calls for Committee to Examine the League's Post-Season Policies". www.profastpitch.com. 28 August 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  10. Rayburn (23 August 2012). "8-23-2012 NPF Semi Finals Thursday". Spy Softball. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  11. Rayburn (24 August 2012). "8-24-2012 NPF Semi-finals Friday". Spy Softball. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  12. Rayburn (25 August 2012). "8-25-2012 NPF Championship Saturday". Spy Softball. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  13. "2012 NPF Awards Banquet". www.profastpitch.com. 23 August 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
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