The 2007 National Pro Fastpitch season was the fourth 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

Milestones and events

A number of changes to the NPF roster of teams happened in the offseason: The Texas Thunder were sold to new ownership based in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

. They relocated there for the 2007 season and renamed themselves the Rockford Thunder. In January 2007, the

Connecticut Brakettes The Connecticut Brakettes is a women's fastpitch softball team based in Stratford, Connecticut. The team has won many state, regional, national, and international tournaments (28 ). History The team was founded in 1947 by William S. Simpson a ...

announced they would no longer participate in NPF. In February, an expansion team named the

Washington Glory The Washington Glory was a women's softball team based in Fairfax, Virginia. They played during 2007 and 2008 as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. History The Glory won the 2007 NPF championship, defeating the Rockford Thunder in the final ga ...

was added to NPF, and the Glory inherited the contracts of players from the Brakettes.

Arizona Heat The Arizona Heat was a women's softball team based in Tucson, Arizona. From the 2004 season, it played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. The team's home games were played at historic Hi Corbett Field. Six of the players on the 2006 roster p ...

suspended play for the 2007 season. Despite rumors to the contrary, the Heat never rejoined NPF. NPF hired

Cheri Kempf Cheri or Chéri may refer to: People Given name * Cheri Blauwet (born 1980), American wheelchair racer * Cheri Dennis (born 1979), American singer * Cheri DiNovo (born 1950), Canadian United Church minister and social democratic politician * ...

to be commissioner. Kempf's background includes pitching on the 1992 gold medal-winning United States national team in the World Cup in Beijing, China, producing instructional books and videos on softball, and announcing professional and college softball telecasts. In March, the

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the Cleveland Comets in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). ...

hired

Shonda Stanton Shonda Stanton is an American softball coach who is the head coach at Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regio ...

, the head softball coach at Marshall University to be field manager.

Player acquisition

College draft

The 2007 NPF Senior Draft was held February 14, 2007. Lindsay Schutzler of Tennessee was selected first by the

Chicago Bandits The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington Gl ...

Notable transactions

Cat Osterman Catherine Leigh Osterman (born April 16, 1983) is a retired American softball player. Osterman pitched on the United States women's national softball team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Su ...

was drafted first in the 2006 NPF Draft by the

. She did not sign with them, becoming a free agent on September 30, 2006. In December 2006, she signed a deal to join the Rockford Thunder.

League standings

Source The

Michigan Ice The Michigan Ice was a pro softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first cr ...

played a partial schedule in 2007, with hopes of receiving investor support in 2008 to become a full-time NPF member. The Ice never became a full-time member. League games against Team China, Denso Japan professional softball team, the Venezuela national team and the

Stratford Brakettes The Connecticut Brakettes is a women's fastpitch softball team based in Stratford, Connecticut. The team has won many state, regional, national, and international tournaments (28 ). History The team was founded in 1947 by William S. Simpson as ...

were also scheduled. The results counted in the NPF's team records.

NPF Championship

The 2007 NPF Championship Series was held at

Sunset Point Park Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spri ...

Kimberly, Wisconsin Kimberly is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,320 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The village is east of Appleton, Wisconsin, Appleton. History Kimberly was or ...

August 24-6. The top four teams qualified and were seeded based on the final standings. The series matched the teams up in a double-elimination bracket.

League leaders

Batting leaders

Pitching leaders

Annual awards

Source:

References

External links

* Softball teams 2007 in women's softball 2007 in American women's sports Softball in the United States