The 2015 National Pro Fastpitch season was the 12th season of professional softball under the name

National Pro Fastpitch 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. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

(NPF) for the only professional women's

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 created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

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.

Milestones and events

In January 2015, the NPF announced that the

Dallas Charge The Texas Charge were a women's professional softball team based in San Marcos, Texas. The team began play as the Dallas Charge as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) with a game on June 3, 2015. They were initially headquartered in the Dal ...

would join the league as an expansion team. The NPF and

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known a ...

signed a 2015 agreement for the network to broadcast the NPF Draft, selected regular season games, and all of the NPF Championship Series. The Pride's homestand against the Bandits, Rebellion, and Racers from July 15 to July 25 was broadcast on the

Longhorn Network Longhorn Network (LHN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and is operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company a ...

and was subsequently available for streaming on ESPN3. On July 10,

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 ...

pitched the fifth no-hitter of her NPF career, beating the Pennsylvania Rebellion 2-1. (The Rebellion scored their run in the first inning without a hit, by combining two walks and three HBP. Pennsylvania actually led 1-0 going to the 7th inning.) On July 23,

Monica Abbott Monica Cecilia Abbott (born July 28, 1985) is an American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan Softball ...

pitched her second

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

as a member of the Bandits, beating the Charge, 10-0. On August 3,

pitched a no-hitter against the Pennsylvania Rebellion, winning 3-0. The pursuit of a perfect game ended in the seventh inning, on a Chicago error and later a walk. On August 8,

Sarah Pauly Sarah Jo Pauly (born January 24, 1983) is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired 7-time professional All-Star, right-handed softball pitcher and coach originally from Phoenix, Arizona. She played college softball at Texas A&M–C ...

became the first NPF pitcher to win 100 games.

Rule changes

The League Management Committee - consisting of Akron Racers owner Craig Stout, Chicago Bandits general manager Aaron Moore, Dallas Charge general manager

Kevin Shelton Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

, Pennsylvania Rebellion owner Stu Williams, and USSSA Pride general manager Don DeDonatis - met in Kissimmee, FL and voted on the following items: * Voted unanimously to use, during doubleheaders, a tiebreaker in the 8th inning due to the overall length of playing time that can take place on a double-header day. Motion was made to implement the tie breaker in the 8th inning of a "true" double header, meaning the same two teams playing each other on the same day, regardless of whether the match-up was scheduled in advance or the result of a make-up game. The motion did not include the discussion of using a run-rule after 5 innings. * Rejected a motion to use a "run-rule" of 8 runs after 5 innings. * Voted to allow individual teams the option to conduct autograph sessions as they choose for the Home Team. (Visiting Team must continue to make all players available for autograph session.) * Voted to allow backstops to exceed the current limit of 30' and to continue playing by rules implemented mid-season in 2014. * Voted to require umpires to confiscate any and all broken bats that occur during a game and forward them immediately to the League Office. From there, they will be returned to manufacturers and tested to insure they meet regulatory standards. In the event the bat is assessed to be altered, player and team will be assessed appropriate fines. * Voted to allow the continuance of no tiebreaker in Championship Series play, (acknowledging that for television or other special circumstances such as play delays, it may be implemented). * Voted to raise the per diem for coaches, trainers and players from a $25 per day allowance to a $30 per day allowance ($6 Breakfast, $9 Lunch, $15 Dinner) * Voted on sponsorship real estate inside ballpark venues for televised games to be used as follows: **From outfield side of dugout around the backstop to outfield side of other dugout belongs to the league if they desire or require to use. This will be for league branding, exclusive category branding and television sponsor branding. **From outfield side of dugout down the sidelines and around the outfield fence to the outfield side of the other dugout belongs to the home team if they desire or require to use. ** Exceptions may be made to the above. * Voted to allow teams brand one sleeve of each and every uniform with a sponsor brand, if desired. * Voted that beginning in 2015, only official suppliers will be allowed into the headband category and those will be the only headbands allowed on the field of play. * Voted that logo sizing limitations will be distributed to Official Suppliers and must be adhered to on any and all equipment and apparel that makes the NPF playing field (which includes dugouts). * Draft order was distributed including the addition of expansion Dallas. Dallas was offered a "Market Choice Selection," which they later used to acquire Renada Davis. * Voted that the first item of the "Tie Breaking Procedure" to determine regular season standings would be deleted. This places "Head to head" as the first determiner in tie breaking. * Agreed that a scheduling meeting (for 2016 schedule) would be held at the NFCA Convention in Atlanta in December 2015.

Teams, cities and stadiums

Other sites

*The

USSSA Florida Pride The USSSA Pride are a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a member of the WPF - Women's Professional Fastpitch League, U.S. Founded in 2009. They previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play th ...

and

are scheduled to play a two-game series at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas on June 11 and 12, 2015. *The

and

are scheduled to play a two-game series at University Field in Columbia, Missouri on June 15 and 16, 2015. *The

and

are scheduled to play a two-game series at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, on August 6 and 7, 2015. *The

and Pennsylvania Rebellion are scheduled to play a game at

Santander Stadium PeoplesBank Park is a 7,500-seat baseball park in York, Pennsylvania. It is the home of the York Revolution of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The park hosted its first regular season baseball game on June 16, 2007, as the Revolutio ...

in York, Pennsylvania June 25 and two games at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, Pennsylvania June 26 and 27,2015. *The

and

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). ...

are scheduled to play a four-game series in Colorado at Twin Rivers Community Park in Greeley, Erie Community Park in Erie, Christopher Fields in Westminster and Aurora Sports Park in Aurora from June 29-July 2, 2015. *The

and Pennsylvania Rebellion are scheduled to play series at

Ned Skeldon Stadium Ned Skeldon Stadium, originally opened as Lucas County Stadium, is a stadium in Maumee, Ohio. It was primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of the Toledo Mud Hens minor league baseball team. It opened for minor league ball in 1965, a ...

in Maumee, Ohio July 3 and 4, 2015. *The

and

are scheduled to play a two-game series at Berliner Park in Columbus, Ohio July 17 and 18, 2015. On August 1, 2015 at Berliner Park

will play

, immediately followed by

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 ...

playing the Pennsylvania Rebellion. *The

and

are scheduled to play a two-game series at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois July 29 and 30, 2015. *The

and

are scheduled to play a two-game series at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas August 3 and 4, 2015.

Player acquisition

College draft

The 2015 NPF College Draft was held on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, 5:30 pm CST at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lauren Chamberlain Lauren Nicole Chamberlain (born July 2, 1993) is an American retired softball infielder. Chamberlain played college softball for the Oklahoma Sooners softball from 2012 to 2015. A collegiate All-American, she was part of the 2013 Women's Colle ...

of Oklahoma was selected first by

. Draft order was determined by regular season standings from 2014, but subsequent trades and transactions altered the overall draft order.

Notable transactions

re-signed with

for 2015 season.

League standings

Through 8/10/15 Source:

Results table

All stats come from

Game notes

NPF Championship

The 2015 NPF Championship was scheduled to be played at

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, also known as The Hoover Met, is a former minor league baseball stadium located in Hoover, Alabama, United States, a suburb of Birmingham. It was home of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League from 1988 to ...

Hoover, AL Hoover is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in north central Alabama, United States. Hoover is the largest suburban city in Alabama and the 6th largest city in Alabama. The city had a population of 92,606 as of the 2020 US Census. Hoove ...

beginning August 15. This is the second time Hoover has hosted the championship. The top four teams from the regular season qualify for the championship playoffs. The highest-seeded semifinal winner then hosted the championship final.

Championship Game

Statistical leaders

Batting avg Slugging pct On base pct Runs scored Hits Runs batted in Home runs Stolen bases Earned run avg Batters struck out Wins Saves Losses

Annual awards

The 2015 NPF Awards Banquet was held at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama on August 13. The annual awards were presented, and the 2015 All-NPF Team was announced.

Notes

All-NPF Team

References

External links

* {{National Pro Fastpitch Softball teams Softball in the United States 2015 in women's softball 2015 in American women's sports