The 2016 National Pro Fastpitch season was the 13th 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). Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.

Milestones and events

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). ...

celebrated their 15th season in 2016, the most of any NPF team. They have played in all 13 of the NPF's seasons, as well at the WPSL's last two seasons (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

). On October 23, 2015, the NPF announced that the Scrap Yard Dawgs would join the league as an expansion team. On April 11, NPF announced a renewal of their television agreement with CBS Sports Network for 2016. Broadcasts will include the 2016 NPF College Draft, 23 regular-season games, a Championship Series Preview Special, and most of the Championship Series. On June 10, the Pride's

Chelsea Thomas Chelsea Rae Thomas (born January 26, 1990) is an American former collegiate softball pitcher, originally from Pleasantville, Iowa. Thomas pitched for the Missouri Tigers in the Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference; Thomas is the career ...

and

Kelsey Nunley __NOTOC__ Kelsey may refer to: Places Canada * Kelsey, Alberta * Kelsey, Manitoba * Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba (unconnected with Kelsey, Manitoba) * Kelsey Airport, Manitoba * SIAST Kelsey Campus, one of four campuses of the Saskatchew ...

pitched a combined

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the Dawgs at the Scrap Yard's first-ever home game. On August 11,

Lauren Haeger Lauren Elizabeth Anna Haeger (born September 3, 1992) is a professional softball pitcher and first baseman with the Dallas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). After being named a member of the 2011 MaxPreps Softball All-American Team and ear ...

pitched a no-hitter, beating the Chicago Bandits 5–0. The only Bandit to reach base did so via a Charge fielding error.

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname) Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name in ...

announced it would begin awarding a fastpitch softball

gold glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

to an NPF player, selected by a vote of league coaches and managers. The Racers' AJ Andrews was selected for this award.

Kelly Kretschman Kelly Sue Kretschman (born August 26, 1979) is an American former nine-time professional All-Star softball outfielder and current head coach for the USSSA Pride of the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Kretschman played college softball at Al ...

became the first NPF player to win the triple crown when she ended the season leading in batting average, home runs, and RBI.

Rule changes

On June 12, in response to online threats made against players, NPF cancelled the mandatory 45-minute autograph session after each game. The following Tuesday, the league reinstated the sessions, but limited the attendees to children.

Teams, cities and stadiums

Player acquisition

College draft

The 2016 NPF College Draft is the 13th annual collegiate draft for NPF, and was held on Thursday, April 14, 2016, 7:00 pm CST at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. With the first overall pick, the Pennsylvania Rebellion selected

Louisiana-Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

catcher

Lexie Elkins Alexandrea "Lexie" Kenedie Elkins (born August 6, 1995) is an American softball coach, she served as the assistant coach at Houston. She is also a former collegiate All-American, retired softball catcher. She began her college softball career a ...

, who led the NCAA during the 2015–16 season in batting average, slugging percentage and home runs and was also tied for 13th in Division I history with 72 career home runs.

Notable transactions

*Head Coaching Changes ** Dallas Charge hired University of Florida assistant coach Jennifer Rocha to be their new head coach, ** Florida State head coach

Lonni Alameda Alana Maree "Lonni" Alameda (born June 11, 1970) is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Florida State. She has been head coach at Florida State since 2009, in addition to the USSSA Pride of National Pro Fastpitch from 2016 ...

took over as head coach of the USSSA Pride. * On October 27, 2015,

Stacey Porter Stacey Porter (born 29 March 1982) is an Australian professional indigenous softball first/third baseman. She represents New South Wales in Australian national competitions, where she has won several national championships on the junior and sen ...

, called "the world’s best batter,” signed a contract with the Pennsylvania Rebellion. * On May 5, the Scrap Yard Dawgs signed free agent

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 ...

to a six-year contract, believed to be worth $1 million. No woman had previously signed a million-dollar contract in American professional team sports.

League standings

Through 2016 Season

/small> x-Clinched Playoff Berth y-Clinched Best Overall Record Final two games between Scrap Yard Dawgs and Chicago cancelled as there was no playoff implications

Results table

NPF Championship

The 2016 NPF Championship was held at

Rhoads Stadium The John and Ann Rhoads Softball Stadium (frequently shortened to Rhoads Stadium) is a college softball stadium located on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It serves as the home field of the Alabama Crimson Tide s ...

on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, from August 19–23.

Championship Game

Statistical leaders

Through 8/14/16 Source: League Leaders Summary as of August 14, 2016 (All games)

Players of the Week

Annual awards

The 2016 NPF Award Banquet was held August 18 at Embassy Suites in Tuscaloosa. In addition to the usual state of annual awards, Kelly Kretschman received a special award for being the first NPF player to win the Triple Crown (lead the league in batting average. home runs, and RBI). NPF also awarded Appreciation Awards to Larry Brushett, softball representative form Mizuno, and Dina Kwit, Chicago Bandits photographer. Rawling presented a Gold Glove to a female athlete, A.J. Andrews of the Akron Racers, for the first time as well.

Notes

All-NPF Team

References

External links

* {{National Pro Fastpitch Softball teams Softball in the United States 2016 in women's softball 2016 in American women's sports