| 2006 NPF Season | |
| Color: | blue |
| Color Text: | white |
| League: | National Pro Fastpitch |
| Sport: | softball |
| Duration: | May 31, 2006 - August 22, 2006 |
| No Of Teams: | 7 |
| Draft: | 2006 NPF Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2006 NPF Draft |
| Top Pick: | Cat Osterman Texas |
| Season: | Regular Season |
| Season Champs: | Chicago Bandits |
| Season Champ Name: | Majestic Cup (Best record) |
| Finals: | Cowles Cup |
| Finals Champ: | New England Riptide |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Connecticut Brakettes |
| Finals Mvp: | Jocelyn Forest New England Riptide |
| Seasonslist: | NPF Seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPF |
| Prevseason Year: | 2005 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2007 |
The 2006 National Pro Fastpitch season was the third 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.
| Team | City | Stadium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akron Racers | Akron, Ohio | Firestone Stadium | |
| Arizona Heat | Tucson, Arizona | Hi Corbett Field[1] | |
| Chicago Bandits | Benedictine University Sports Complex[2] | ||
| Connecticut Brakettes | Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field[3] | ||
| New England Riptide | Lowell, Massachusetts | Martin Softball Field[4] | |
| Philadelphia Force | Allentown, Pennsylvania | ECTB Stadium | |
| Texas Thunder | League City, Texas | Big League Dreams[5] |
2004 NPF champion New York Juggernaut and the California Sunbirds (who played a partial schedule in 2005) were not on the 2006 schedule and ceased operations.
In September 2005, NPF announced the addition of the expansion team Philadelphia Force, owned by brothers William M. and John M. Thompson. The Force named Patriots Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as their home stadium. One of their first signings included 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Natasha Watley.[6] The Force did play at ECTB Stadium at Bicentennial Park in Allentown.[7]
NPF announced that Patrick J. Linden had become their new president. An attorney, Linden has experience as counsel for the NPF owner's group.[8]
The 2006 NPF Senior Draft was held 138, 2006 via conference call. Cat Osterman of Texas was selected first by the Connecticut Brakettes. Osterman opted not to sign with the Brakettes, becoming a free agent at the end of the 2006 season.
Sarah Pauly signed her initial NPF contract, as the first player signed by the Connecticut Brakettes. In 2005 as a member of the amateur Stratford Brakettes, Pauly pitched against NPF teams.[9]
Source
| Team | GP | W | L | Pct. | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bandits | 42 | 30 | 12 | .714 | - | |
| Connecticut Brakettes | 42 | 27 | 15 | .643 | 3 | |
| Akron Racers | 46 | 29 | 17 | .630 | 3 | |
| New England Riptide | 41 | 24 | 17 | .585 | 5.5 | |
| Texas Thunder | 48 | 21 | 27 | .438 | 12 | |
| Arizona Heat | 48 | 20 | 28 | .417 | 13 | |
| Philadelphia Force | 42 | 14 | 28 | .333 | 16 |
NPF's 2006 schedule was 48 games for each team, including seven four-game home series and five four-game road series. On the schedule were games against national teams from Canada, China and Chinese Taipei, as well as Denso Japan, a professional team. The USA Softball Team, World University Games Team and the Michigan Ice, a hopeful for NPF membership, were also scheduled as opponents. The results counted in the NPF's team records.[10]
The 2006 NPF Championship Series was held at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford, Connecticut August 26 and 28. The top four teams qualified and were seeded based on the final standings. The series matched the teams up in a single-elimination bracket. The championship game was scheduled for August 27, but rain forced it to be moved to August 28.
| 2006 NPF Championship Series - Game 1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
| 1 | August 26 | Chicago Bandits 0, New England Riptide 1 (9 innings)[11] | |||||
| 2006 NPF Championship Series - Game 2 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | ||||
| 2 | August 26 | Connecticut Brakettes 1, Akron Racers 0 (8 innings)[12] | |||||
| 2006 NPF Championship Series - Game 3 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 3 | August 28 | New England Riptide 2, Connecticut Brakettes 0[13] | ||||||
| New England Riptide win NPF Championship | ||||||||
| Team | Top Batter | Stats. |
|---|---|---|
| New England Riptide | Lyndsey Angus | 2-3 RBI K |
| Stratford Brakettes | Kellie Wilkerson | 1-2 BB K |
| Team | Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Riptide | Jocelyn Forest (W) | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 26 | 28 |
| Stratford Brakettes | Sarah Pauly (L) | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 29 |
Source:[16]
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year Award | Lyndsey Angus | New England Riptide |
| Pitcher of the Year | Sarah Pauly | Connecticut Brakettes |
| Rookie of the Year | Stacy May | Chicago Bandits |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Carri Leto | Philadelphia Force |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Jessica Merchant | Connecticut Brakettes |
| Managers of the Year |
| 2006 All-NPF Team[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | Team | |
| Pitcher | Sarah Pauly | Connecticut Brakettes | |
| Pitcher | Jocelyn Forest | New England Riptide | |
| Pitcher | Christa Williams | Texas Thunder | |
| Pitcher | Amy Harre | Chicago Bandits | |
| Catcher | Selena Collins | Chicago Bandits | |
| 1st Base | Jenna Hall | Philadelphia Force | |
| 2nd Base | Carri Leto | Philadelphia Force | |
| 3rd Base | Stacy May | Chicago Bandits | |
| Shortstop | Jessica Merchant | Connecticut Brakettes | |
| Utility | Lyndsey Angus | New England Riptide | |
| Outfield | Iyhia McMichael | Akron Racers | |
| Outfield | Kelly Kretschman | Connecticut Brakettes | |
| Outfield | Anne Steffan | Chicago Bandits | |
| At-Large | Kristen Zaleski | Texas Thunder | |
| At-Large | Jackie Pasquerella | New England Riptide | |
| At-Large | Nichole Thompson | Arizona Heat | |
| At-Large | Oli Keohohou | Akron Racers | |
| At-Large | Radara McHugh | Akron Racers | |
| At-Large | Jaime Clark | Chicago Bandits | |