| 2008 NPF Season | |
| Color: | blue |
| Color Text: | white |
| League: | National Pro Fastpitch |
| Sport: | softball |
| Duration: | May 29, 2008 – August 17, 2008 |
| No Of Teams: | 6 |
| Draft: | 2008 NPF Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2008 NPF Draft |
| Top Pick: | Katie Burkhart Arizona State |
| Picked By: | Philadelphia Force |
| Season: | Regular Season |
| Season Champs: | Chicago Bandits |
| Season Champ Name: | Majestic Cup (Best record) |
| Finals: | Cowles Cup |
| Finals Champ: | Chicago Bandits |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Washington Glory |
| Finals Mvp: | Nicole Trimboli Chicago Bandits |
| Seasonslist: | NPF Seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPF |
| Prevseason Year: | 2007 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2009 |
The 2008 National Pro Fastpitch season was the fifth 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 | |
| Chicago Bandits | Elgin, Illinois (Chicago Area) | Judson University | |
| New England Riptide | Lowell, Massachusetts | Martin Softball Field[1] | |
| Philadelphia Force | Allentown, Pennsylvania | ECTB Stadium | |
| Rockford Thunder | Roscoe, Illinois | Thunder Park[2] | |
| Washington Glory | Dulles, Virginia[3] | Westfield Sports Complex[4] |
The Chicago Bandits started their first season in Elgin, Illinois at Judson University. The original plans were for the Bandits to play at Judson temporarily while a potential $5 million softball stadium was built nearby.[5] Those plans did not come to fruition, and the Bandits eventually moved to a new ballpark in Rosemont, Illinois for 2011.[6]
As part of the USA Softball Team Bound 4 Beijing Tour in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, two games were scheduled between the US Olympic softball team and a team of NPF All-Stars. The announced roster for Team NPF was:[7]
| Team NPF | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | NPF Team | |
| Kristen Butler | C | Akron Racers | |
| Norelle Dickson | IF | Akron Racers | |
| Veronica Wootson | IF | Akron Racers | |
| Jaime Clark | IF | Chicago Bandits | |
| Kristina Thorson | P | Chicago Bandits | |
| Jocelyn Forest | P | New England Riptide | |
| Carri Leto Martin | IF | New England Riptide | |
| Shanel Scott | OF | New England Riptide | |
| Sharonda McDonald | OF | Philadelphia Force | |
| Kellie Wilkerson | OF | Philadelphia Force | |
| Kristen Zaleski | OF | Rockford Thunder | |
| Desiree Serrano | P | Washington Glory | |
| Amber Jackson | IF | Washington Glory | |
| Savannah Brown | C | Rockford Thunder | |
| Tonya Callahan | IF | Rockford Thunder | |
| Megan Gibson | 1B/P | Philadelphia Force | |
| Katie Burkhart | P | Philadelphia Force | |
NPF veterans Monica Abbott, Cat Osterman, Kelly Kretschman, Vicky Galindo and Jennie Finch were on the Olympic team roster.Team NPF was coached by Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso and private instructor Cindy Bristow. Bristow was head coach and assistant general manager of the Georgia Pride, which later became the Florida Wahoos, a team in the WPSL.[8]
The Olympic team beat Team NPF in both games,[9] on June 6 by a score of 10-8[10] and on June 14 by a score of 6-0.[11]
On the same tour, the US Olympic team beat the Washington Glory 2-0 on May 10,[12] and beat the Akron Racers 6-2 on July 22.[13]
The 2008 NPF Senior Draft was held February 18, 2008 via conference call. First-Team All-American pitcher Katie Burkhart of Arizona State was selected first by the Philadelphia Force.[14]
Source [15]
| Team | GP | W | L | Pct. | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bandits | 48 | 32 | 16 | .667 | - | |
| Philadelphia Force | 48 | 31 | 17 | .646 | 1 | |
| Washington Glory | 48 | 30 | 18 | .625 | 2 | |
| New England Riptide | 48 | 22 | 26 | .458 | 10 | |
| Akron Racers | 48 | 19 | 29 | .396 | 13 | |
| Rockford Thunder | 48 | 18 | 30 | .375 | 14 |
The 2008 NPF Championship Series was held at Sunset Point Park in Kimberly, Wisconsin August 21-4. The top four teams qualified and were seeded based on the final standings. The series matched the teams up in a double-elimination bracket.[17]
| 2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 1 #1 seed vs. #4 seed | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 1 | August 22 | Chicago Bandits 4, New England Riptide 1[18] | ||||||
| Chicago Bandits advance; Riptide to losers bracket | ||||||||
| 2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 2 #2 seed vs. #3 seed | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 2 | August 22 | Philadelphia Force 7, Washington Glory 4 | ||||||
| Philadelphia Force advance; Glory to losers bracket | ||||||||
| 2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 3 Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 3 | August 23 | Washington Glory 11, New England Riptide 2[19] | ||||||
| Glory eliminate Riptide | ||||||||
| 2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 4 Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 4 | August 23 | Chicago Bandits 5, Philadelphia Force 1[20] | ||||||
| Bandits to final; Force to losers bracket | ||||||||
| 2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 5 Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 5 | August 23 | Washington Glory 3, Philadelphia Force 2[21] | ||||||
| Glory to final; Force eliminated | ||||||||
| 2008 NPF Championship Series - Game 6 Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Location | |||||
| 6 | August 24 | Chicago Bandits 6, Washington Glory4[22] | ||||||
| Chicago Bandits win NPF Championship | ||||||||
Source:[24]
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year Award | Stacy May | Chicago Bandits |
| Pitcher of the Year | Katie Burkhart | Philadelphia Force |
| Rookie of the Year | Rachel Folden | Chicago Bandits |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Kristen Butler | Akron Racers |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Jaime Clark | Chicago Bandits |
| Coaching Staff of the Year | Chicago Bandits—Head Coach Mickey Dean, assistant coaches Thomas Macera and Craig Nicholson |
| 2008 All-NPF Team[25] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | Team | |
| Pitcher | Katie Burkhart | Philadelphia Force | |
| Pitcher | Eileen Canney | New England Riptide | |
| Pitcher | Sarah Pauly | Washington Glory | |
| Pitcher | Angela Tincher | Akron Racers | |
| Catcher | Kristen Butler | Akron Racers | |
| 1st Base | Lyndsey Angus | New England Riptide | |
| 2nd Base | Emily Friedman | Philadelphia Force | |
| 3rd Base | Stacy May | Chicago Bandits | |
| Shortstop | Chelsea Spencer | Philadelphia Force | |
| Outfield | Jaime Clark | Chicago Bandits | |
| Outfield | Sharonda McDonald | Philadelphia Force | |
| Outfield | Kellie Wilkerson | Philadelphia Force | |
| At-Large | Gina Carbonatto | New England Riptide | |
| At-Large | Rachel Folden | Chicago Bandits | |
| At-Large | Lindsay Gardner | Rockford Thunder | |
| At-Large | Oli Keohohou | Washington Glory | |
| At-Large | Sara Larquier | Washington Glory | |
| At-Large | Lisa Modglin | New England Riptide | |