| 2018 NPF Season | |
| Color: | blue |
| Color Text: | white |
| League: | National Pro Fastpitch |
| Sport: | softball |
| No Of Teams: | 5 |
| Draft: | 2018 NPF Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2018 NPF Draft |
| Top Pick: | Paige Lowary P Oklahoma |
| Picked By: | Chicago Bandits |
| Season: | Regular Season |
| Season Champs: | USSSA Pride |
| League Champ2 Name: | Offensive Player of the Year |
| League Champs2: | Brenna Moss |
| Season Champ2 Name: | Player of the Year |
| Season Champs2: | Brenna Moss |
| Season Champ3 Name: | Pitcher of the Year |
| Season Champs3: | Jolene Henderson |
| Season Champ4 Name: | Gold Glove Award |
| Season Champs4: | Jade Rhodes |
| Finals: | Cowles Cup |
| Finals Champ: | USSSA Pride |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Chicago Bandits |
| Seasonslist: | NPF Seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPF |
| Prevseason Year: | 2017 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2019 |
The 2018 National Pro Fastpitch season was the 15th 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.
On October 12, 2017, it was reported the Texas Charge would be dissolving, effective immediately.[1] The NPF did not make an announcement regarding the Charge, but all Charge players under contract were added to the league's transactions page as free agents.[2]
In an arrangement similar to the Beijing Eagles', NPF announced in December 2017 that Softball Australia would be operating a 2018 expansion team, the Aussie Spirit.[3]
On January 28, 2018, the Scrap Yard Dawgs announced via press release they would no longer be affiliated with the NPF. They indicated they would continue as an independent team.[4] On the same day, Ohio.com reported that the Akron Racers would be replaced by a Chinese team, similar to the Beijing Eagles.[5]
| Team | City | Stadium | Coaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aussie Spirit | Travelling Team | Head Coach: TBA Assistants: TBA | ||
| Beijing Shougang Eagles | Travelling Team | Head Coach: Teresa Wilson Assistants: Breanne Lewis, Thomas Hazelhurst | ||
| Chicago Bandits | Rosemont, Illinois (Chicago Area) | Ballpark at Rosemont | Head Coach: Stacey Nuveman Deniz Assistant: TBA | |
| Cleveland Comets | Travelling Team | Head Coach: TBA Assistants: TBA | ||
| USSSA Pride | Viera, Florida | Head Coach: Lonni Alameda Assistants: Travis Wilson, Craig Snider | ||
The 2018 NPF College Draft will be the 13th annual collegiate draft for NPF.
| Team | GP | W | L | Pct. | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USSSA Pride | 47 | 42 | 5 | .894 | - | |
| Chicago Bandits | 47 | 37 | 10 | .787 | 5 | |
| Aussie Spirit | 48 | 16 | 32 | .333 | 26.5 | |
| Beijing Shougang Eagles | 46 | 13 | 33 | .283 | 28.5 | |
| Cleveland Comets | 48 | 10 | 38 | .208 | 32.5 |
| 2018 NPF Records | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=80 | Team | Spirit | Eagles | Bandits | Comets | Pride |
| — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| 0-0 | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| 0-0 | 0-0 | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | — | 0-0 | ||
| 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | — | ||
| Legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| Protest/Halted Game | ||
| Postponement | ||
| Bold | Winning team | |
| Date | Time | Visitor | Home | Venue | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Player of the Game | Attendance |
|---|
| Date | Time | Visitor | Home | Venue | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Player of the Game | Attendance |
|---|
| Team | Top Batter | Stats. |
|---|---|---|
| USSSA Pride | Chelsea Goodacre & Hallie Wilson | 1-1 RBI 2B |
| Chicago Bandits | Brenna Moss | 3-4 |
| Team | Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USSSA Pride | Jessica Burroughs (W) | 4.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| USSSA Pride | Delanie Gourley | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| USSSA Pride | Jolene Henderson | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Chicago Bandits | Aleshia Ocasio (L) | 3.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chicago Bandits | Rachele Fico | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Chicago Bandits | Ally Carda | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chicago Bandits | Danielle O'Toole | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chicago Bandits | Shelby Turnier | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Award | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year Award | Brenna Moss | Chicago Bandits | |
| Pitcher of the Year | Jolene Henderson | USSSA Pride | |
| Gold Glove Presented by Rawlings | Jade Rhodes | Cleveland Comets | |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Brenna Moss | Chicago Bandits | |
| Rookie of the Year | Jessie Scroggins | Chicago Bandits | |
| Stolen Bases Award[9] | Brenna Moss | Chicago Bandits | |
| Home Run Award[10] | Emily Carosone | Chicago Bandits | |
| Lauren Chamberlain | USSSA Pride | ||
| Megan Wiggins | USSSA Pride | ||
| Jennie Finch Award [11] | Nadia Taylor | Chicago Bandits | |
| Regular Season Championship Cup[12] | USSSA Florida Pride | ||
| Coaching Staff of the Year | Mike Stith, Cody Dent, Andrea Duran | USSSA Florida Pride | |
| Umpire of the Year | Bill Gomoluch | ||
| 2018 All-NPF Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | Team | |
| Catcher | Kristyn Sandberg | Chicago Bandits | |
| First base | Jade Rhodes | Cleveland Comets | |
| Second base | Emily Carosone | Chicago Bandits | |
| Third base | Bianka Bell | USSSA Pride | |
| Shortstop | Shelby Pendley | USSSA Pride | |
| Outfield | Brenna Moss | Chicago Bandits | |
| Outfield | Sammy Marshall | Chicago Bandits | |
| Outfield | Megan Wiggins | USSSA Pride | |
| Designated player | Lauren Chamberlain | USSSA Pride | |
| At Large | Hallie Wilson | USSSA Pride | |
| At Large | Jessie Scroggins | Chicago Bandits | |
| At Large | Victoria Draper | Beijing Shougang Eagles | |
| At Large | Nadia Taylor | Chicago Bandits | |
| At Large | Sierra Romero | USSSA Pride | |
| Pitcher | Jolene Henderson | USSSA Pride | |
| Pitcher | Shelby Turnier | Texas Charge | |
| Pitcher | Keilani Ricketts | USSSA Pride | |
| Pitcher | Jessica Burroughs | USSSA Pride | |