NPF News: 2019 Championship Starts Today; Players of the Year & All-NPF Team Announced
By
@BruntjensElla
August 15, 2019
Amanda Chidester was the NPF 2019 Player of the Year and leads her Chicago Bandits against the USSSA Pride in the Championship Series. Photo @Chicago_Bandits.
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) hosts its Championship Series this week at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois in a best-of-five series between the league’s regular season champions, the Chicago Bandits, and the 2019 regular season 2nd place finisher, the USSSA Pride.
The first pitch will take place at 7 pm EST tonight and is a rematch of the 2018 series which saw the Pride win the Cowles Cup by sweeping the Bandits.
The 2019 Series is the fourth time Rosemont has hosted the NPF Championship with Pride have won two of its four Cowles Cup Championships in Illinois (2013, 2018).
The rosters for the two teams can be found by clicking on the following links: Chicago Bandits & USSSA Pride.
Tickets to the 2019 Championship Series can be purchased at Ticketmaster or by calling the box office at 877-722-6348.
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The league hosted its annual NPF Awards Banquet Wednesday night in which Player of the Year honors were bestowed and the All-NPF team was revealed.
* Amanda Chidester of the Chicago Bandits was selected as the Park Planet Player of the Year. The standout catcher who played at Michigan also received the Offensive Player of the Year Award presented by Louisville Slugger and the Home Run Award presented by Wilson.
She hit .380 with 15 home runs and had 35 RBIs for the Bandits which went a league-best 38-7.
Amanda Chidester, 2019 NPF Player of the Year. Image courtesy of NPF.
* USSSA Pride hurler Jolene Henderson was named the Diamond Sports Pitcher of the Year Award for the second year in a row. She went 10-4 during the season with a 1.99 ERA and threw a perfect game and two shutouts while recording 58 K’s in 91.1 innings.
* USSSA Pride third baseman Jessie Warren won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award after committing just one error all season.
* Abbey Cheek of the Chicago Bandits won the 805Stats Rookie of the Year Award after she hit .378 and became the first rookie since 2007 to lead the league on offense.
Abbey Cheek, 2019 NPF Rookie of the Year. Image courtesy of NPF.
* Pride outfielder Kelly Kretschman won the inaugural Legacy Award presented by Softball America and announced upon receiving the award that this would be her final season of playing. Â
* Sammy Marshall of the Cleveland Comets received the Stolen Base Award after leading the league with 22 stolen bases.
* Outfielder Victoria Hayward of the Canadian Wild was named the 2019 recipient of the Jennie Finch Award.
* The Chicago Bandits coaching staff of Lauren Lappin, Amber Flores, and Lance McMahon received the the NPF Coaching Staff of the Year honor.
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Here is the list of those who were honored as being chosen to the league’s all-player team…
2019 All-NPF Team
Catcher                                  Chelsea Goodacre            USSSA Pride
First base                              Amanda Chidester            Chicago Bandits
Second base                          Abby Ramirez                Chicago Bandits
Third base                             Jessie Warren               USSSA Pride
Shortstop                              Hannah Flippen             Chicago Bandits
Outfield                                 Allexis Bennett              USSSA Pride
Outfield                                Victoria Hayward            Canadian Wild
Outfield                                 Brenna Moss                Chicago Bandits
Designated Player        Kelly Kretschman            USSSA Pride
At-large                                 Sydney Romero              USSSA Pride
At-large                                 Rachele Fico                Chicago Bandits
At-large                                 Jennifer Gilbert             Canadian Wild
At-large                                 Abbey Cheek                Chicago Bandits
At-large                                 Gwen Svekis                Chicago Bandits
Pitcher                                   Jolene Henderson           USSSA Pride
Pitcher                                   Sara Groenewegen           Canadian Wild
Pitcher                                   Aleshia Ocasio              Chicago Bandits
Pitcher                                   Taran Alvelo                USSSA Pride
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The first pitch will take place at 7 pm EST tonight and is a rematch of the 2018 series which saw the Pride win the Cowles Cup by sweeping the Bandits.
