2001 Women's Pro Softball League season

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2001 WPSL Season
LeagueWomen's Pro Softball League
Sportsoftball
2001 WPSL Draft
WPSL seasons
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The 2001 Women's Professional Softball League season was the first year that the WPSL suspended play before relaunching the league in 2004 under the name National Pro Fastpitch. From 1997, WPSL operated under the names Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL).

Teams[]

When the WPSL suspended the 2001 season, there were four teams in the league: , Akron Racers, , and . When the league relaunched in 2004 as the NPF, the Racers were the only WPSL team to continue playing.

Milestones and Events[]

The 2001 year began as normally scheduled for the WPSL. The league had its draft in December 2000 and had a schedule for the upcoming season. However, on February 27, 2001, WPSL announced that the 2001 had been cancelled, and the league would focus on expansion for a league relaunch in 2002. (The relaunch was eventually postponed until 2004.) To maintain public awareness of the league and to test future markets for expansion, in lieu of a WPSL season the league sponsored the "Tour of Fastpitch Champions" during the summer, featuring a team of WPSL All-Stars against a team of USA and international Olympians, called WPSL Gold.[1]

The WPSL announced a plan to restart play in "six to eight markets in 2002, with growth to 12 markets by 2004." The tour moved through 14 cities, as the two WPSL teams played each other and other international and local all-stars. Ten of these games were televised, eight on ESPN2 and two "live" on ESPN, a first for the WPSL.[2] In 2002, the league continued to explore where its new teams would play, and had a 2003 tour as an opener to the return of league play in 2004.

College Draft[]

Further information: 2001 WPSL Draft

Before play was suspended, WPSL held their regularly scheduled 2001 WPSL Senior Draft.[3][4] Many draftees never played in the league, but some did, even making an All-Star team. These results are indicated below.

+ Denotes player who has been selected for at least NPF All-Star team
# Denotes player who never played in the NPF

Draft Selections[]

Round 1[]

Pick

Player

Pos.

College

Drafted by

WPSL/NPF Experience

1 # P/OF UCLA Never played in NPF
2 + C Arizona Akron Racers NPF All-Stars(2003),
NY/NJ Juggernaut(2004)
3 # P Arizona Never played in NPF
4 # P LSU Never played in NPF

Round 2[]

Pick

Player

Pos.

College

Drafted by

WPSL/NPF Experience

5 INF Arizona Akron Racers NPF All-Stars(2003),
California Sunbirds(2004)
6 # SS Oklahoma Never played in NPF
7 # C Oklahoma Never played in NPF
8 # 3B Washington Never played in NPF

Round 3[]

Pick

Player

Pos.

College

Drafted by

WPSL/NPF Experience

9 # OF Florida State Never played in NPF
10 OF Arizona NPF All-Stars(2003),
NY/NJ Juggernaut(2004),
Arizona Heat(2005)
11 1B Alabama Texas Thunder(2004)
12 # SS UNLV Akron Racers Never played in NPF

Round 4[]

Pick

Player

Pos.

College

Drafted by

WPSL/NPF Experience

13 # 3B/DP Cal State Fullerton Never played in NPF
14 # UT Oklahoma Never played in NPF
15 # OF Arizona Akron Racers Never played in NPF
16 3B Arizona Arizona Heat(2005–06)

Round 5[]

Pick

Player

Pos.

College

Drafted by

WPSL/NPF Experience

17 # OF Virginia Tech Never played in NPF
18 # OF/P Tennessee Akron Racers Never played in NPF
19 # OF UCLA Never played in NPF
20 # P Texas Never played in NPF

Round 6[]

Pick

Player

Pos.

College

Drafted by

WPSL/NPF Experience

21 # C/OF Alabama Akron Racers Never played in NPF
22 # P UCLA Never played in NPF
23 # P Nebraska Never played in NPF
24 Sarah Farnworth# P/OF Cal State Northridge Never played in NPF

Tour Rosters[]

The rosters of the 2001 WPSL All-Stars[5] and WPSL Gold[6] are listed below:

WPSL Gold[]

# Name Position College Hometown
44 Laura Berg OF Fresno State Santa Fe Springs, CA
2 Jennifer Brundage 3B UCLA Ann Arbor, MI
6 Crystl Bustos SS Palm Beach Community College Santa Clarita, CA
22 Sheila Douty 1B UCLA Diamond Bar, CA
16 Lisa Fernandez P/3B UCLA Long Beach, CA
4 Danielle Henderson P UMass Commack, NY
21 Kelly Kretschman OF Alabama Indian Harbour Beach, FL
10 OF Colorado State Ft. Collins, CO
11 Jackie Lance OF New Mexico North Delta, BC
3 Jennifer McFalls UT INF Texas A&M Grand Prairie, TX
32 Michele Smith P/1B Oklahoma State Califon, NJ
23 Michelle Venturella C Indiana Indianapolis, IN
12 Erin White C/OF Iowa State Richmond, BC
7 Cindy Yan Fang 2B Beijing, China

Head Coach:

WPSL All-Stars[]

Name Position College Hometown Years in WPSL
3B/UT Indiana Carlsbad, NM 3
Patti Benedict OF Michigan Lamont, FL 3
P UCLA Brentwood, TN 3
OF Florida State Anniston, AL 2
C UNLV San Jose, CA 2
1B/OF Oklahoma State Edmond, OK 1
P Minnesota New Ulm, MN 2
SS UCLA Roseville, CA 1
P Cleveland State Marshallville, OH 3
C Bloomsburg Malvern, PA 4
Kim Maher OF/UT Fresno State Oakland, CA 1
3B/UT Texas A&M Eugene, OR 2
Julie Smith 2B Fresno State Glendora, CA 1
Kellyn Tate OF Michigan Chesterfield, MO 3

Head Coach:

Tour Schedule and Results[]

WPSL Gold schedule and results:[7]

Date W/L Score Opponent Pitcher Location
6/1 W 7-5 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (1-0) Plant City, FL
6/8 W 8-0 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (2-0) Allentown, PA
6/9 W 5-4 WPSL All-Stars Henderson (1-0) Allentown, PA
6/14 W 5-2 WPSL All-Stars Smith (1-0) Oklahoma City, OK
6/15 W 6-2 WPSL All-Stars Henderson (2-0) Oklahoma City, OK
6/17 L 1-2 USA Red[a] Fernandez (1-2) Los Angeles, CA
6/23 L 2-3 WPSL All-Stars Henderson (2-1) Akron, OH
L 2-3 WPSL All-Stars Smith (1-1) Akron, OH
6/24 W 14-1 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (3-1) Akron, OH
6/28 W 4-1 Tennessee All-Stars Smith (2-1) Chattanooga, TN
6/29 T 1-1[b] WPSL All-Stars N/A Chattanooga, TN
7/1 W 6-5 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (4-1) Houston, TX
7/2 L 1-2 WPSL All-Stars Smith (2-2) Houston, TX
7/4 Cancelled[b] WPSL All-Stars N/A Plant City, FL
7/13 W 9-0 White Sox All-Stars Fernandez (5-1) Rockford, IL
7/14 W 5-0 WPSL All-Stars Smith (3-2) Rockford, IL
7/21 L 0-1 Canada Henderson (2-2) Madison, WI
7/22 W 4-0 Canada Fernandez (6-1) Madison, WI
7/31 Cancelled[b] WPSL All-Stars N/A Plant City, FL
8/8 W 3-0 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (7-1) Salem, VA
8/9 L 2-4 WPSL All-Stars Henderson (2-3) Salem, VA
8/9 W 2-0 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (8-1) Salem, VA
8/17 W 6-0 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (9-1) Akron, OH
8/18 W 3-2 WPSL All-Stars Smith (4-2) Akron, OH
W 6-3 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (10-1) Akron, OH
8/29 W 4-0 WPSL All-Stars Smith (5-2) Omaha, NE
8/30 W 2-1 WPSL All-Stars Fernandez (2-1) Omaha, NE

WPSL All-Stars schedule and results:[9]

Date W/L Score Opponent Pitcher Location
6/1 L 5-7 WPSL Gold (0-1) Plant City, FL
6/8 L 0-8 WPSL Gold (0-1) Allentown, PA
6/9 L 4-5 WPSL Gold (0-1) Allentown, PA
6/14 L 2-5 WPSL Gold (0-2) Oklahoma City, OK
6/15 L 2-6 WPSL Gold (0-2) Oklahoma City, OK
6/17 W 1-0 USA Blue[a] (1-2) Los Angeles, CA
6/23 W 3-2 WPSL Gold (1-1) Akron, OH
6/23 W 3-2 WPSL Gold (2-2) Akron, OH
6/24 L 1-14 WPSL Gold (0-3) Akron, OH
6/29 T 1-1[b] WPSL Gold N/A Chattanooga, TN
7/1 L 5-6 WPSL Gold (2-3) Houston, TX
7/2 W 2-1 WPSL Gold (1-3) Houston, TX
7/4 Cancelled[b] WPSL Gold N/A Plant City, FL
7/14 L 0-5 WPSL Gold (1-4) Rockford, IL
7/14 W 7-0 White Sox All-Stars (3-3)[c] Rockford, IL
7/31 Cancelled[b] WPSL Gold N/A Plant City, FL
8/8 L 0-3 WPSL Gold (1-5) Salem, VA
8/9 W 4-2 WPSL Gold (4-3) Salem, VA
L 0-2 WPSL Gold (1-2) Salem, VA
8/17 L 0-6 WPSL Gold (1-3) Akron, OH
8/18 L 2-3 WPSL Gold (1-6) Akron, OH
L 3-6 WPSL Gold (4-4) Akron, OH
8/29 L 0-4 WPSL Gold (4-5) Omaha, NE
8/30 L 1-2 WPSL Gold (1-4) Omaha, NE

Game notes[]

  1. ^ a b The USA Olympic softball team split into two teams, USA Red and USA Blue, to play a doubleheader against the two WPSL tour teams.[8]
  2. ^ a b c d e f Called due to rain
  3. ^ Perfect game

References[]

  1. ^ "NPF History". profastpitch.com. 4 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. ^ ""Tour of Fastpitch Champions" Features Olympians/All-Stars". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2003. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  3. ^ "2001 Women's Pro Softball League Senior Draft". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Twenty-four collegiate seniors drafted by Women's Pro Softball League's four teams". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  5. ^ "2001 WPSL All-Stars". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2002. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  6. ^ "2001 WPSL Gold". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2002. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  7. ^ "2001 WPSL Gold Team Results". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2002. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  8. ^ Lance Swan (17 June 2001). "WPSL Teams Split With USA National Teams". NFCA.org. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. ^ "2001 WPSL All-Star Team Results". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2002. Retrieved 22 July 2015.

External links[]

See also[]

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