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1998 WPF Season
1998 WPF Season
League	Women's Pro Fastpitch
Sport	softball
Duration	May 29, 1998 - September 5, 1998
Number of teams	6
TV partner(s)	ESPN2
1998 WPF Draft
Top draft pick	Desarie Knipfer; Cal Poly-SLO
Picked by	Georgia Pride
Regular Season
Regular Season Champions	1st Half: Carolina Diamonds; 2nd Half: Orlando Wahoos
Season MVP	Crystl Bustos; Orlando Wahoos
WPF Championship
Champions	Orlando Wahoos
Runners-up	Carolina Diamonds
Finals MVP	Alleah Poulson; Orlando Wahoos
WPF seasons
	← 1997 1999 →

The 1998 Women's Pro Fastpitch season was the second season of professional softball for the Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF). The 66-game season was divided into two-halves, with the winner of each half meeting in a championship series.^[1]^[2]

Teams, cities and stadiums

Team	City	Stadium
Carolina Diamonds	Gastonia, North Carolina	Sims Legion Park^[3]
Durham Dragons	Durham, North Carolina	Durham Athletic Park^[4]
Georgia Pride	Columbus, Georgia	South Commons Softball Complex^[5]
Orlando Wahoos	Winter Park, Florida	Alfond Stadium at Rollins College^[6]
Tampa Bay FireStix	Tampa, Florida	Red McEwen Field ^[7]
Virginia Roadsters	Hampton, Virginia	War Memorial Stadium^[8]

Milestones and Events

Two WPF teams announced that they would play their games in different stadiums during the 1998 season: the Carolina Diamonds moved to Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina, and the Georgia Pride announced that they would play their home games at South Commons Softball Stadium in Columbus, Georgia.

Changes for 1998 included a revision of the playing rules (43-foot pitching distance, 60-foot base distances), an expanded national television schedule (eight games on ESPN2), and the league's first all-star game, to be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio on July 14.^[9]

Player Acquisition

College Draft

The 10-round 1998 WPF Draft was held December 6, 1997 in Palm Springs, CA. Georgia Pride selected pitcher Desarie Knipfer of Cal Poly as the first overall pick.^[1]^[10]

League standings

Source:^[11]

Team	GP	W	L	Pct.	GB
Orlando Wahoos	66	42	24	.626	-	2nd Half Champion
Georgia Pride	66	36	30	.545	6
Carolina Diamonds	65	34	31	.523	7.5	1st Half Champion
Durham Dragons	63	31	32	.492	9.5
Tampa Bay FireStix	66	27	39	.409	15
Virginia Roadsters	64	25	39	.391	16

WPF Championship Series

Sources:^[11]^[12]

The 1998 WPF Championship Series was held at Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina September 4–5. The winners of each half of the season met in a best-of-three series to determine the champion.

1998 WPF Championship Series Orlando Wahoos defeat Carolina Diamonds 2–0
Game	Date	Score	Series (ORL-CAR)
1	September 4	Orlando Wahoos 8, Carolina Diamonds 0	1–0
2	September 5	Orlando Wahoos 8, Carolina Diamonds 2	2–0

1998 WPF Championship Series MVP
Player	Club
Alleah Poulson	Orlando Wahoos

Annual awards

Sources:^[11]^[12]

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player	Crystl Bustos	Orlando Wahoos
Hitter of the Year	Crystal Boyd	Georgia Pride
Home Run Champions	Monica Armendarez	Carolina Diamonds
	Crystal Boyd	Georgia Pride
	Crystl Bustos	Orlando Wahoos
Pitcher of the Year	Kaci Clark	Orlando Wahoos
Defensive Player of the Year	Shama Wilson	Georgia Pride
Coach of the Year	Sharron Backus	Orlando Wahoos
General Manager of the Year	Lorie Baran	Carolina Diamonds

WPF All-Star Game

After the completion of the 1997 WPF season, the league circulated a questionnaire to players. At the suggestion of players on that questionnaire, the league scheduled an All-Star Game for the 1998 season.^[13]

The game was played on July 14 in Akron, OH at Firestone Stadium, televised on July 20 on ESPN2. The game was contested by a "Stars" team that played a "Stripes" team. The Stars team included players from the Diamonds, Dragons and Roadsters, while the Stripes were composed of players from the Pride, FireStix and Wahoos.^[14] The Stars beat the Stripes by an 8-1 score, in front of a crowd of 3,873.^[15]

Following is an incomplete listing of the All-Star rosters:

1998 WPF STARS All-STARS
Player	WPF Team	Position















COACHES
		All-Star Head Coach

1998 WPF STRIPES ALL-STARS
Player	WPF Team	Position
Dee Dee Weiman-Garcia^[13]	Tampa Bay FireStix	P
Amy Putnam^[13]	Georgia Pride	C
Crystal Bustos^[14]	Orlando Wahoos
Chelo Lopez^[14]	Georgia Pride
Jennifer Parker^[14]	Tampa Bay FireStix	OF










COACHES
		All-Star Head Coach

References

^ ^a ^b AC (15 August 2014). "Archive for the 'Women's Professional Softball League' Category". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
^ "1998 Women's Professional Fastpitch League Brochure". Box.com. 1 February 1998. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ "Directions to the Game". www.carolinadiamonds.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 1999. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
^ "Durham Dragon News". DurhamDragons.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 1998. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
^ "TWO SENIOR SOFTBALL PAYERS DRAFTED BY THE WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL SOFTBALL LEAGUE". Official Site of Mizzou Athletics. 8 December 1998. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
^ Shannon Rose (7 November 1998). "Orlando Wahoos Disband". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ Scott Massey (22 June 2000). "FireStix look for second league title". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
^ "Front Office". www.virginiaroadsters.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 1999. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
^ "WPSL History". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 1999. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
^ "1998 Women's Professional Fastpitch Draft Selections". Box.com. 8 December 1998. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Steve Dimitry (31 December 2007). "Fast Pitch Softball History". Angelfire. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b Bruce Wolfe (September 1998). "Orlando Wahoos Win 2nd-Straight WPF Champion" (PDF). NFCA Fastpitch Delivery. p. 1. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ken Berger (14 July 1998). "Women's Pro Fastpitch softball league to hold All-Star Game". Ocala Star-Banner. p. 9. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Lopez, Bustos, Parker in All-Star Game". LATimes.com. 3 July 1998. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
^ "NPF History". ProFastpitch.com. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 5 June 2016.