2001 Women's Pro Softball League season

2001 WPSL Season
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2001 WPSL Draft
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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: Tampa Bay FireStix, Akron Racers, Ohio Pride, and Florida Wahoos. 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 Courtney Dale# P/OF UCLA Tampa Bay FireStix Never played in NPF
2 Lindsey Collins+ C Arizona Akron Racers NPF All-Stars(2003),
NY/NJ Juggernaut(2004)
3 Becky Lemke# P Arizona Ohio Pride Never played in NPF
4 Ashley Lewis# P LSU Florida Wahoos Never played in NPF

Round 2

Pick Player Pos. College Drafted by WPSL/NPF Experience
5 Allison Andrade INF Arizona Akron Racers NPF All-Stars(2003),
California Sunbirds(2004)
6 Lisa Carey# SS Oklahoma Ohio Pride Never played in NPF
7 Ashli Barrett# C Oklahoma Florida Wahoos Never played in NPF
8 Kim DePaul# 3B Washington Tampa Bay FireStix Never played in NPF

Round 3

Pick Player Pos. College Drafted by WPSL/NPF Experience
9 Serita Brooks# OF Florida State Ohio Pride Never played in NPF
10 Lauren Bauer OF Arizona Florida Wahoos NPF All-Stars(2003),
NY/NJ Juggernaut(2004),
Arizona Heat(2005)
11 Ginger Jones-Powers 1B Alabama Tampa Bay FireStix Texas Thunder(2004)
12 Racheal Goodpaster# SS UNLV Akron Racers Never played in NPF

Round 4

Pick Player Pos. College Drafted by WPSL/NPF Experience
13 Brenda Iglesia# 3B/DP Cal State Fullerton Florida Wahoos Never played in NPF
14 Andrea Davis# UT Oklahoma Tampa Bay FireStix Never played in NPF
15 Nicole Giordano# OF Arizona Akron Racers Never played in NPF
16 Toni Mascarenas 3B Arizona Ohio Pride Arizona Heat(2005–06)

Round 5

Pick Player Pos. College Drafted by WPSL/NPF Experience
17 Bronwyn Blair# OF Virginia Tech Tampa Bay FireStix Never played in NPF
18 Janette Koshell# OF/P Tennessee Akron Racers Never played in NPF
19 Lupe Brambila# OF UCLA Ohio Pride Never played in NPF
20 Charla Moore# P Texas Florida Wahoos Never played in NPF

Round 6

Pick Player Pos. College Drafted by WPSL/NPF Experience
21 Kelley Askew# C/OF Alabama Akron Racers Never played in NPF
22 Stephanie Swenson# P UCLA Ohio Pride Never played in NPF
23 Jamie Fuente# P Nebraska Florida Wahoos Never played in NPF
24 Sarah Farnworth# P/OF Cal State Northridge Tampa Bay FireStix 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 Teri Klement-Goldberg 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: Judy Martino

WPSL All-Stars

Name Position College Hometown Years in WPSL
Monica Armendarez 3B/UT Indiana Carlsbad, NM 3
Patti Benedict OF Michigan Lamont, FL 3
Kaci Clark P UCLA Brentwood, TN 3
Danielle Cox OF Florida State Anniston, AL 2
Julie Crandall C UNLV San Jose, CA 2
Jaime Foutch 1B/OF Oklahoma State Edmond, OK 1
Stephanie Klaviter P Minnesota New Ulm, MN 2
Lyndsey Klein SS UCLA Roseville, CA 1
Amy Kyler P Cleveland State Marshallville, OH 3
Marty Laudato C Bloomsburg Malvern, PA 4
Kim Maher OF/UT Fresno State Oakland, CA 1
Kendall Richards 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: Tim Kiernan

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

See also