The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the

Cleveland Comets The Cleveland Comets were a women's professional softball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded by General Manager, Stephen Dunn. They moved to Cleveland from Akron, Ohio, in 2018. The Comets played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) ...

in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). From 2004-2017, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF).

History

The Akron Racers became the first Midwest franchise to begin play in the WPSL in 1999. The league suspended play in Orlando and assigned the Wahoos roster to the Racers. In 2000, the league consolidated sending the Georgia Pride team to Akron. The team was renamed the Ohio Pride. Both teams began sharing Firestone Stadium In their first year the Racers made it to the championship of the WPSL, but lost to the Tampa Bay FireStix. The WPSL suspended operations in 2001; the Racers was the only team of the four 2001 teams to revive when the league reformed as the NPF in 2004. In 2005 the Racers beat the

Chicago Bandits The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington Gl ...

to win the NPF championship. From 2004 to 2008, the Akron Racers have compiled an all-time win–loss record of 149-94.

Crystl Bustos Crystl Irene Bustos (born September 8, 1977), also known as The Big Bruiser, is an American softball player at the designated hitter or third base position although on the roster she is a designated player. She is a two-time Olympic gold medali ...

was named manager in October 2009, replacing Barb Sherwood. The Racers upset the highly favored Chicago Bandits in the 2014 NPF Championship Series in Hoover, AL in the best two-of-three to move on to face the USSSA Pride. The Racers and Pride battle for eighth innings before the Pride pushed across a run on the bottom of the eighth inning to take the 1-0 advantage. The Racers could not hold off the Pride in game two dropping the 8-3 decision. The Racers grabbed Coach of the Year honors (Brian Levin & Dustin Combs), Offensive Player of the Year (Nerissa Myers) and Jennie Finch Award (Kelley Montalvo). Five Racers were named to the All-NPF Team including Myers, Montalvo, Rachele Fico and rookies Jill Barrett and Ashley Thomas.

2015

Of their selections in the

2015 NPF Draft The 2015 NPF College Draft is the twelfth annual collegiate draft for NPF, and was held on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, 5:30 pm CST at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Draft order was determined by ...

, the Racers signed Griffin Joiner of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, Shellie Robinson of

USC Upstate USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, and

Megan Low Megan is a Welsh feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of Margaret. Margaret is from the Greek μαργαρίτης (''margarítēs''), Latin ''margarīta'', "pearl". Megan is one of the most popular Welsh-language names for women in ...

of UTSA.

2016

Rawlings awarded their first

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in b ...

to a female in 2016, and the Racers' AJ Andrews was the initial recipient.

15th Anniversary Impact Honorees

To celebrate their 15th anniversary, a milestone marking them as one of the longest-running pro female sports franchises, the Racers announced the would be naming 30 members of a Racers' "Impact" team. These 30 players are an all-star collection of players throughout the Racers' 15 years, chosen by a panel evaluating those who had the most impact on the team. The Impact honorees were made public one at a time on the Racers' website. Following is the full List of 2016 Akron Racers IMPACT Honorees

2017

Citing a desire to focus on his position as coach of the Belmont Bruins softball team, Brian Levin stepped down as the Racers' head coach. The Racers' record was 4-5 on June 16. The Racers finished the regular season in third place, and were swept by the Scrap Yard Dawgs in the first round of the playoffs.

General managers

* Joey Arrietta (-present)

All-time head coaches

Season-by-season

, - ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, , 34, , 32 , , 0 , , 2nd place WPSL , , Lost to Virginia Roadsters in WPSL Semifinals , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, , 15 , , 17 , , 0 , , 3rd place WPSL , , Did Not Qualify , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, , 39 , , 21 , , 0 , , 2nd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Lost to NY/NJ Juggernaut in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, , 36 , , 10 , , 0 , , 2nd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Won NPF Championship , - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, , 29 , , 17 , , 0 , , 3rd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Lost to

Connecticut Brakettes The Connecticut Brakettes is a women's fastpitch softball team based in Stratford, Connecticut. The team has won many state, regional, national, and international tournaments (28 ). History The team was founded in 1947 by William S. Simpson a ...

in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, , 26 , , 17 , , 0 , , 2nd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Eliminated by Rockford Thunder in Game 3 , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , 19 , , 29 , , 0 , , 5th place National Pro Fastpitch , , Did Not Qualify , - ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, , 26 , , 14 , , 0 , , 2nd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Lost to Rockford Thunder in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , 24 , , 25 , , 0 , , 3rd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Lost to USSSA Pride in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, , 22 , , 17 , , 0 , , 2nd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Lost to

in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, , 14 , , 30 , , 0 , , 4th place National Pro Fastpitch, , Lost to USSSA Pride in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, , 16 , , 32 , , 0 , , 3rd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Lost to USSSA Pride in Game 2 of NPF Championship Semifinals , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, , 24 , , 24 , , 0 , , 3rd place National Pro Fastpitch, , Lost to USSSA Pride in NPF Finals , - ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, , 22 , , 26 , , 0 , , 3rd place National Pro Fastpitch, , Lost to

in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, , 22 , , 28 , , 0 , , 4th place National Pro Fastpitch, , Lost to USSSA Pride in NPF Semifinals , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, , 26 , , 24 , , 0 , , 3rd place National Pro Fastpitch, , Lost to Scrap Yard Dawgs in NPF Semifinals , - ! WPSL Totals , , 49, , 49, , 0 , colspan="2", , - ! WPSL and NPF Totals , , 394 , , 363, , 0 , colspan="2", , - ! NPF Totals , , 345, , 314 , , 0 , colspan="2",

Notable players

* Crystl Bustos (1999, 2005, 2006)

Retired numbers

The Racers have retired four numbers:

Current players

References

External links

Akron Racers
* {{S-end Softball teams National Pro Fastpitch teams Sports in Akron, Ohio Sports clubs established in 1999 1999 establishments in Ohio