The 2005 National Pro Fastpitch season was the second season of professional

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

under the name

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

(NPF) for the only professional women's

fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, or simply fastpitch, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Considered the most competitive form of softball, fastpitch is the ...

league in the United States. From 1997 to 2002, NPF operated under the names Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.

Teams, cities and stadiums

Milestones and events

The expansion

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 ...

joined the league for the 2005 season. The New York Juggernaut announced a new owner, John Schmitz of Long Island, NY. The team also introduced 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Julie Smith as their general manager and head coach. The Arizona Heat named Stacy Iveson as their 2005 field manager. NPF's telecast included

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

broadcasting the NPF All-Star Game and the NPF Championship Game. Comcast Sports Net Chicago showed select Chicago Bandits games and Telecare televised certain Juggernaut games.

Player acquisition

College draft

The 2005 NPF Senior Draft was held February 7, 2005. Amy Harre of

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

was selected first by the

Notable transactions

Various Olympians joined NPF after winning the gold medal in

Softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics Softball is a variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) permitted. Softball is ...

: * The expansion Bandits' early signings included a number of Olympic gold medalists, among them three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Leah O’Brien-Amico and

Jennie Finch Jennie Lynn Finch-Daigle (born September 3, 1980) is an American former softball player. She played for the Arizona Wildcats softball team from 1999 to 2002, where she won the 2001 Women's College World Series and was named collegiate All-Ameri ...

. * The Juggernaut signed 2004 Olympic gold medalist Natasha Watley. *The Arizona Heat signed gold medalist

Jessica Mendoza Jessica Ofelia Mendoza (born November 11, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA. ...

. Mendoza joined other Heat US gold medalists Lovieanne Jung and Tairia Mims-Flowers * The Racers also signed players from the 2004 Olympic team: infielder Crystl Bustos, outfielder

Kelly Kretschman Kelly Sue Kretschman (born August 26, 1979) is an American former nine-time professional All-Star softball outfielder and current head coach for the Volts for the inaugural 2025 season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Previously, ...

, and catcher Jenny Topping.

League standings

Source The 2005 schedule included a 48-game regular season schedule for each NPF teams. The

California Sunbirds The California Sunbirds were a women's professional softball team based in Stockton, CA. They were one of the founding members of National Pro Fastpitch in 2004. The team folded shortly after the 2005 season concluded. Franchise history The Ca ...

played a partial schedule. The Sunbirds hoped to return to NPF full-time, but never did. Games were on the schedule against international teams:

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Potential expansion teams also appeared on the schedule. These were Stratford Brakettes, Phoenix Flames,

SoCal Schutt Hurricanes Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal region includes Greater Los Angeles (the second-m ...

, Peoria Outlaws, Illinois Cougars, St. Louis Saints and the Long Island Angels. Of these candidates, only the Brakettes ever became a full-time NPF member, for only one season in 2006. All games against international teams and expansion candidates counted in the standings for the primary NPF teams.

NPF Championship

The 2005 NPF Championship Series was held at Benedictine University Sports Complex in

Lisle, Illinois Lisle ( ) is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,390 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the population was recorded to be 23,270. It is a south-western suburb of Chicago in the Illinois ...

August 27 and 28. The top four teams qualified and were seeded based on the final standings. The series matched the teams up in a double-elimination bracket. The series matched the teams up in a single-elimination bracket.

Championship Game

NPF All-Star Game

The 2005 NPF All-Star Game was held August 28. The East All-Star team included players from New York Juggernaut, the

New England Riptide The New England Riptide was a women's professional fastpitch softball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. They began play in the 2004 season as a member of National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball ...

, and the

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. In 2018 they moved to Cleveland and were renamed the Cleveland Comets. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Fro ...

. The West All-Star team included players from

, the

Arizona Heat The Arizona Heat was a women's softball team based in Tucson, Arizona. From the 2004 season, it played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. The team's home games were played at historic Hi Corbett Field. Six of the players on the 2006 roster ...

, and the

Texas Thunder Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...

. The East won by a score of 2-1, and Iyhia McMichael of

was chosen Most Valuable Player.

Annual awards

Source:

References

External links

National Pro Fastpitch
2005 in women's softball 2005 in American women's sports Softball in the United States