The Scrap Yard Fast Pitch was an independent women's professional softball team based in

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...

, just north of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Established in October 2015 as the Scrap Yard Dawgs, the team played in the

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) during the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

seasons. The Dawgs were the first NPF team to be based in the Houston area since 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 ...

became the Rockford Thunder in the 2007 season. In 2017, the Dawgs won their first NPF title against

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

in the best of three game series. After having its franchise terminated by the NPF, the team went independent under the name Scrap Yard Fast Pitch. In June 2020, all eighteen of the team's players quit in protest of a tweet by the franchise owner. Days later, the team became "This Is Us" and continued their series against the USSSA Pride. Although the team has since disbanded, the facilities are still maintained by Scrap Yard Sports, which also runs recreational softball and baseball leagues.

History

On October 23, 2015, NPF announced the Scrap Yards Dawgs as an expansion team for the 2016 season. Kevin Shelton, also the general manager of the Dallas Charge, was introduced as the Dawgs' GM. On May 5, 2016, the Dawgs signed free agent

Monica Abbott Monica Cecilia Abbott (born July 28, 1985) is a retired American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan S ...

to a six-year contract, believed to be worth $1 million; the contract was believed to be the most lucrative paid by an individual American professional franchise to an active female athlete in any team sport.

2017

For the 2017 season, the Dawgs hired

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

associate head coach

Gerry Glasco Gerald Dean Glasco Jr. (born October 29, 1958) is an American college softball coach who is currently head coach at Texas Tech Red Raiders softball, Texas Tech and the Smash It Sports Vipers of the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Previousl ...

as their head coach. Glasco's assistants would be Oregon's Jimmy Kolaitis and Joe Guthrie of Bucknell. Glasco was head coach of the USSSA Pride in 2014. Kolaitis was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bandits in 2013. The Dawgs finished second during the regular season and won the 2017 Cowles Cup Championship.

2018

On January 28, the Dawgs announced via press release they would no longer be affiliated with the NPF. The NPF terminated their franchise on January 29 citing that the team had violated several league operating rules and franchise requirements. The team indicated they would continue as an independent team under the name Scrap Yard Fastpitch.

2020

In June 2020, during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

and after the first game of a planned seven-game series, franchise owner Connie May tweeted a photo of players standing with hands on heart captioned "Everyone respecting the flag," a reference to the

U.S. national anthem protests Protests during the playing of the United States national anthem have had many causes, including civil rights, anti-conscription, anti-war, anti-nationalism, and religious reservations. Such protests have occurred since at least the 1890s, ...

. May tagged President and protest critic

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in the tweet. All eighteen players quit the team. The players vowed to never play for Scrap Yard again and formed a new team tentatively named This Is Us. Scrapping together donated uniforms, the players returned to the field days later, defeating the USSSA Pride. Coach Michael Steuerwald and several former Scrap Yard staffers remained with the new team.

Team

General managers

* Kevin Shelton (2015) * Connie May (2016–2020)

Current roster

All-time head coaches

Season-by-season

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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 ...

2-games-to-1 in NPF Semifinals , - , align=center,

, , 31 , , 18 , , 0 , , 2nd place National Pro Fastpitch , , Won NPF Championship 2-games-to-1 over

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride is a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida, and a former member of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Founded in 2009, they previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play their home ...

, Defeated

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 ...

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Draft history

NPF Draft

References

External links

Scrap Yard Fastpitch website
{{2017 Scrap Yard Dawgs Softball teams in Texas Scrap Yard Dawgs National Pro Fastpitch teams 2015 establishments in Texas Sports clubs and teams established in 2015 Conroe, Texas