Rosemont, Ill – The National Pro Fastpitch 2012 season ended without crowning a Champion on the final day of competition. Championship Series Sunday was riddled with rain, causing delays that ultimately led to cancellation. Despite multiple efforts by Series field crew, the field eventually became too saturated for competition.
“This is a heartbreaking decision to make and a terrible position to be in,” commented League Commissioner, Cheri Kempf. “Our players are competitors at their core and every single one of them are gravely disappointed in not being able to finish this.”
The Championship Series comes down to a Final Series best of three between the two winners of the first two series’. The Chicago Bandits edged the USSSA Florida Pride in game 1 of the Final Series on Saturday night by a score of 2-1.
Much controversy has surrounded the decision by the Commissioner to declare no champion for the Series. “Obviously, the best solution would have been to delay the competition to Monday. However, one team would have suffered significant losses to their roster, due to travel plans, making the postponement and continuation unfair to say the least,” said Kempf. Unfortunately, our policies do not provide for naming a winner in the event the Series is not completed.”
Read more about this decision on ESPNW thanks to reporter Graham Hays:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/8306106/national-pro-fastpitch-playoffs-lack-champ-hurts-league
http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/8304833/national-pro-fastpitch-playoffs-season-ends-champion
The USSSA Florida Pride is a professional franchise in the National Pro Fastpitch League that is owned and operated by USSSA. The amateur organization of USSSA has multi-sport coverage and encompasses teams and players from the United States and abroad.
About NPF:
National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, TN. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fastpitch softball since 2002.
About USSSA:
The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), headquartered in Osceola County, Florida, USSSA is the World’s Largest Multi-sport Athletic Organization. Founded in 1968, USSSA has grown to over 3.7 million participants, competing in 13 nationally sanctioned sports including Baseball, Fastpitch, Slow Pitch, Karate, Basketball, Soccer and more! For more information on USSSA and to register your team visit USSSA.com. Also be sure to visit USSSAToday.com for the latest USSSA News!