What a ride!

Well the NPF regular season is officially over. It was a wonderful season for all 4 teams! Now the important stuff begins, the NPF Championship series! I'm excited but yet sad! I'm sad to see the season ending! It was such a fun season! Alot of people choose to to harp on all the negatives about the NPF but as you guys well know that isn't me. It's far from perfect, but right now it's all we got. Rome wasn't built in a day and this is going to take time! I am very thankful for this league! I'm thankful for the opportunity to get to keep watching my favorite  players play the sport they love! So I just want to send a big thank you to Cheri Kempf, the owners of all 4 teams, the coaches, the trainers, the people who run the cameras and do all that stuff to make sure we have access to the lives stream for those of us who are too far away to watch in person, the announcers(they annoy me sometimes but for the most part they all do a good job lol), and most importantly these women who give up so much and put all they have into this sport we all love so much! They are making huge sacrifices and we should always remember that! Thank you to all involved in making this an amazing NPF season!

One thing that I truly love about this league is the wide variety of athletes you get to see play and get to know! This is my 3rd season to follow the NPF and the Pride and it seems like every season there is a different player that I find myself thinking man I didn't know much about her when this season started but I now I know alot more and I really like and respect her so much! It's not always a Pride player because lets face it most of them are pretty well known. Last year for instance I think there was two of them, both Racers. Kelley Montolvo and Kristina Thorson! I knew some about Kristina being that she went to Cal but not a whole lot and I didn't know much of anything about Kelley. This year though oddly enough it was a Pride player. It was a Pride player that I'll be very honest here I over looked. In 2010, I didn't even really notice her that much because I couldn't watch those games. I could only follow them via Pointstreak(which is slightly better than Gametracker but I still believe from the devil LOL). In 2011, I obviously was able to watch her and really didn't think much of her either way. I respected her because I respect all of these women. But I honestly just saw her as another pitcher and didn't really notice her. In 2012, something changed and I don't know what it was but I think for the first time I truly saw Sarah Pauly. Sarah is a great pitcher! She has some issues with keeping her foot down at times but she has the mental toughness to not let that bother her. She is tough. All pitchers are tough but the thing I noticed about her is so little effects her and her ability to do her job well. All through the season things were thrown at her right and left but it never phased her. She is like a stonewall out there. You can't tell what she is thinking and nothing effects her! I kind of thought from watching her on the field that she might be a kind of cold. But in talking to her on Twitter, I've realized that isn't the case at all. She has always been very sweet to me and seems to be very down to earth! I've really enjoyed talking to her and getting to know her! I'll certainly never over look Sarah Pauly again! Thanks Sarah for all you do for this sport and always being so sweet, humble, and grateful!! You truly are a beautiful person inside and out and in my mind one of best pitchers in the world! Softball is lucky to have you!

This last series for the Pride was great! The first night was as usual Cat Osterman in the circle! She pitched a very good game! The offense was rolling and the Pride walked away with 8-0! Sarah Pauly pitched the 2nd game and it won't go down as her best game but she stayed tough and got the job done. Pride  won 5-4. The next night Danielle Lawrie was in the circle and she pitched very very well needing only 98 pitches and less than 2 hours to defeat the Racers 5-0. Yesterdays game was the last game of the regular season! Brittany Mack in the circle. Jenn Salling got to start at SS and Niki Williams actually got to start as the DP! Brittany had a very good 1st and 2nd inning but in the 3rd lost a little of her control. She walked the bases loaded and then mother nature stepped in and they ended up in a rain delay. She came back from the rain delay and settled back in getting out of the inning without giving up a run! Overall she pitched very well! I don't remember what inning it was in but the highlight of the entire game for me was a double play turned by Jenn Salling, Lauren Lappin and Charlotte Morgan! Whoever was at bat ripped one up the middle over the 2nd base bag Jenn somehow made a stumbling bare handed grab tossed it to Lauren, who caught it bare handed, stepped on the bag 2nd base bag, and threw it to Charlotte at 1st to complete the double play and end the inning! It was an incredible play! Jenn had a great game and I think she showed everyone what she is capable of with that play! I hope the ones who needed more proof were watching! Caitlin Lowe made another incredible grab in center field as well, I'm still trying to figure out how she got there to make that play lol! She was also 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a single! She is my vote for MVP! She gets it done with her bat and in the field nearly every time!  Niki was 0 for 2 with a sac bunt and 2 strikeouts! But I am so proud of her! She has been crazy patient this season and done so much better than what I would have lol! I hope in the future she is given a chance to shine because as anybody who watched that girl in college knows, she can shine! She is a phenomenal athlete and softball player, a phenomenal leader, and an equally phenomenal person! I really want to see her get a chance!  Pride ended the season with a sweep and their pitching staff continues to dominate! 

Well I'll be back after the championship series hopefully to tell you that the Pride are champions! It should be interesting though! Good luck to the Pride girls! Finish strong!!

Let's go Pride! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! Go Shokki! FTG!