BATON ROUGE – During the regular season, LSU softball coach Beth Torina guided the USSSA Florida Pride to a 30-9 record and ran away with the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) title while serving as an assistant under Florida coach Tim Walton.
Offensively, the USSSA Pride is led by former UCLA product Natasha Watley along with former Stanford standout and ESPN commentator Jessica Mendoza. The duo ranked 1-2 in the NPF batting average race, while Mendoza fueled the league with 35 RBIs. In the circle, former Texas pitcher Cat Osterman and former Washington hurler Danielle Lawrie combined for 25 wins and 234 strikeouts over 176.2 innings.
Torina and the Pride start the NPF Championship Series Thursday at McMurry Park in Sulphur, La. If the Pride advance to the final round, game two of the series will be carried live Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.
In addition to Sunday’s ESPN coverage, the NPF will stream Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s contests live through http://www.profastpitch.com, the league’s website. Calling the action will be former LSU coach and National Fastpitch Coaches Association [NFCA] Hall of Famer Yvette Girouard with Bernie Guenther.
Individual session and tournament ticket books are available at http://championship.profastpitch.com through the NPF.
Session 1 – Thursday, August 18
Game 1: Chicago Bandits vs. Akron Racers – 6 p.m.
Game 1: Tennessee Diamonds vs. USSSA Florida Pride – 8:30 p.m.
Session 2 – Friday, August 19
Game 2: Tennessee Diamonds vs. USSSA Florida Pride – 6 p.m.
Game 2: Chicago Bandits vs. Akron Racers – 8:30 p.m.
Session 3 – Saturday, August 20
Game 3: Tennessee Diamonds vs. USSSA Florida Pride – 11 a.m.
Game 3: Chicago Bandits vs. Akron Racers – 1:30 p.m.
Note: If there’s only one “If Necessary” game, it will be played at 11 a.m.
Session 4 – Saturday, August 20
Game1: Championship Series – 7 p.m.
Session 5 – Sunday, August 21
Game2: Championship Series [ESPN2, ESPN3.com] – 2 p.m.
Session 6 – Sunday, August 22
Game3: Championship Series [Live: ESPN3.com, Tape Delay: ESPN2] – 4 p.m.
Format is “Best of 3 Series” with the two winners meeting in a “Best of 3 Championship Series” to determine the series champion.