Baton Rouge-August 16, 2017- The night ended with Kelly Kretschman taking home her third consecutive Player of the Year honor, a feat no one else has accomplished before her but by now we know Kelly is not one to follow, she continues to lead and amaze with her ability to out-do herself every year.
Kretschman not only finished the night as 3-time Player of the Year but 2-time Offensive Player of the Year and 6-time All-NPF team selection. Kretschman also finished batting .500 during the regular season, an all-time NPF best record, with six home runs, 19 RBI and 33 runs scored. She led the NPF in five offensive categories including hits (58), batting average (.500), on-base percentage (.623), slugging percentage (.793), and doubles (12), tied with Sahvanna Jaquish.
It was a great night overall for the Pride taking home six of ten major awards of the evening including Regular Season Champions, Coaching Staff of the Year, Home Run Champion, Offensive Player of the Year, Gold Glove Award and Player of the Year.
Shelby Pendley finished the night recognized as the 2017 NPF Home Run Champion, leading the NPF with 13 home runs this season. Pendley also secured her spot on the All-NPF team for the third consecutive year since her standout rookie season in 2015 when she took home Rookie of the Year honors.
Chelsea Goodacre made history herself, winning the 2017 Gold Glove award presented by Rawlings, becoming the first Pride player in history to take
home the award. In addition to that feat, Goodacre was named to the All-NPF team for the first time in her career securing her spot behind the plate.
At the end of the night, seven Pride players were named to the 2017 All-NPF team including Chelsea Goodacre (C), Hallie Wilson (1B), Shelby Pendley (SS), Kelly Kretschman (OF), Jordan Taylor (P), Keilani Ricketts (P) and Sierra Romero (At-Large).
Collectively, the USSSA Pride was recognized as regular season champions, for the fourth consecutive year, ending the 2017 season with a 40-9 record. It also marked the Pride’s sixth regular season title since 2009.
For the second year in a row, the USSSA Pride coaching staff was recognized taking home Coaching Staff of the Year this year presented to Lonni Alameda, Craig Snider and Travis Wilson.
The USSSA Pride face the Chicago Bandits at 6 p.m. ET for the first game of the 2017 NPF Championship Series. Tune in at NPF-tv.com, MLB.com or The Olympic Channel (TOC).
Follow the Pride this post season on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all game updates.
About USSSA Florida Pride:
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:
USSSA is 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.
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