Staff Report

 

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall softball will battle the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) All-Star team in an exhibition game Wednesday September 26 at 7 p.m.

The game, which is part of the NPF Back-to-School tour, will be played at Charleston’s Appalachian Power Park, home of the West Virginia Power, a single-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 2012 tour will make 21 stops across 16 states and compete in a total of 22 games. The contest against the Thundering Herd will be the second stop for the tour.

“I appreciate the efforts of NPF Commissioner Cheri Kempf and West Virginia Power Executive Vice President Andy Milovich in providing us with this great opportunity for our student-athletes,” Marshall head coach Shonda Stanton said.

The Herd is coming off a successful 2012 season in which it compiled a record of 36-21 overall and 15-9 in Conference USA, good enough for a third place finish in the regular season. Marshall was the runner-up in the C-USA tournament, falling 3-2 to Tulsa.

Stanton enters her 14th season at the helm of the Herd and returns All-Conference USA and NFCA Mideast All-Region pitcher Andi Williamson, who collected a Marshall single-season record for wins with 25. Also returning for the Herd is fellow all-conference selection Jazmine Valle, who had a team high 10 home runs and 44 runs batted in.

Currently, two former Marshall players are competing in the NPF regular season. Rachel Folden, a four time All-American for the Herd (2005-08) plays for the Carolina Diamonds. Folden is presently second in the league in home runs (8) and tied for fourth in RBI (23). Marshall’s current assistant coach Amanda Williams is her seventh year in the NPF. Playing currently for the Chicago Bandits, Williams, an outfielder, has 21 hits in 31 games.

Both players will be participating in the 2012 NPF Championship Series in Rosemont, Ill. August 23-26. The Bandits and Williams are the defending champions.

Folden and Williams may also be part of the NPF All-Star squad that will compete against the Herd. Previous teams have included former Olympic gold medal winners Andrea Duran and Caitlin Lowe, plus national title winners Taryne Mowatt (Arizona) and Jenn Salling (Washington).

“It will be a great night of softball and I hope fans around the region will come out in full support of these incredible athletes in both dugouts,” said Stanton.

Additional details about the game, including ticket prices and other events related to the contest will be announced as the date of the game approaches.

Marshall’s full fall schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.

National Pro Fastpitch

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.