TUSCALOOSA, AL (August 18, 2016) – When Kelly Kretschman accepted her first award Thursday night at the annual NPF Awards Banquet, League Commissioner and President Cheri Kempf suggested she take a seat closer to the stage.
There was a lot more to come. On a night where baseball royalty was in the house in the form of Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., who made brief remarks to open the festivities, Krestchman commanded the spotlight.
The 36-year-old outfielder for the USSSA Pride collected an unprecedented amount of hardware at the Embassy Suites in the city where she played collegiately for the University of Alabama. Kretschman captured Player of the Year honors, along with trophies as Offensive Player of the Year and for leading the league in home runs, but that wasn’t all.
She also was awarded a special plaque as the league’s first-ever Triple Crown winner after leading NPF in batting average (.466), home runs (13) and RBIs (45). Needless to say, she also garnered All-NPF honors.
Kretschman’s Pride teammates stood in ovation when she was announced as the winner of the league’s top offensive award. When she won her second straight overall Player of the Year crown, the entire sold-out crowd of more than 250 – including competitors for the other three teams in the NPF Championship Series– stood to applaud.
“It’s very humbling,” said the native of Indian Harbour Beach, FL. “I appreciate it. I just try to play the game the right way and lead by example and show people the game is fun and you can play it no matter how old you are.
“I don’t care about individual awards. I really don’t. I would rather the people who played with me just say I was a good teammate. The other teams standing up and appreciating the kind of year I had means a lot to me, but I hope it’s not because of the numbers, but because I play the game the right way.”
Kretschman dominated the banquet the way she has dominated the 2016 season. In addition to the Triple Crown, she enters the four-team playoff as the league leader in runs scored (42), slugging percentage (.827), on-base percentage (.563) and total bases (110), and is tied for first in hits (62).
Those numbers add up to the best season by any hitter in league history. It may well be that the 11-year pro veteran, who was a four-time All-American at Alabama and a two-time Olympic medalist, is the best player in the history of professional softball.
Joey Arrietta, President and General Manager of the Akron Racers, fielded her 15th team this year, and she’s never seen a player have a better season.
“No, absolutely not,” she said. “No one has been able to put it together in each category of offense like Kelly has done. No one has had the balanced attack that she has had this year, not only the three categories of the Triple Crown but all the others.
“When you look at certainly the longevity and her back-to-back Player of the Year awards, that’s never been done. You talk about position players – you have to take the pitchers out, that’s different entirely – she’s the best in the history of this league. She’s done it year after year after year, and she’s gotten better.”
Kempf made sure to tell Kretschman that she didn’t want this banquet to be a retirement party.
“I told her, ‘If you leave your shoes at the plate, I will chase you down and put them back on,'” the Commissioner said. “Her performance speaks for itself. When you see just the sheer statistics, they put her in a category all by herself.”
The banquet also featured an historic moment when outfielder A.J. Andrews of the Akron Racers became the first female winner of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, which has been awarded in Major League Baseball since 1957. The pioneering moment wasn’t lost on Andrews.
“Walking up (to accept the trophy), I teared up,” Andrews said. “The fact that it is history-making, I’ll never forget this.
“It’s something that is huge for the sport and the future for women in softball. It is so exciting and so groundbreaking.”
Monica Abbott of the Scrap Yard Dawgs won the Pitcher of the Year award, presented by Diamond. Abbott led the first-year expansion franchise to the playoffs with an 18-1 record in the circle and a league-best 0.72 earned run average, while also leading the league in strikeouts with 167.
Lauren Chamberlain of the USSSA Pride won the Jennie Finch Award for leadership and humility on and off the field. Finch made a video presentation of the honor.
Andrews shared the Rally Spikes Award, for the league leader in stolen bases, with Sammy Marshall of the Chicago Bandits. Each had 15 steals.
Sami Fagan of the Akron Racers won the Rookie of the Year Award after batting .392 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs.
The USSSA Pride coaching staff, led by head coach Lonni Alameda, was the Coaching Staff of the Year Award, and the Pride took the NPF Cup for winning the league regular-season title (with a 37-13 record) for the third straight year.
Ffull list of the awards
- Player of the Year Presented by Mizuno: Kelly Kretschman, USSSA Pride
- Pitcher of the Year Presented by Diamond: Monica Abbott, Scrap Yard Dawgs
- Gold Glove Presented by Rawlings: A.J. Andrews, Akron Racers
- Offensive Player of the Year Presented by Louisville Slugger: Kelly Kretschman, USSSA Pride
- Rookie of the Year Presented by Easton: Sami Fagan, Akron Racers
- Rally Spikes Award (Most Stolen Bases) Presented by 3n2 Sports: A.J. Andrews, Akron Racers, and Sammy Marshall, Chicago Bandits
- Home Run Award Presented by Wilson/DeMarini: Kelly Kretschman, USSSA Pride
- Jennie Finch Award Presented by National Pro Fastpitch: Lauren Chamberlain, USSSA Pride
- Appreciation Award Presented by National Pro Fastpitch: Larry Brushett, Mizuno, and Dina Kwit, Chicago Bandits
- Regular Season Champions Presented by National Pro Fastpitch: USSSA Pride
- Coaching Staff of the Year Presented by Schutt Sports: USSSA Pride
- Triple Crown Award Presented by National Pro Fastpitch: Kelly Kretschman, USSSA Pride
All-NPF team, Presented by Combat
- Catcher: Griffin Joiner, Akron Racers
- First base: Alisa Goler, Pennsylvania Rebellion
- Second base: Nerissa Myers, Scrap Yard Dawgs
- Third base: Kelley Montalvo, Akron Racers
- Shortstop: Sami Fagan, Akron Racers
- Outfield: Kelly Kretschman, USSSA Pride
- Outfield: Megan Wiggins, USSSA Pride
- Outfield: Taylor Schlopy, Akron Racers
- Pitcher: Monica Abbott, Scrap Yard Dawgs
- Pitcher: Jordan Taylor, USSSA Pride
- Pitcher: Jolene Henderson, USSSA Pride
- Pitcher: Kelsey Nunley, USSSA Pride
- Utility: Taylor Edwards, Chicago Bandits
- At Large: Shelby Pendley, USSSA Pride
- At Large: Taylor Gadbois, Dallas Charge
- At Large: Hallie Wilson, USSSA Pride
- At Large: Jill Barrett, Chicago Bandits
- At Large: Lauren Haeger, Dallas Charge
- At Large: Danielle Zymkowitz, Chicago Bandits
About National Pro Fastpitch (NPF)
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), an Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball since 2002, provides elite female athletes with an opportunity to pursue a professional career in diamond sports beyond their collegiate success. The 2016 NPF season will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Coverage includes the NPF College Draft presented by Bownet on Thur., April 14, followed by 23 regular-season games, a Championship Series Preview Special and the 2016 NPF Championship Series. The NPF recently announced that the Scrap Yard Dawgs, located in The Woodlands, Texas, will join the Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Dallas Charge, Pennsylvania Rebellion and USSSA Florida Pride for the 2016 season. National Pro Fastpitch players hail from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand, representing the most accomplished and talented athletes in the sport of women’s softball.
