NPF All-Star Roster Released for Game at USC Upstate
10/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The National Pro Fastpitch softball league announced the probable roster for its game pitting its team of all-stars against USC Upstate at Cyrill Stadium on Oct. 12, and the roster is filled with all-time college greats and standout professional players.
Upstate will play host to the NPF all-stars as part of the NPF's 2012 Back to School Tour. The NPF team will compete against 22 different schools this fall in 16 different states. The tour is backed by USSSA and Major League Baseball.
Upstate will battle a roster full of former college All-Americans and current all-stars in the NPF. The Spartans will face pitchers Kristina Thorson (Akron Racers, California) and Sara Plourde (Carolina Diamonds, UMass). Thorson is the second all-time winningest pitcher in the history of the NPF with 53 victories. She is a former NPF Rookie of the Year and was a Pitcher of the Year and three-time First Team All-Conference selection in the PAC 10. She was also a three-time All-American. Plourde was a two-time All-American, a four-time All-A10 selection and the A10 Pitcher of the Year.
The NPF will have quite a talented crop of position players on its roster for the Oct. 12 game at Upstate as well. Kelly Kretschman (OF, USSA Pride) was a four-time All-American and three-time First Team All-SEC selection at Alabama. She was a member of the U.S. National Team that won the Olympic Gold Medal in 2004 and a Silver Medal in 2008. Another National Team member, Ashley Charters (2B, USSSA Pride) will also be in attendance at Cyrill Stadium. She was a First Team All-PAC 10 selection at Washington and led the Huskies to a national championship.
Joining Kretschman and Charters as position players are:
- GiOnna DiSalvatore (Carolina Diamonds, UCLA, 2-time All-American, 4-time All PAC 10)
- Francesca Enea (USSSA Pride, Florida, 3-time All-American, All-SEC, 7 career records at Florida)
- Rachel Folden (Carolina Diamonds, Marshall, 2-time All-American)
- Amanda Kamekona (Carolina Diamonds, UCLA, 2-time All-American and All-PAC 10)
- Brittany McKinney (Carolina Diamonds, North Carolina, Top 10 all-time in HR at UNC)
- Charlotte Morgan (USSSA Pride, Alabama, two-time SEC Player of the Year)
- Aja Paculba (Akron Racers, Florida, 2-time All-American and All-SEC)
- Angeline Quiocho (Carolina Diamonds, BYU, Mountain West Player of the Year, 3-time All-MWC)
- Jenn Salling (USSSA Pride, Washington, Canadian National Team, All-American, 3-time All-PAC 10)
"Certainly, the roster for our game against the NPF team is filled with tremendous players and some of the greats in the sport of softball. It will be a difficult challenge for our players, but will also be a tremendous experience, one that they will carry with them throughout the rest of their lives. We look forward to the game and kicking off the final weekend of our fall practice season."
Now in its third year of the NPF Back to School Tour, the NPF team owns a 42-1 record, with the only loss coming at the hands of the Oklahoma on the Fall 2011 Tour. Oklahoma went on to finish runner-up in the 2012 WCWS. Tickets for the game at Upstate will be $7 with children 3-and-under admitted free of charge, and will go on sale today (Oct. 1) in the Upstate Athletic Office. Fans can call (864) 503-5865 for more information.
Upstate is coming off of a 39-13 record in 2012. The Spartans received votes in the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls and were regulars in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll throughout the season. Upstate returns a strong nucleus from the 2012 team that claimed the program's first win over a top-25 team with a 3-1 victory over Syracuse (No. 23). Shellie Robinson (DeLand, Fla.) was named the A-Sun Freshman of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection. She was ranked among the nation's leaders in a variety of categories. Joining Robinson on the all-conference team were first-team selection Cheyenne Griffin (Moore, S.C.) and second team pick Hannah Alexander (Lexington, N.C.). Griffin was the every day starter at first as a freshman and Alexander led the A-Sun in wins as a sophomore last year.
Upstate returns seven starting position players, including senior starting catcher Ericka Harris (Piedmont, S.C.), one starting pitcher (Alexander) and seven key role players from last year's team. Hawkins will have to fill the void left by departing senior Janna Lewis from last year's team. The Spartans have also added six newcomers to the 2013 squad: junior college transfers Meredith Barnes (OF, College of Siskiyous) and Anna Miller (P, College of Siskiyous), as well as high school standouts Mellena Helms (INF, Concord, N.C.), Jamie Ujvari (P, Niceville, Fla.), Jessica Ujvari (C, Niceville, Fla.) and Jordan Wilson (C, Belmont, N.C.).
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