Chicago Bandits Sign Morgan Foley

Fresh off a stellar four-year career with Division 2 powerhouse Indianapolis, ace pitcher Morgan Foley has signed with the Chicago Bandits.

(c) UIndy Sports Info

The dominant hurler is UIndy's all-time wins leader and will be the first Division 2 player to ever suit up for the Bandits, who are coming off a league championship in 2015 and looking to shore up their rotation and pitching staff following the departure of all-time great Monica Abbott this offseason.

During her career at UIndy, Foley set three school records including wins (140), strikeouts (1,659), and innings pitched (1027). She registered eight career no-hitters.

Foley is second all-time in Division II history in strikeouts, behind only fellow 2016 NPF rookie Hannah Perryman, who was drafted by the Akron Racers. Foley got the "W" in the duo's only true head-to-head matchup this season, registering eighteen strikeouts and allowing just one hit and two runs in the conference tournament against Perryman's UMSL squad.

For 2016, Foley finished the season with a 40-4 record and 0.85 ERA. She collected 487 strikeouts in 272 innings of work. She allowed just twenty-one extra base hits and opponents hit just .133 against her. Throughout her entire career, Foley never allowed opponents to hit higher than .166 against her.

Also on the strikeout front, Foley holds the NCAA record for most strikeouts in a single game with thirty, a record she set in a thirteen-inning affair.

Monica Abbot Signs Six-Year Deal w/ Scrap Yard Dawgs

Monica Abbott, widely considered the best active pitcher in the game, has signed a six-year free-agent contract, a "million-dollar deal", with the Scrap Yard Dawgs, the newest expansion team in the National Pro Fastpitch league.

Abbott, 30, has pitched for the Chicago Bandits for the last five seasons, and the Dawgs will be her fifth NPF team overall since entering the league in 2007. She took the 2008 season off to participate in the Olympics as a member of Team USA.

A Tennessee Lady Vol from 2004-2007, Abbott cemented her status as the program's living legend when she ended her career with 189 career wins, an ERA of 0.79, and 2,440 career strikeouts. She ended her collegiate career as the NCAA's all-time leader in six categories, including wins, strikeouts, shutouts, and innings pitched, among others. She was named the National Player of the Year in 2007.

Abbott led the NPF in 2015 with an 0.31 ERA and her thirteen wins were second in the league. She allowed only thirty-two hits in 90.1 innings of work, striking out 149 over the same period of time. Her dominance was integral in the Bandits' taking home the Cowles Cup as the league champions.

The six-year deal is structured interestingly to fit within the league's $150,000 salary cap. Abbott's base salary will annually be $20,000, with the rest of the $1,000,000 sum being filled through various bonuses based on attendance numbers. The league's attendance fluctuate based on many different factors, including at various venues, but various news outlets have reported a minimum of 100 fans in attendance triggers many of the bonuses, as do several other factors.

Abbott will turn thirty-seven in the midst of the final year of the contract, which stretches to 2021. As Graham Hays of ESPNW noted, the deal seems to be particularly structured toward allowing Abbott's return to international competition should softball be re-allowed into the Olympics for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

The signing makes Abbott the fourth former Lady Vol to join the Dawgs for their first season of play, joining fellow former Tennessee stars Ivy & Ellen Renfroe and Madison Shipman.

The timing of the contract's announcement is interesting, as well, as the Bandits had placed the franchise tag on Abbott to allow for exclusive negotiation up to the tag's expiration on May 1. That the contract with such intricately-woven language would be finalized in such a short period of time is intriguing. The Dawgs will have to forfeit their 2017 first-round draft selection to the Bandits due to signing the tagged player.

Prep Game Turns Into Offensive Onslaught, Record-Setting Affair

A late-season game between two Illinois high schools wound up making national headlines after an offensive onslaught and numerous record-breaking performances.

The game between the Peoria Lions and Manual Rams matched or upended eighteen different Illinois state records. Swiped bags were a popular occurrence as one of the newly-set records was the mark of forty stolen bases in the game by Peoria alone! Twelve steals in the bottom of the first and nine stolen bags from Abby Carlton added to the Lions' bag of records.

For their part, the Rams swiped eighteen bases, including eleven in their part of the second inning alone.

Manual's Monique Miller earned six walks for her own record-setting performance.

The game ended in a 29-28 victory for Peoria, ended the team's thirty-seven-game losing streak. The Lions had twenty hits in the game, though none of them were for extra bases.

In the circle, Manual's Alexis Randle, who ultimately took the loss, threw 244 pitches, while Peoria's Chasity Alexander threw 210.

Top 26 Finalists Announced for Freshman of the Year

The twenty-six finalists for the second-annual National Freshman of the Year award have been announced.

2016 will be the third year the award is handed out; past winners include Kasey Cooper and Annie Aldrete (2014 co-winners) and Paige Parker a season ago.

The NFCA is the co-sponsor and presenter of the award.

The group of finalists represents twenty-three different schools and thirteen conferences. Florida, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma were the only teams to place two players on the list.

The SEC is represented by nine finalists, while the Big 12 has four and the ACC, three. The Big Ten and PAC 12, along with the Big East; Big South; Big West; Northeast; MAAC; Atlantic 10; and WAC, each placed a single player on the list.

Four finalists are "younger sisters", all with an older sister currently playing collegiately, as well. Oklahoma's Sydney Romero is the sister of Michigan's Sierra, while her fellow Sooner Shay Knighten is the younger sister of Nebraska's MJ Knighten. Notre Dame's Ali Wester is the sister of 2014 award finalist Karley Wester, also her Fighting Irish teammate, and Marist's Claire Oberdorf suits up alongside her own sister Jayne for the Red Foxes.

Five clubs are represented on both the Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year lists of finalists: Florida; Florida State; Oklahoma; Auburn; and Notre Dame.

The twenty-six finalists will be cut down to the final ten on May 12th, with the top three being announced on May 25th. The winner will be announced in Oklahoma City on May 31st.

The full list of finalists can be found below:

Kelly Barnhill	Pitcher	Florida
Ashley Diaz	First Base	Arkansas
Ebonee Echols	Utility	Michigan State
Taty Forbes	Outfield	Coastal Carolina
Sydney Golden	Pitcher	Cal State Fullerton
Carsyn Gordon	Utility	Florida State
Megan Hensley	Utility	Louisville
Jessica Hughes	Second Base	Fordham
Kelsey Horton	First Base	New Mexico State
Brianna Jones	Pitcher	Southern Illinois
Shay Knighten	Infield	Oklahoma
Amanda Lorenz	Outfield	Florida
Hailey Lunderman	Shortstop	Ole Miss
Taylor Lynch	Third Base	Oklahoma State
Maggie MacBeth	Second Base	Butler
Makayla Martin	Pitcher	Auburn
Keeli Milligan	Outfield	Texas A&M
Meehra Nelson	Pitcher	Oregon State
Hayley Norton	Outfield	Saint Francis
Claire Oberdorf	Utility	Marist
Sydney Romero	Infield	Oklahoma
Samantha Show	Pitcher	Texas A&M
Sydney Smith	Pitcher	LSU
Brooke Vines	Outfield	Tennessee
Kyla Walker	Utility	Baylor
Ali Wester	Utiltiy	Notre Dame

St. Peter's Fires Head Coach

MAAC perennial cellar-dweller Saint Peter's has fired head coach Ken Passante, according to sources. The school has not confirmed the ouster.

Passante, in his third season at the helm of the Peacocks, was winless in 2016. He did not coach Saturday's games against Canisius and ended his career at St. Peter's with a 12-111 career record.

St. Peter's was Passante's first Division One coaching job of any kind. He previously served as an assistant at Adelphi University in 2006, an eight-year interim between collegiate positions before he was hired at St. Peter's.

In that interim, Passante owned his own training business, the Hit Gym, a facility that instructed individuals as well as high school programs on strategies and other facets of the game.

Passante previously served as a junior college head coach for nine years, including eight trips to the NJCAA D1 world series eight times. He also served as that school's athletic director for six years.

St. Peter's play a doubleheader against Niagara later today and have fourteen games remaining after that, ending their season on May 8th at Monmouth.

Winthrop Softball Legend Dies in Car Accident

Winthrop softball legend and Hall of Famer Janiva Willis died in a car accident Tuesday night, April 12, in the state of Texas. The vehicle she was traveling in was struck by a tractor-trailer, killing Willis and the driver of the vehicle she occupied.

Willis, a member of the Eagles' class of 2005, was in the midst of a 3,700+ mile journey across the United States, from San Diego to Charlotte, North Carolina. Biking the entire way cross-country, Willis was completing the journey as a fundraiser for the "I Dream in Colors Tour", a nonprofit endeavor raising money for mentoring initiatives in several cities. The journey was supposed to cover eleven states and sixty cities in fifty-seven days; Willis departed San Diego on March 26th, due to arrive in Charlotte in mid-June.

A four-time all-Big South selection, Willis is one of the finest female athletes to grace a Winthrop uniform. She holds four of the program's career records, including the Eagles' all-time home run mark.

In 2005, after her senior season, Willis was named the NCAA's Woman of the Year and was a top-ten finalist for the National Woman of the Year award. She was inducted into the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.

Following her collegiate career, she was a member of the Canadian National Team in 2005 and 2007 and won a silver medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games.

Our thoughts, prayers, and best wishes are with her family and loved ones as they go through this tragic and difficult time.

Top 25 National Player of the Year Finalists Announced

The twenty-five players who will vie for the title of National Player of the Year have been announced; the list includes several no-brainer selections and a few that leave you scratching your head.

The list of finalists includes players representing twenty different schools and nine conferences. Twice-defending champions Florida are joined by Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, and James Madison in placing two players on the list.

The state of Florida placed five players on the list, including the pairs of Gators and Seminoles as well as ace pitcher Kylee Hanson of Florida Atlantic. The state of Louisiana placed three on the list, from three different schools, including representatives of McNeese State, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Louisiana-Monroe.

The group of finalists is comprised of nine seniors; eleven juniors; and five sophomores. Seven of the players in their final collegiate seasons were selected in the NPF Draft earlier this month.

Seven players find themselves a finalist for the second season in a row, including UCLA's Allexis ("Chip") Bennett; Louisiana-Lafayette's Lexie Elkins; James Madison's Megan Good; Minnesota's Sara Groenewegen; Alabama's Haylie McCleney; Michigan's Sierra Romero; and Notre Dame's Karley Wester.

Some big names and perennial award winners are notably absent from the list of finalists, including Oregon's Cheridan Hawkins; Georgia's Alex Hugo; Missouri's Sami Fagan; UCF's Shelby Turnier; and Florida's Kelsey Stewart.

The full list of finalists can be found below:

Ali Aguilar	Infield	Washington
Allexis Bennett	Outfield	UCLA
Jessica Burroughs	Pitcher	Florida State
Kasey Cooper	Third Base	Auburn
Koral Costa	Outfield	Oregon
Lexie Elkins	Catcher	Louisiana-Lafayette
Cortni Emanuel	Infield	Georgia
Jailyn Ford	Pitcher	James Madison
Megan Good	Pitcher	James Madison
Delanie Gourley	Pitcher	Florida
Sara Groenewegen	Pitcher	Minnesota
Kylee Hanson	Pitcher	Florida Atlantic
Sierra Lawrence	Outfield	Michigan
Sydney Littlejohn	Pitcher	Alabama
Haylie McCleney	Outfield	Alabama
Kelsey Nunley	Pitcher	Kentucky
Aleshia Ocasio	Pitcher	Florida
Paige Parker	Pitcher	Oklahoma
Erika Piancastelli	Catcher	McNeese State
Alex Powers	Infield	Florida State
Rochelle Roberts	Outfield	Louisiana-Monroe
Sierra Romero	Infield	Michigan
Lindsey Stephens	Outfield	Texas
Karley Wester	Outfield	Notre Dame
Morgan Zerkle	Outfield	Marshall