Head Coach Tim Walton, Several Former Gators Take On NPF Championship Series Aug. 18-21
Thursday, August 18, 2011 | Softball
Gator softball head coach Tim Walton and several former Gators, including 2011 seniors Kelsey Bruder, Megan Bush, Aja Paculba and 2010 graduate Francesca Enea, will take to the field Aug. 18-21 for the 2011 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) Championship Series at McMurry Park in Sulphur, La. Detailed below, all games Thursday – Saturday will stream live online with Yvette Girourard and Bernie Guenther calling the action, while the Sunday finale games will air live on ESPN2 with Jennie Finch, Leah O'Brien-Amico and Guenther.
The NPF Championship Series begins on Thursday evening with the Chicago Bandits battling the Akron Racers at 7 pm (ET), while the USSSA Pride will tangle with the NPF Diamonds in the nightcap at 9:30 (ET).
Walton, head coach of the USSSA Pride (Orlando, Fla.), led the 2010 Pride team to the 2010 NPF Championship title last August. The championship victory and NPF trophy was the first ever in Florida Pride history, coming in just the franchise's second year of existence. Walton, Bruder and Enea's Pride team have already secured the 2011 NPF regular-season title, but will now set out for the Championship Series. The Pride will face Paculba's NPF Diamonds team Thursday to get started, with potential to also face Bush's Akron Racers squad later in the weekend.
The Championship Series events kicked off Wednesday night with a Battle of the Bats competition, while earlier in the evening, 30 NPF players joined on the field with 19 Southwest Louisiana youth of the Awesome Kids Association in the Friends of the Pro's Game. The Awesome Kids Association offers sporting activities for physically challenged children and young adults and the NPF Friends of the Pros game proves to be the highlight of these children's year.
The ESPN2 live telecast of the Sunday, Aug. 21, at 2 p.m. EST final, will feature Finch and O'Brien-Amico as color analysts with Guenther on the call. The trio will also call the "if necessary" games at 5 p.m. ET final, which will run live on ESPN3.com with an encore presentation an ESPN2 Monday, Aug. 22, at 10 p.m. ET. In between the action, Finch, O'Brien-Amico and Guenther will also be providing insightful video clips of the event that will air throughout the Series on ESPNw.com.
In addition to Sunday's ESPN coverage, the NPF will internet stream Thursday – Saturday's games live. The Hall of Famer, Girouard, will be the color analyst on all streaming games, with Guenther covering the play-by-play. Prior to Sunday's finals, all live streamed games will be available through the NPF league website at profastpitch.com.
To watch Thursday's game via the live stream, visit HERE. For the complete schedule of games, visit the NPF's SCHEDULE.
Follow the Gators on Twitter @GatorZoneSBall and updates of the NPF Championship Series @profastpitch.
