NASHVILLE, Tenn. – National Pro Fastpitch announced today that coverage of the NPF 2011 Opening Weekend will be carried live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com, June 11th at 3:00 p.m. EST. The featured game will be a re-match of the 2010 Championship Final Series between the Chicago Bandits and the USSSA Florida Pride. The game will broadcast live from ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Disney and will feature the top players in the sport of fastpitch softball. To accomodate the televised game, the Chicago Bandits and USSSA Florida Pride, members of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), have made a change to their respective 2011 schedules. The Bandits, who were originally scheduled to open on June 9 at home versus the Pride, will now begin the 2011 season in Florida.
An off-season move by the Chicago Bandits to pick up former Olympian and All-NPF player, Monica Abbott, will likely increase the attention to the already star-studded match-up. The Chicago Bandits and USSSA Florida Pride have already agreed the starting pitchers slated for the televised game will be the Bandits’ Abbott and the Pride’s Cat Osterman. In all, at least eleven former Olympians will square off in the competition.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to deliver the very best fastpitch softball competition in the world to an ESPN television audience.” said Commissioner Cheri Kempf. “I think fans will be excited to know they will have access to see such an anticipated match-up of softball’s royalty on the opening weekend of what is sure to be another action packed NPF season.”
The NPF regular season opens June 9th and concludes August 14th. All four teams then participate in the NPF Championship Series to be held in Sulphur, LA August 18th - 21st. Additional television dates will be released in the near future.
- Courtesy of the NPF
