| New England Riptide | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| League | National Pro Fastpitch |
| Location | Lowell, Massachusetts |
| Ballpark | Martin Softball Field |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Folded | 2009 |
| Cowles Cup championships | 2006 |
| Colors | red, blue |
| Coach | Germaine Fairchild |
| Manager | Joe Adlman |
The New England Riptide was a women's professional fastpitch softball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. Since the 2004 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch. Operations were suspended in February 2009. [1]
The 2004 season ended with the Riptide having a record of 25 wins and 35 losses. The Riptide finished fourth in the league for the regular season. The Riptide lost the championship game to the NY/NJ Juggernaut.
The Riptide finished the season with a record of 25 wins and 23 losses in the year following their championship appearance. The pitching staff was led by Jocelyn Forest and Danielle Henderson during the 2005 season. Forest who had an ERA of 1.09 in 77 innings pitched, finished the season with an 8-2 record. Henderson led the Riptide with 125 innings pitched, and had season ERA of 1.96 and 150 strikeouts in the 2005 season. The offense was highlighted by Kellie Wilkerson who led the Riptide in average (.435), on-base percentage (.602), slugging percentage (.681), stolen bases (6), walks (28), and home runs (4). In addition to being the leader of the offense, Wilkerson also filled in pitching during the season.
During the 2006 season the Riptide finished with a record of 24 wins and 17 losses, in the 41 games the team played during the season. Once again Jocelyn Forest led the Riptide pitching staff. Forest recorded 15 wins during the season which was both a team and league high. In 130 innings pitched, Forest had a 1.29 ERA and 107 strikeouts. The Riptide received very well balanced offensive attack in the 2006 season with many different offensive leaders including Lyndsey Angus, Lindy Winkler, and Tarrah Beyster. Lyndsey Angus earned the NPF Player of the Year.
The New England Riptide defeat the Connecticut Brakettes by a 2-0 margin, to win their first ever NPF Championship. Jocelyn Forest receives the NPF Championship Series Most Valuable Player award following her impressive performance which includes striking out seven and stranding seven Brakettes on base.
The Riptide finished the 2007 with 26 wins and 18 losses, and as a result finished 3rd in the league. Eileen Canney was the ace of the Riptide pitching staff during the 2007 season and finished the season with 9-6 record. Also during the 2007 campaign Canney had 1.16 ERA and 137 strikeouts, both of which were league highs. The Riptide also had very strong seasons from Erica Beach, Jocelyn Forest, and Danielle Henderson, who helped to anchor the pitching staff. During the 2007 season Scott Shanel led the offense with a .324 batting average, 34 stolen bases, 26 walks, and 35 runs. However, during the season the offense was very well balanced eight players having an average over .250.
In the 2008 season the Riptide finished with a record of 22 wins and 26 losses, which earned them 4th place in the league. During the 2008 season the Riptide were led by Eileen Canney who had a 2.29 earned run average and 13 wins. Also during the 2008 season Canney had 150.1 innings pitched, and 18 complete games. On the offensive side the Riptide were led by Jackie Pasquerella and Jess Merchant. Pasquerella led the riptide in average (.354) and hits (45) for the season. Merchant provided more of the power threat leading the Riptide in home runs (6), doubles (7), and RBI's (26).
Lauren Bay-Regula is a Canadian softball pitcher. She played college softball at Oklahoma State from 2000 to 2003, where she holds several all-time school records. She was a part of the Canadian softball team who finished ninth at the 2002 World Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Bay-Regula pitched in 2005 for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch and was named co-Pitcher of the Year; in 2006, Bay signed with the expansion Philadelphia Force. Bay-Regula represented Team Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal.
Catherine Leigh Osterman is a retired American softball player. Osterman pitched on the United States women's national softball team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Monica Cecilia Abbott is a retired American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan Softball League. In international competition, she has played for Team USA from 2005 including the national softball team winning a silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Abbott is the NCAA Division I leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings.
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup.
The Oakland Athletics' 1990 season was their 23rd season in Oakland, California and the 90th in franchise history. The team finished first in the American League West with a record of 103 wins 59 losses.
The 1980 Oakland Athletics season was the team's thirteenth season in Oakland. The A's, under first-year manager Billy Martin, began the season with low expectations following their insipid 1979 campaign. Strong performances from pitchers Mike Norris, Matt Keough, and Rick Langford, along with the brilliant play of breakout star Rickey Henderson, paved the way for a staggering 29-win increase over the previous year's output. The Athletics, only one year removed from baseball's worst record, swung to a second-place finish behind their 83–79 record.
The 1924 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 83–70, 10 games behind the New York Giants.
Danielle Henderson is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher who is currently the head coach at UMass. Henderson was a starting pitcher for the UMass Minutewomen softball from 1996 to 1999. Henderson also played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch from 2004 to 2007, where she currently ranks top-10 in career strikeout ratio (6.8). Along with numerous school records, she is the Atlantic 10 Conference career leader in ERA, shutouts, perfect games (3) and WHIP. Henderson represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal.
Danielle Elaine Lawrie is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which she was part of the 2009 Women's College World Series championship team and was named Most Outstanding Player. Lawrie currently plays for the Canada women's national softball team, including during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal.
Katherine Burkhart is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher and softball coach. She played college softball at Arizona State, and won a national championship with the team in 2008 and was named Most Outstanding Player. Burkhart holds the career records in wins, strikeouts, perfect games, WHIP, innings pitched and strikeout ratio for the school. She also ranks in several career pitching categories and the top-10 for strikeouts and perfect games for both the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA Division I. She has also pitched for the USA Softball team. She also helped remove snakes from a plane that was bound from Hawaii to Phoenix in 2023.
Sarah Jo Pauly is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired 7-time professional All-Star, right-handed softball pitcher and coach originally from Phoenix, Arizona. She played college softball at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi from 2002-2005 and owns virtually all the pitching records. She is the Big South Conference career strikeouts, ERA, shutouts, WHIP, strikeout ratio, no-hitters (9) and perfect games (2) leader in just three seasons. She joined the National Pro Fastpitch in 2006 and as a rookie earned Pitcher of The Year and currently holds NPF records for the most innings pitched, games played and games started through her 11 seasons as arguably the most successful undrafted player in league history. She is one of five NCAA Division I pitchers to win 100 games, strikeout 1,000 batters, maintain a sub-1.00 ERA and average double digit strikeouts for her entire career.
Jessica Merchant is an American softball coach and former softball player. She is currently the associate head coach of the Stanford Cardinal softball team. She previously served as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and UMass Minutewomen. She played professional softball in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league for the New England Riptide for three seasons, and for the Connecticut Brakettes for one season. While playing for the Brakettes in 2006, she was named NPF Offensive Player of the Year.
Angelique "Angel" Bunner is an American, former professional softball pitcher. Bunner pitched collegiately for Auburn from 2008 to 2012. In the 2012 NPF Draft, she was drafted seventeenth overall by the Carolina Diamonds. During her professional career in the National Pro Fastpitch, she played for the USSSA Pride, Chicago Bandits, Pennsylvania Rebellion, Carolina Diamonds, NY/NJ Comets and most recently the Beijing Eagles. She currently ranks in career innings pitched and won a Cowles Cup championship with the Bandits in 2016.
The 2007 National Pro Fastpitch season was the fourth season of professional softball under the name National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) for the only professional women's fastpitch softball league in the United States. From 1997 to 2002, NPF operated under the names Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.
The 2006 National Pro Fastpitch season was the third season of professional softball under the name National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) for the only professional women's fastpitch softball league in the United States. From 1997 to 2002, NPF operated under the names Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Cowles Cup.
Emma Johnson, is an American softball pitcher. She was the starting pitcher for Kent State University from 2012 to 2015, where she wore the #11. Johnson is currently a free agent.
Lauren Elizabeth Anna Haeger is a professional softball pitcher and first baseman with the Dallas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). After being named a member of the 2011 MaxPreps Softball All-American Team and earning a gold medal at the III Pan American (18-under) Games in 2010, Haegar played softball at the University of Florida.
Kelly Katlyn Barnhill is an American professional softball pitcher. She played college softball for the Florida Gators from 2016 to 2019, earning All-American honors during her tenure with the team. She was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Honda Sports Award, and espnW Player of the Year in 2017. She is the career no hitters (7), strikeouts, strikeout ratio (10.5) and WHIP leader for the Gators. She also ranks in career strikeout ratio for both the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA Division I.
Jolene Nicole Henderson is an American, former collegiate All-American, professional All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher and first baseman and softball Assistant Coach, originally from Elk Grove, California. She was a starting pitcher for the California Golden Bears from 2010–13 where she is the career leader in wins and was a 4-time All-Pac-12 player. She is the reigning National Pro Fastpitch Pitcher of The Year after being drafted #3 overall in 2013 and currently ranks top-10 in career wins, ERA, WHIP and fielding percentage and is on the roster for the independent softball team the USSSA Pride. She also played on the United States women's national softball team in 2014.
Aleshia Ocasio is a professional American softball player. She played college softball at Florida. Ocasio most recently played in the Athletes Unlimited Softball, where she won the 2021 championship as the top individual points leader. She has been a member of the Puerto Rico women's national softball team since 2015.
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Cowles Cup NPF Champions New England Riptide 2006 | Succeeded by |
