The 1998 WPF Draft was the second annual collegiate draft for the WPSL/WPF's 1998 season, and was held on December 7, in Palm Springs, CA in conjunction with the 1998 NFCA National Convention.[1] Draft order was based on teams' finish in 1997. Georgia Pride and Carolina Diamonds tied with the same record during the 1997 regular season. Georgia lost more games to Carolina in the 1997 head-to-head series and chose ahead of Carolina in the odd-numbered rounds. Carolina chose ahead of Georgia in the even numbered rounds.

1998 WPF Draft
General information
Sportsoftball
Date(s)December 6, 1997
LocationPalm Springs, CA
Overview
60 total selections
LeagueWomen's Pro Fastpitch
Teams6
First selectionDesarie Knipfer P Cal Poly-SLO selected by Georgia Pride
Most selectionsCarolina Diamonds, 12 picks
Fewest selectionsDurham Dragons, Virginia Roadsters, Orlando Wahoos 9 picks each

Following are the 60 selections from the 1998 WPF draft:[2][3]

1998 WPF Draft

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Position key:
C = catcher; INF = infielder; SS = shortstop; OF = outfielder; UT = Utility infielder; P = pitcher; RHP = right-handed pitcher; LHP = left-handed pitcher
Positions will be listed as combined for those who can play multiple positions.

# Denotes player who has not played in the WPF/WPSL/NPF[Draft note 1]

Round 1

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

1 Desarie Knipfer P Georgia Pride Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo
2 Eve Gaw# P Carolina Diamonds Washington
3 Debbie Bilbao# P Tampa Bay Firestix Iowa
4 Sheryl Scheve P Durham Dragons Purdue
5 Jodi Dolan OF Virginia Roadsters Ohio State
6 Ali Viola SS Tampa Bay Firestix[Draft note 2] Nebraska

Round 2

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

7 Leanne Tyler# P Carolina Diamonds Oklahoma State
8 Whitney Floyd# P Georgia Pride California
9 Kristi Bolle IF Tampa Bay Firestix Oklahoma State
10 Cheri Shinn# UT Georgia Pride[Draft note 3] CS-Northridge
11 Jennifer Jaime P Virginia Roadsters Oklahoma
12 Sandy Rhea OF Orlando Wahoos Utah

Round 3

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

13 Chelo Lopez IF Georgia Pride CS-Northridge
14 Jodi Otten 2B Carolina Diamonds LSU
15 Rachel Johnson OF Tampa Bay Firestix Oklahoma
16 Jen Smith C Durham Dragons Nebraska
17 Raja Woods# UT Carolina Diamonds[Draft note 4] Arizona State
18 Monica Armendarez 3B Orlando Wahoos Indiana

Round 4

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

19 Jen Buford 2B Carolina Diamonds Colorado State
20 Stephanie Bonillas# 3B Carolina Diamonds[Draft note 5] New Mexico State
21 Kim Slover[Draft note 6] 1B Tampa Bay Firestix Missouri
22 Jennifer Schoen OF Durham Dragons Purdue
23 Kelly Buckley# C Virginia Roadsters Massachusetts
24 Kellyn Tate OF Orlando Wahoos Michigan

Round 5

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

25 Tia Morenz# C Georgia Pride Hawaiʻi
26 Victoria Ruelas IF Carolina Diamonds San Jose State
27 Cara Johnson UT Tampa Bay Firestix Western Illinois
28 Roxanne Tsosie# P Durham Dragons Arizona State
29 Kim Peck# P Virginia Roadsters Fresno State
30 Kristy Hull# C Orlando Wahoos Fresno State

Round 6

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

31 Corina Lilly P Carolina Diamonds San Jose State
32 Nina Lindenberg 2B Georgia Pride Fresno State
33 Jennifer Kintz# OF Tampa Bay Firestix Fla. Atlantic
34 Jill Haas# 3B Durham Dragons Sacramento State
35 Julie Garcia OF Virginia Roadsters Columbus St.
36 Lori Osterberg# SS Orlando Wahoos University of Southwestern Louisiana [6]

Round 7

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

37 Amanda Favorite# IF Georgia Pride Long Beach St.
38 Erin Hickey# OF Carolina Diamonds DePaul
39 Michelle Reeve OF Tampa Bay Firestix Centenary
40 Sky Brown# P Durham Dragons South Carolina
41 Sara Fredstrom SS Virginia Roadsters Colorado State
42 Amy Robertson# P Orlando Wahoos TN-Chattanooga

Round 8

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

43 Brandy Arthur P/OF Carolina Diamonds North Carolina
44 Lety Pineda C Georgia Pride Arizona
45 Nicola Walsh# OF Tampa Bay Firestix Long Beach St.
46 Julie Crandall IF Durham Dragons UNLV
47 Jenny Ackley 1B Virginia Roadsters California
48 Trish Charbonneau# IF Orlando Wahoos Ill.-Chicago

Round 9

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

49 Diedre Shores OF Georgia Pride SW Mo. St.
50 Jen Dean# 3B Carolina Diamonds Northern Iowa
51 Laurie Fritz# 2B/OF Tampa Bay Firestix UCLA
52 Kristen Drake# 2B/SS Durham Dragons California
53 Lith Webb# 3B Virginia Roadsters California University of Pennsylvania
54 Michelle Oswald SS Orlando Wahoos NE Illinois

Round 10

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Pick

Player

Pos.

WPF Team

College

55 Kim Guthridge# 1B Carolina Diamonds Massachusetts
56 Carolyn Wilson# C Georgia Pride Fresno State
57 Alison Johnsen# OF Tampa Bay Firestix Arizona
58 Laura Redding# IF Durham Dragons CS-Northridge
59 Tammy Pytel 2B Virginia Roadsters N. Illinois
60 Missy Kaczor# C Orlando Wahoos N. Illinois


Draft notes

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  1. ^ Unless otherwise noted, this was verified against the Historical Roster on the NPF's website.[4]
  2. ^ Selection # 6 was acquired by TB from Orl in an earlier trade.
  3. ^ Selection #10 was acquired by Georgia from Durham in an earlier trade
  4. ^ Selection #17 was acquired by Carolina from Virginia on draft nights for the rights to Patty Becker.
  5. ^ Selection # 20 was acquired by Carolina from Georgia on draft night for the rights to Crystal Boyd.
  6. ^ Slover opted to complete her college elligibility instead of signing with Tampa Bay. She was drafted by the Georgia Pride for the 1999 season and played with them.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Hiller (25 December 1997). "WPF compost draft list". Sport Today. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  2. ^ "1998 Women's Professional Fastpitch Draft Selections.pdf". Box.com. 6 December 1997. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  3. ^ AC (15 August 2014). "About Baseball Basketball Football Hockey Other Sports Soccer Store Archive for the 'Women's Professional Softball League' Category". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Historical Rosters". ProFastpitch.com. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. ^ "TWO SENIOR SOFTBALL PAYERS DRAFTED BY THE WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL SOFTBALL LEAGUE". MU Tigers. 21 June 1999. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  6. ^ Dearrel Bates (17 August 2000). "Osterberg takes job with LSU". Quad-City Times. Retrieved 14 June 2016.