PROFESSIONAL SOFTBALL
Professional softball returns to San Marcos
Professional Softball is back in San Marcos for the first time since 2017 as the Texas Smoke and the Texas Monarchs kicked off the season opener of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league at Bobcat Softball Stadium.
The WPF was founded in 2021 and started their first season in 2022.
The first season of the WPF featured two teams in the USSSA Pride and the Smash It Sports Vipers before expanding to four in the 2023 season adding the Texas Smoke and the Oklahoma City Spark.
The Smoke are currently owned by former Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips and his partner, current WWE wrestler Jade Cargill.
The Smoke won the 2023 title, beating the Pride in a two-game series and finishing the season with the best overall record.
Both the Pride and the Vipers declined to participate in the 2024 season while the Spark moved to the Association of Fastpitch Professionals league that was founded in 2023 and is playing their first season this year.
The 2024 season saw the return of the Texas Smoke as well as the addition of three more teams to the league, all based in Texas, in the Texas Monarchs, Coastal Bend Tidal Wave and the Hub City Adelitas.
The Smoke also saw changes for the franchise, moving from Concordia Texas Softball Stadium to Bobcat Softball Stadium in San Marcos, though the team remains based in Austin.
The Monarchs will also play at Bobcat Softball Stadium and will represent San Marcos. The Tidal Wave will be based out of Corpus Christi and the Adelitas will be based out of Lubbock.
Both the Monarchs and the Smoke will be the first teams to play professional softball in San Marcos since the Texas Charge in 2017 who played in the National Pro Fastpitch league.
While some of the players for both the Smoke and the Monarchs will be new for some fans in San Marcos, there are a couple of familiar faces that attendees will recognize.
Former Texas State pitcher Jessica Mullins signed with the Smoke while former Texas State third baseman Sara Vanderford signed with the Monarchs.
All four teams will play a eight week schedule with four game series being played Thursday through Sunday.
The championship series will start on August 13.
This weekend will see the Monarchs host the Adelitas while the Smoke go on the road against the Tidal Wave.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
Sara Vanderford gets ready to make a play during the Monarchs game against the Smoke. Submitted photo by Peter Vives
