Dallas Charge Release
Watch Erwin's Highlight Video
DALLAS, Texas – West Texas A&M's
Renee Erwin has made program history once again as the Anna, Texas native became the first professional softball player in the 10 year history of the Lady Buffs. Erwin took part in a preseason evaluation tryout for the Dallas Charge of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league last week and signed a contract with the team this weekend.
"Making a team in the NPF is something that every girl dreams about. Being able to make the roster for the Dallas Charge and play in front of family and friends from my hometown is something that cannot be described" said Erwin "I am truly honored and blessed to be able to continue my career and make not only WT proud, but be able to represent the Lone Star Conference and Division II softball."
She becomes just the 24
th NCAA Division II player to play professionally dating back to 1991 and she is just the second player from the Lone Star Conference to make the career move, joining Tarleton State's Monica Garza (NPF's Texas Thunder, 2005). Erwin is currently the only Division II student-athlete signed to a league contract and she is joined on the Charge by Division I standouts Lauren Haeger (Florida), Taylor Thom (Texas), Molly Fichtner (Alabama), Brianna Cherry (UL-Lafayette) and numerous others to fill out the Dallas roster. The Charge are coached by former Olympic Gold Medalist and current University of Texas assistant, Jennifer McFalls.
"I'm very proud of Renee, she had an outstanding career as a member of our program and it's great that she has a chance to continue to play the game that she loves in the NPF" said WT head coach
Kevin Blaskowski "The NPF and the Dallas Charge is the best of the best and to have Renee representing WT Softball at that level is outstanding. This is such a big step for her as a player and for our program, everyone in Buff Nation will be her biggest supporters this summer and beyond."
The Dallas Charge will begin competition in the National Pro Fastpitch league on June 3
rd as they host the Pennsylvania Rebellion in the program's first game. The Charge provides elite softball players the opportunity to pursue a professional career and inspire the next generation of professionals. Located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the Charge organization and its players are committed to demonstrating leadership in community involvement, entertainment, and professionalism. Fans wishing to follow the Charge and the NPF during the season can visit
www.DallasCharge.com or
www.ProFastpitch.com for more information.
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women's fastpitch softball and has been since 2002. The Charge are joined in the NPF by the two-time defending league champion USSSA Pride along with the Chicago Bandits, Akron Racers and the Pennsylvania Rebellion.
With the expansion to five NPF teams in 2015, each team will play 120 regular season league games. The five affiliate teams will compete in at least 16 different venues in a minimum of eight different states with the 2015 season culminating at the NPF Championship Series in Hoover, Alabama from August 14-18. This marks the second year in a row the Championship Series will be hosted in Hoover.
Erwin, the 2015 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year and back-to-back Daktronics Ron Lenz National Player of the Year, finished off her WT career in style as the Anna native registered one of the best statistical seasons in Division II history in 2015. She hit .424 with nine doubles, three triples and 23 homeruns to drive in 71 RBI while tallying 145 total bases and scoring a LSC single season record 83 runs. Erwin registered an amazing slugging percentage of 1.077 as she started 55 of 56 games for the Lady Buffs, the LSC Golden Glove outfielder tallied 41 putouts and two assists with no errors in right field for a perfect fielding clip of 1.000. She set new career LSC and school marks in homeruns (62), runs batted-in (244) and runs scored (265). Erwin led the Lady Buffs to back-to-back Lone Star Conference Championships (2014, 2015) and the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship as she was named a member of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.
The defending Lone Star Conference Female Athlete of the Year is tied for 4th in NCAA Division II history with 62 homeruns while ranking fourth all-time in runs scored (265), sixth in runs batted-in (244) and fourth in total bases (548). Erwin became just the second player in Division II history to win the Daktronics Ron Lenz National Player of the Year award twice in a career and she is the only player ever to win the award in back-to-back seasons. She was named an NFCA and Daktronics 1
st Team All-American for her efforts on the diamond, picking up Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year accolades for the second straight season.
