University of Georgia Athletics
Former Bulldogs Succeeding In Pro League
August 16, 2016 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga.---The 15th regular-season of the National Professional Fastpitch league concluded on Sunday with five former Bulldogs and a current Bulldog assistant coach competing in the six-team league.
Megan Wiggins, a four-year UGA starter from 2008-11, helped guide the USSSA Pride to the 2016 regular-season NPF title and a 37-13 record. The outfielder led the Pride in plate appearances (196), at-bats (177) and triples (3). She batted .288 with 51 hits, seven doubles, 10 home runs, 24 RBI, 94 total bases and 35 runs scored. The Snellville, Georgia, native swiped 11 bases on 14 attempts and showcased a .531 slugging percentage with a .354 on-base slate. In the field, she had a 1.000 fielding percentage with 50 putouts and two assists. Wiggins holds the UGA record with 121 extra-base hits in a career.
Taylor Schlopy, a four-year starter for the Bulldogs from 2008-11, continues to rewrite the Akron Racers' record book as she passed Iyhia McMichael's mark for career Racers' hits and now holds the record at 195 hits. Schlopy was the Racers' first pick and second overall pick in the 2011 NPF Senior Draft. She also owns the team record in runs scored (157) and walks (129).
In her sixth season, Schlopy started all 50 games in centerfield and batted .282 with 42 hits, a triple, nine home runs and 27 RBI to go along with a .544 slugging percentage and a .419 on base percentage, both second-best on the team. Her 10 doubles registered first on the team and second best in the league, while she now sits one double short of tying McMichael's career Racers' doubles record of 32. In the field, she posted a .989 fielding percentage with 85 putouts and only one error. The California native is eight home runs shy of Akron's career home run record of 44, held by Crysti Busto.
Joining Schlopy on the Racers roster is former Bulldog Alex Hugo, the 10th overall pick in the 2016 NPF Draft and current Georgia assistant coach Rachele Fico. The Racers grabbed the last slot for postseason play with a 22-28 record.
Hugo, native of Olathe, Kansas, played her freshman year at Kansas before transferring to Georgia and becoming a three-year starter from 2014-16. She signed a two-year contract on June 8th and later that day, smacked a double in her first professional at-bat. Hugo completed her rookie campaign with a .236 batting average, 25 hits, five doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI. Splitting time in the infield and outfield, Hugo notched 38 starts in 43 appearances while supplying a .425 slugging percentage and a .362 on base slate.
Fico, a former first overall pick out of LSU, just completed her fourth season as a pitcher in the NPF, all with the Racers. In 2016, she made eight starts in 13 appearances with over 47 innings pitched, tallying 31 strikeouts. Fico joined the Bulldogs' pitching staff prior to the 2016 season.
Alisa Goler and Kristyn Sandberg spent three years as teammates at Georgia from 2009-11 and have been reunited for the last two seasons with the Pennsylvania Rebellion and now as assistant coaches for Syracuse. The Rebellion finished with a 17-33 record, falling short from postseason play.
Goler, a four-year Georgia starter from 2008-11, led or tied for the team lead in starts, plate appearances, at-bats, hits, doubles, RBI, total bases and walks for the Rebellion in 2016. She batted .295 with 38 hits, nine doubles, two home runs, 17 RBI, 13 runs scored and 53 total bases. The everyday first baseman ranked second in the league in putouts with 233 and sported a .996 fielding percentage with only one error on the season.
Sandberg, the 2012 NPF Miken Rookie of the Year award winner, started 35 games behind the plate for the Rebellion in 2016. She threw out 12 of 25 base stealers for a .676 stolen base success rate while displaying a .991 fielding percentage with 191 putouts. At the plate, she hit .250 with 25 hits, four doubles, four home runs, nine RBI and 15 runs scored. Sandberg was a four-year Bulldog starter from 2009-12.
NPF postseason starts Friday, Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. ET with a matchup between No. 2 Chicago Bandits and No. 3 Scrap Yard Dawgs followed by the matchup of top-seeded USSSA Pride and the No. 4 Akron Racers at 9 p.m. ET at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
