Apr 12, 2016 4 min read

Craig Montvidas has a plan to make the Pennsylvania Rebellion a strong team in the National Pro Fastpitch softball league.

The manager is returning for his second season and is preparing for the NPF draft, which will be held at 8 p.m., Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. He hopes to add more pieces to a team that played reasonably well at the end of last season but still finished at 16-32 and one game behind the league’s first-year team, the Dallas Charge. The NPF added a new team this season, the Houston Scrap Yard Dogs.

“I want to blow out one candle at a time,” said Montvidas. “That means just getting our foot in the playoffs. When you get into the playoffs, it’s a different scenario. Anything can happen. The main concern is getting to the playoffs. Our goals are to catch Dallas and Houston. Those are the two teams we have to keep behind us.”

The Rebellion started 2-9 and stood at 5-23 near the midpoint of the season. But Montvidas righted the ship and the Rebellion won 11 of the final 20 games.

“We got better (at the end). It got frustrating at the end of the season. I thought we were the best worst team ever. There were a lot of close games. Offensively, we came up short in too many games. On paper, we’ve added Raven Chavanne and Stacey Porter. I think we will be better.”

The Rebellion have eight picks in the six-round draft, including the No. 1 selection they got by finishing last in the league. They have two in the third round and two more in the sixth. While Montvidas won’t reveal the team’s strategy, he did say landing a top pitcher, infielders and a good hitter are priorities. College players must make themselves eligible to be drafted by agreeing to be included in the draft. Those decisions are not made public.

“We have the No. 1 pick so you are sure to get at least one person on your Christmas list,” he said. “Last year, we had the sixth pick and we thought Miranda Kramer would be gone. But we got her and we were happy to get her. But she pitched 243 innings in her senior season and she ended up having an injury for us and threw just 24 innings for us last year. Having said that, we’ve seen what she is capable of with no arm fatigue. It’s like a bonus (pick) for us and we’re counting on her.”

The draft has not been a strong source of talent for the Rebellion and last year’s draft was especially difficult on other first-round selections.

“If you look at the top five picks … first pick, Lauren Chamberlain ended up hitting .205. She broke every home run record in the NCAA. Dallas chose Danielle Henderson and she struggled to hit over .100. Akron took Morgan Estell and she ended up not playing for them. … All five teams were happy on (draft day) but it didn’t turn out as expected.”

One major change this year is Team USA players have permission to play in the NPF. The Rebellion have signed two infielders – Chavanne and Porter – but each will be available for only part of the season because of their obligations to Team USA.

Montvidas said a couple factors determined his returning from his home in the Netherlands to manage the Rebellion.

“For myself, there were two things,” he said. “First, I have to want to come back because I enjoyed the first season. Beside the losing part, I enjoyed everything about that season. On the home front, it worked out. (My family) is coming back this summer and meeting us at several other places. The schedule was as if I made it myself.”

And he was positive about the Rebellion holding games at different locations throughout the season. The Rebellion have only 15 games at Consol Energy Park and 10 at neutral sites.

“I think it’s a smart move,” Montvidas said. “You want to build your fan base in the local areas. For the NPF, they want to build a following in other locations. I think you can get people who live far away to come one time, maybe make a four-hour drive, but you’re not going to get them to come that often if it’s (a long) trip. So a lot of people will get to see NPF games who might not get to. Financially, it’s a benefit. There are a lot of plus points.”

The draft will be televised by CBS Sports Network. … The Rebellion will have four games televised this season, all on the road. The games at Chicago July 25-26 and at Dallas Aug. 13-14 will be televised by CBS Sports Network.