The National Pro Fastpitch season started Wednesday night. I would normally never attend a National Pro Fastpitch game since the Chicago Bandits play over 35 miles from where I live. However, since I had a meeting for work about 1/3 of the way from Elgin, IL (the home of the Chicago Bandits); I decided to attend my first National Pro Fastpitch game.

Obtaining Tickets
Since my meeting and the game started at the same time (7 pm), I decided to purchase a ticket online ahead of time – the team might stop selling tickets by the time I arrived. With these types of events, there are no scalpers so I would have had to purchase a ticket from the box office anyway. Note: When I arrived they were still selling tickets.

I chose to buy a ticket in the outfield for $8. The other ticket options were $10 for a seat down the first base line or $20 for a ticket behind home plate.

The Game
I arrived at the game before the bottom of the 4th inning (softball only plays seven innings), so I was able to see my minimum requirement of half the game. The Chicago Bandits shut out the Philadelphia Force 4-0. The game only lasted one hour and 45 minutes so plan for a short evening if planning to attend. The main highlight was when Jennie Finch warmed up in the 6th inning. It seemed like the entire crowd moved to the bullpen area to watch her pitch.

The atmosphere around the park reminded me of minor league baseball. The most interesting food item for sale was a Blizzard from Dairy Queen for $4. I had never seen a pre-packaged Blizzard before last night. If you can wait to eat until the seventh inning, Papa John’s will sell their remaining pizza and breadsticks for only $1.