DENVER - Senior first baseman/pitcher Kate Robinson became the first Rainbow Wahine to be drafted to the National Pro Faspitch league. She was selected in during yesterday's NPF Senior Draft in the second round, No. 11 overall by the Akron Racers.

Robinson, a 2007 first team Easton All-American and second team NFCA All-American, is already off to a strong start in her senior campaign. Last week in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic, Robinson hit .389 with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, and three runs scored. She also went 2-1 on the mound with a 1.33 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched. She is the preseason choice as WAC Player of the Year and is also one of 50 players to be on the prestigious 2008 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List.

Robinson had a record breaking season in 2007 as she helped lead the Rainbow Wahine to their first ever NCAA Super Regional. The senior from Honolulu, O`ahu and Kamehameha Schools product, set new school single-season records with 19 home runs and 72 RBI. Robinson was seventh in the nation in RBI with 1.13 per game and 16th with .30 home runs per game. Overall, Robinson hit .358 (67-for-187) with 37 runs scored, 13 doubles, and had a slugging percentage of .733. She had career highs in almost every offensive and pitching statistical category.

As a pitcher, Robinson went 17-1 overall and a perfect 8-0 in conference games. She finished the season with a 2.01 ERA in 136.0 innings pitched, striking out 101 batters while walking just 23. She fired eight shutouts and 16 complete games on the year while holding opponents to a .225 batting average. She notched wins over several Top 25 teams including No. 1 Tennessee, No. 13 UCLA, No. 25 Fresno State and California, plus she earned victories over two other 2007 Women's College World Series' teams DePaul and Baylor.

The only other Hawai`i player to be drafted was standout Dana Degen in 2000 Women's Pro Softball League, which was a precursor to the NPF that started in 2002. Degen, who also played for the Akron Racers in 2002 and 2004, was most recently was the MVP in the Italian league with Sanotint Bollate.

Due to NCAA regulations, an active college senior-athlete is not eligible to sign with her respective franchise until their 2008 season is completed. The NPF season begins following the conclusion of the College World Series.

Major League Baseball is the Official Development Partner of National Pro Fastpitch in the category of women's professional fastpitch softball. The partnership, which began the fall of 2002, is part of The Commissioner's Initiative on Women and Baseball, a league-wide effort to help Major League Baseball and the 30 Major League Clubs build stronger relationships with female audiences.

National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. 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 Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL).