Aussie Peppers To Return To Mankato, Minn. For 2020 Season

Softball Australia and Peppers Pro have agreed to a deal that will keep the Aussie Peppers in Mankato, Minn. for the 2020 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) season.

The Peppers, which feature several members of the Australian women's national softball team, will use the NPF's early-season schedule as preparation for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

"Our inaugural season with the Peppers in 2019 was crucial for our High Performance program, which enabled us to go through the WBSC Asia/Oceania Olympic qualification event undefeated," Softball Australia's Chief Executive Officer David Pryles said in a press release. "We are delighted to continue this relationship in 2020 to use it as a springboard for our Olympic campaign."

The Peppers completed their inaugural NPF season in 2019 in fifth place with a record of 12-31.

"We simply don't have access to the level of competition in the NPF Down Under, so our partnership with the Peppers was absolutely crucial to our Olympic Qualifier campaign," Peppers and Australian national team head coach Laing Harrow said in the release. "The NPF will again provide us valuable game time at the elite level as we prepare for our return to the Olympic Games."

The 2020 NPF schedule is set to be released later this month.

What You Need To Know About NPF's New Schedule Format

NPF Commissioner Cheri Kempf discussed the league's new schedule format with Softball America.