For those interested in following our upcoming kids, the tournament that Mercado and the Batbusters are playing in California continued yesterday and ends today. For that matter, Texas Blaze 18U is also there and I was hoping to get a good look at Townsen Thomas but she does not appear to be there with them this weekend for some reason. Anyway, Alyssa Hovermale had an outstanding Saturday but not much of anything yesterday as she was walked four times in the two games. Understand these kids are lucky to get 3 ab per game as both teams usually win in 5 (or a time limit) and with big leads they get subbed out. On the other hand, Taylor Shumaker continued to be simply dynamic with a couple more hits including a two run bomb over the deep right field fence. We have a tall, blonde, lefty with power who runs the bases with abandoned coming back for her last year. There's another very similar heading our way. This kid is special.
lol.....Batbusters' game just started. Taylor, in her first ab in the 1st inning....just hit a screaming rope deep over center fence for a three run bomb. I swear, on my Mother's grave...I am not making this stuff up. Edit: In her second ab in the 1st inning (they are already up 9-0) she hit another screaming rope to left center that was only caught because the left fielder was able to tumble over the temporary fence and rob her of another two run home run. With a normal fence, she would have had two home runs and 5 rbis in the first inning. I think I'm in love.
He pretty much cuts them from his list when they leave on their own accord. Not really their own accord. He tells them they should transfer if they want to play.
Athletes Unlimited starts tonight. For those interested, the full media guide: https://auprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023AUXSoftballMediaGuideWithCovers.pdf
Victoria Hayward, who is playing in AU tonight, is from Washington and a fixture on the Canadian National team. She just took the hitting coach job at UDub. Likely to be Garcia versus Aleshia in the circle to start the first game.
As previously stated on here. Tim is an assistant coach for the USA women's national team. I know the season starts July 11th, but I wonder when the team heads to Ireland? Like is it a week before? I'm just trying to guess when an announcement might be made.
Speaking of Stacey Nelson.. I just discovered she recently did an interview with pat Dooley. First time I seen stacey in years. I have no idea why it's showing "unavailable" if you click "watch on youtube" it goes to the interview.
Let’s jump into next season. Based on the current roster, before anyone potentially transfers in, this is how it looks to me. Excluding Gigante. Starting in the circle, we only have 2 freshmen arms in Ava Brown and Keagan Rothrock. 2 arms is obviously not going to cut it, but 2 potential stars in the making. At catcher, Emily Wilkie returns and has to be the favorite for the job going into fall. She improved at the plate this season and shown some pop on her bat. Solid defense. Freshmen Ariel Kowalewski will look to come in and take the job as freshmen. I don’t know too much about Ariel. I believe she is a top 30 recruit. We need another catcher purely for depth purposes, if not to come in and start. At first base, Avery Goelz returns and will probably be the front runner for the job. But I will present 2 other options. First Reagan Walsh. Gator defense has been a letdown recently and I’m not sure Walsh is the answer defensively at 2B. Maybe a move to 1B or a corner outfield spot is on the works. Second option, Skylar Wallace. 2 seasons ago she started the season at 1B and this might be an option Walton reconsiders. Wallace gets the job done at short and with how she swings the bat, I say you let her play wherever she wants, but I think defensively she is average at short. Avery plays solid defense and will come up with a clutch hit, but she just doesn’t swing it well enough to be handed the job outright at this time. She’s got to earn it this fall. At second base, Walsh returns but I hope to see her future be at another position. Be that 1B, LF/RF or at DP. I think Kaila Pollard is too good to be left out of the lineup, I look for her to take over at 2B. Her bat gets her into the lineup at either SS/2B/LF/RF. Freshman options include Mia Williams and Alyssa Hovermale. At short stop, the best player in the country returns in Skylar Wallace. Slim chance she moves off the position and heads to 1B, but if she does, Kaila Pollard and Mia Williams are both capable of taking over defensively and offensively. At third base, the great Charla Echols must be replaced. This looks like it will be a 2 or 3 way battle between Kaila Pollard and freshmen Mia Williams and Alyssa Hovermale. Hovermale has the advantage of being the most familiar with the position. Pollard and Williams are both good enough athletes to be able to make the move and learn the position. We have seen what Pollard can do with the bat, we will have to see how the other 2 do in fall. My current projection is that Mia Williams takes this spot. In center field, Kendra Falby returns and will hold the position down. No reason to think too much on this one. In left field, Katie Kistler returns but much like Avery at 1B, I think she needs to earn the position. Incoming competition in Cassidy McLellan. You can’t count out any of these freshman, they all appear to be legit ballers. Avery Goelz can play LF as well. There might be a world where Hovermale takes 3B and pushes Mia Williams into LF or 2B pushing Pollard or Walsh to LF. There are options and we need to get our best bats in the lineup, wherever that is. In right field, Bailee Goddard returns but after 2 season ending injuries, health is a question. If healthy, the position is hers. Walsh, Pollard, Goelz, and McLellan are all candidates. My current projection of a lineup: SS Wallace CF Falby DP Walsh RF Goddard 2B Pollard 3B Williams C Wilkie 1B Goelz LF Kistler Also of note, Brown and Rothrock can both hit, but with how much we will be relying on them in the circle, will Walton put hitting on their plate as well?
I heard an interview with Keagan, and she said coach Walton wanted her to get familiar with 1b... but, I do understand what you're saying about overuse. Hopefully we can get a few arms in the portal.
Does it concern any of you this team currently has only nine players on the roster and as far as we know they have no commitments from the portal.
Obviously we have got to acquire sufficient transfers to cover pitching support as well as being able to field a competitive team, in the event of illness or injury. I hope to see a truly competitive process in filling positions with seniority playing a secondary factor, with the exception of Wallace and Falby. I hope Conditioning is emphasized this off-season too, as team speed needs to improve (other than Wallace and Falby). I really hope we can get closer to our entire fielded team being strong in defense, offense and speed.
While it is obviously all speculation, that's an excellent analysis and one I pretty much agree with. Ariel and Cassidy can play and it seems at times they are not properly factored into the conversation. You did that.
Good analysis and reasoning. But I have a slightly different take. A lot of the final lineup will, of course, be determined by who we get from the portal. But based on the roster as it now stands, Skylar's "normal" position is 2nd base. She's a team player who wants to win and only played 1st last year because Hannah Adams was at 2nd and Walsh got 1st crack at SS. Wallace moved to SS when Walsh couldn't handle the position, but I think she'd be fine going to 2nd if someone else can handle SS. If Mia Williams is as good as advertised, I wouldn't be surprised to see her take over SS. I believe she will get first crack at it when fall practice opens up. Hovermale is, from what I've read, a great 3rd baseman as well as a solid hitter and I see her at 3rd. Ava Brown is, apparently, as good a hitter as she is a pitcher and plays 1B when not in the circle. I could see Walsh playing 1st when Ava is pitching, then DP when another pitcher is out there. Rothrock was, supposedly, asked by Coach Walton to play 1st base when not pitching this year, so maybe's he's already thinking of trying her and Brown alternating at the position. I agree that Wilkie gets the first shot behind the plate, but Kowalewski could be our best catcher since Aubree Munro. It took Munro about 2/3 of her freshman year to nail down the job, so I think they split duties for a time and whichever one establishes themselves as a hitter ultimately wins the job. Falby, to me, is the only sure bet to have an outfield position nailed down. The other 2 slots will be competitive between Goddard (if healthy), Kistler, Pollard, McLellan and Goelz. I would give the nod towards Pollard and Goelz right now. Pollard is an every day player, but was hampered by injury this year. Goelz is a pretty good right fielder, but has to be able to step it up with the bat. I think these freshmen are too good to keep out of the lineup and some of our veterans are eventually going to lose their jobs as the season progresses. But again, if we get an elite player at any position in the portal, things will change. We definitely need to pick up a couple of SEC-quality pitchers to compliment the 2 freshmen.
I love the fact that we're potentially going to have dual threat pitchers again. Really excited to see how we do.
I'm not sure if I have seen Mia play but if her and Wallace are the least bit similar defensively, I would go with the stronger arm at SS. When Walton had Wallace and Longley in and out at SS there were times I actually preferred Longley. Longley could move better and had the stronger arm. I like Goelz at 1st, she will pick a lot of balls and can make it look like an easy play. I wasn't really sure if Wilkie didn't catch much this past seasons because of her knee or what. Can she not catch much anymore or were they not wanting to over due it this season. If she just isn't able to catch as much, I think she could also be an option for 3rd. Walsh, I would probably work her in at 1st some but at DP for the most part.
