Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

Jocelyn, Mia and Kendra

 

Avery, Ava. Alyssa and Kendra

 

I think the tall blonde is Brooke. Kendra and Avery are both 5'7". The blonde is clearly taller than Avery. Or it might be Emily. Edit: the more I look at it, I'm going with Emily.

 

Baylee and Ava

 

I think it is Emily in the end.

 

My Baylee and Ava photo didn’t load

 

I’m sure there will be a press release out shortly for clarification.

 

Baylee and Ava

 

Anyhow, it’s fun trying to figure it out.

 

Olivia Miller, number 13 ranked recruit in 2023 class. Was committed to Ole Miss for nearly two years. We have our third pitcher!

 

For a Freshman coming to Florida after the NLI being signed doesn’t happen overnight. She had to have had a change of heart in the Dec or Jan period or had a back up plan where she applied anyways to her dream school. Something happened in the registrar’s office and they accepted her. Tim knows the rules and won’t tamper. This was done by her. Once accepted, she had to turn down her NLI because she decided to attend Florida on her own. The X announcement had to have been made to let Ole Miss she was’t coming and to let Tim know she was here and wants to play for us. The tryouts are for her to walk-on. The tryouts are on the softball event calendar every year. Chelsey and Tim need pitchers, so they limited the tryouts to Pitchers and Catchers. The remaining positions are already full. We could use a bull pen catcher because all three of ours may need to be ready to enter the game. Besides Olivia, there might be a Donnie Gobourne hiding on campus.

 

Coach CTW said at Diamond Club tonight that Baylee should play in the regular season.
He said she would play in intra-squad games in the fall but not against outside competition.

 

That’s good news on Baylee!

 

I guess Tim was mum on Olivia, right?

 

Is this speculation on your part or do you know this is how it played out? Because the first part of that, I could see. The second half, not so much. I don’t think her Twitter post was to inform Ole Miss she wasn’t coming. If that’s how she informed them, that’s unfortunate. If that’s how Tim Walton found out she was attending Florida, that’s insane. A player of her caliber doesn’t need to have a tryout to walk on to the team. I have to imagine this has been in the works for at least a few weeks and that she will be eligible to play this season. Nothing else makes sense to me.

 

It’s speculation, because it is hard to get into Florida as Freshman. One can’t get just jump to the front of the line unless you get help from a coach. The NLI can get you to the front of the line, but you haven’t signed one, you have to stand in line. The last part is just a guess because I really don’t know how it works. I know Tim knows the rules. He did or does what he does according to the book. Bottomline, I am glad she is here and signed. As for tryouts, there may be a Donnie Gobourne or a hidden talent on campus.

 

A quick story, in 1967 John James was in my Freshman dorm, Tolbert Hall. In in intramural football we were amazed at how he could punt. Two years later he was punting for Ray Graves.