A video of them in instagram indicates this to be correct. Looks like Walsh had a black strap bag/purse but was freely chomping with both hands.
It is a purse she has twisted around to her back. You can catch a millisecond of it in the shots from behind them.
This is very important! If you got the email from Ryan Dunn about the First Pitch, it links to a video of CTW. At the end coach says the proceeds will benefit all Gator athletes. THIS IS NOT TRUE. IT IS ONLY FOR SOFTBALL PLAYERS. I called Ryan directly, and he assured me it was only for softball. The reason CTW had that verbiage was the UAA was not 'comfortable' with him saying it is just for the softball team. SPREAD THE WORD.
I'm sure most of ya'll remember 2011 when Arizona State rode freshman Dallas Escobido to a 60-6 record and the national title, with her beating the Gators 3 times in Oklahoma City, including 2 straight in the finals. She was 37-3 on the season and threw 255 of the team's 415 innings. I know conferences and rosters are deeper with quality hitters now, but it still shows you that a freshman besides Bahl can be dominant. And we have 2 elite freshman pitchers and a 3rd who is pretty darned good. I'm excited about our chances this year, especially when it seems we're being overlooked as a contender.
2011 is a WCWS final that still grates on me. Two totally different strikes from the Umpires. A few Gator players, maybe Bruder and Horton, were very vocal about it. The West Coast bias was definitely still a thing. Ironically enough, ASU, especially with Escobido, was a tough out and didn't need an edge. I've often wondered if internally the West Coast bias was finally addressed. Because guess what happen? Bama broke thru in 2012, and the rest is history.
Our 2011 Freshman pitcher wasn’t too shabby either, Hannah Rogers was 36-8 and took us to the Final series with Arizona State. We have two Hannah Rogers types in the circle this year. I am stoked on the Gators chances.
Gotta plan leave from work. The last game of the season is set for Sunday, May 5th. The WCWS starts on Thursday, May 30th. That much is known. I couldn't find an official schedule for regionals / super regionals, but based on tradition, does this sound about right: Wed May 8 to Fri May 9 = SEC Tournament Friday May17 weekend = Regionals Friday May 24 weekend = Super Regionals
I had forgot about that whole west coast bias thing... but it was real and all the time against anyone. Personally, that last time I truly I think it popped up was in that 2018 game vs ucla at wcws for us.
Sophia clearly threw the UCLA runner out at the plate by six inches on the tag. No question about it and the umpire called the runner safe. The call changed the game.
Oh yea I remember. Chnaged the game and WCWS for us. We were looking good and Barnhill was mowing people down.
Why would UAA object to being clear that all money goes to softball NIL? Makes no sense to me. I'll bet they wouldn't object if it was Napier touting money solely for football.
The HP umpire inexplicably ran toward 3B and did not get back into position to make the correct call. Calls against the Gators started instant replay in Softball and VB. Both were egregious and cost us dearly.
S Swindle in the swamp got us replay in football, and I think it was the butler game that got us replay in basketball.