(SB) Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

I had the pleasure of speaking with some parents (and former Gator greats) in Tampa. Liv's parents were delightful. I don't think they would mind me sharing that Liv has a 4.0 average, loves UF, and would do anything for her team. She also really likes her new pitching coach.
I shared that we Gator softball fans are really rooting for her, which was clearly appreciated.

 

I will add this about Liv. I enjoyed talking with her at the First Pitch banquet. She is a very delightful, positive person, emulating her love for being a Florida Gator.

 

It's Heev-ner, with long E. Not Heavner like heavy. I just found this one when I watched last weekend

 

Pot-A-to, Pot-AH-to, I don't care, sign her up!

 

People...understand something here....given what we already have....there are two top of the chart elite level players with that kind of potential who haven't seen the field yet. Townsen and Red. Frankly, this team is nuts.

 

I wish I knew the reason we haven't seen her on the field yet!!

 

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet.

Top 10 NCAA softball players entering the 2025 season

3. Jocelyn Erickson, C, Florida
Florida should be one of the top teams in the country in 2025 and may have as good of a chance as any to win the SEC. While star shortstop Skylar Wallace has graduated, the Gators return multiple stars to their lineup, including a couple of players who also have a case to be on this list like Korbe Otis, Kendra Falby and Reagan Walsh. However, Erickson might be the most valuable of the bunch coming off a season where she was named SEC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. Overall, Erickson hit .382 with 15 home runs and 86 RBIs, the latter of which ranked second in the country. The 5-foot-10 junior who began her career at Oklahoma is an impressive hitter, but her defensive ability behind the plate sets her apart. That should keep her in the SEC Player of the Year mix again this spring.

See the other nine here
(There is no paywall to read the article)

 

The D1Softball Podcast with Taylor Shumaker

Opening Weekend is in the books, and Jenna Becerra and Amanda Lorenz are at it again! They go through the changes in the Top 25 poll and their takeaways, along with what to expect this coming week.
Special guest Florida Gator and freshman outfielder Taylor Shumaker also joins to talk about her softball career before arriving in Gainesville, first weekend of play, outlook of her freshman season, a Florida delicacy, and more.

You can subscribe to their YouTube channel

 

Clearwater tournament starts today with a gazillion games all broadcast: Event Schedule - Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational Softball Tournament

 

So, Jocey gets her first career triple....lol....she was pretty much out of gas rounding second.

 

Technical question for the knowledgeable. With all the attention on the crazy batting and scoring, I'm equally as impressed with the lack of free bases given by keagan and ava. Do you think it is basic improvement for a second year player or a function of who is calling the pitches? I think I am seeing more aggressive pitch calls as opposed to what we used to see, which was get up in the count and then toss a bunch of stuff that wasn't always near the zone and hope they reach. We appear to be throwing more aggressively even at those 0-2 or 1-2 counts.

 

Interesting that our game against Duke on Friday night is broadcast but with a radio pass through for the audio. Why is that interesting? Because it proves we can do more than two events at the same time. Both gymnastics and baseball are also televised at the same time. Wonder if it will be all cameras or a stationary camera? So, in any event, all of the missed games is a matter of simply screwing softball.

 

Glad my mute button still works. Beth Mowins is back assaulting my ears and brain.

 

I just finished listening to Taylor. That is a very special young woman and I'm not talking about her talent on the field.

 

She seems to be the one constant irritant as far as announcers for the board. For some reason, she doesn't bother me much. Maybe it's practice from tuning my ex wife out. LOL

 

She is knowledgeable and is very supportive of the Game. My issues is that she’s very bias toward certain teams and lacks broadcaster neutrality (and her voice) that turns people (me) off.

 

I love that I can watch it on my TV.

 

She’d die before complementing our Gators. Unbiased neutrality is probably the most important quality in broadcasting…and umpiring (I’m looking at you Chris Drumm)

 

On to important matters, what do we do with Taylor now? We have to have talent on the bench to replace her after that ghastly one for three performance and no home runs.

 

Rick lied to us all, Taylor is an obvious bust lol