(SB) For What It Is Worth

What purpose does it serve to pile on the Gator SB program when the season just ended and these young ladies gave their all to reach the WCWS, which a lot of people said they would not. Does it make you feel better?

 

I was immensely proud of the girls to get to the WCWS. But I was very disappointed to get shut out in the last two games. Evident our batting has very little power and our pitchers had trouble with control and strike outs. That about sums it up. Still feel good we made the WCWS, and not just the regionals or super regionals only.

 

Well d--- UCLA just made Oklahoma mad after beating them in game 1. lol

 

15-0 Oklahoma wins must have gone for two after their second TD. Long flight home for UCLA.

 

Just a hitting coach and a pitching coach to get them to their full potential!

 

I remember the griping about Kenny G when he was here......Waltons buddy from Okla who had been the grounds crew guy

 

With the Texas A&M opening , is their any concern they’ll try to throw a blank check at Walton?

 

What will be interesting is if he frees up a few roster spots and moves on from three players that hit below .200 and brings in an ace pitcher like Kilfoyle and a bat or two to PH off the bench when needed.

We have 2 recruits coming in and 4 seniors leaving so we will have 2 spots to fill. If we ask 3 to move on, Walton could really retool the lineup.

I’d like to see us drop from rostering 5 pitchers to 4 to free up another batter spot.

We could potentially have 5 spots to fill next season if my math is correct.

 

In April, I attended a panel discussion with Gator former greats including Steffi Sorensen, Heather Mitts, Francesca Enea, Dara Torres and Bridget Sloan. CTW and Scott Stricklen were in the audience. The women athletes were asked about that. I was surprised that each one disagreed with your position. They wanted to be coached by the very best coach, male or female, without any preference given.

 

If memory serves, there are 12 scholarships for D1 softball. No telling how those are split among the current roster, but it is unlikely anyone needs to move on to bring in new talent. Actually a situation where NIL could be quite beneficial.
I have 18 returning as it stands now, plus the 2 signees. Plenty of roster room, just no idea how the schollies are allocated.

 

“That the squad size (i.e., players in uniform and eligible to compete) be increased from 20 to 22 with a corresponding increase to the travel party from 28 to 30. In addition, that teams be permitted to have up to an additional three student-athletes (for a total of 25) in uniform within the dugout limit. If teams use the full complement of 30 within the travel party, 22 of those individuals must be student-athletes eligible to compete.”

We had 23 on our roster this past weekend, so the roster can/may look quite different if Coach Walton wants it to.

 

Always have to be concerned about that. Would Coach Walton want to have to start over at another conference school? They'll definitely put up some big money especially with Oklahoma and Texas joining very soon.

 

He's under contract through 2028. Maybe his contract has a reverse buyout or something that would let him void it, but then there's the family situation. Doesn't his son play baseball at Santa Fe?

 

Sometimes it's not all about money...I am sure he has a nice salary here...he may be comfortable living in Gainesville and may like working for Stricklin

 

I live in OKC and there has been talk that T&Am is going after Walton on local sports radio.

 

Not sure why he would go there....as I said $$$ isn't everything....sometimes it the place/location, comfort, and who you work for...and not continually moving your family around

 

3 more borderline top 10 recruits? I know of Hovermale and Kowalewski, who is the 3rd?

 

McLellan out of Lakewood Ranch....state player of the year as a junior, hit well over 500 as a soph and junior, elite OF, currently ranked in top 20 national and rising

 

Thanks for the reminder. I remember seeing that one now.