Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

IMO Longley would seem to be the odd man out for regular playing time. Wallace, Charla, Falby, Kistler would seem to be locked in....Walsh, Pollard, Goelz, Roe, Wilkie, Gigante, Egan, Goddard probably move around and splitting time at this point. Assuming he goes with the hot bat.....lots to prove from the three freshmen and Egan is also moving up to face a different level of pitcher. If Goddard isn't fully healthy that changes things as well. Goelz seemed to have the light come on late last year and is a good defender, Roe is a big time talent so think she is out there the majority of the time, and Walsh looks to have taken another step upas well.

 

Do you think Roe's throw to second on a steal attempt is going to effect her getting playing time? I don't have stats, but she doesn't throw from her knees and by the time she stand and throws, it seems like most runners are safe, especially considering her marginal accuracy. We can't have singles automatically becoming a runner on second with a steal. Even Longley seemed to have better throws on steal attempts, although Longley lets more balls get by her than Sam does.

Gigante has surprising power and hits, but her speed is an obvious problem. We can only sub for her once. I've never really understood the flex player -- if she's pitching, we sub a runner for her, she returns to pitching, can she become the flex player at that point and not have to hit again?

Granted small sample set, but how do you order rank the pitchers so far?

 

I think the three returning pitchers are pretty equal and will have very good years. I give my nod to Elizabeth. She graduated magna cum laude and could have easily moved on to something else. She is a warrior and a workhorse and decided to stay for a reason.

 

Pitching wise, I’d list Delbrey, Hightower, Rylee, and Gigante, whom has been better than I ever anticipated, both in the circle and in the box, based solely on recruiting rankings. Lexie missing the fall hurts her development, but we really need her to step up and become the staff ace this season. Based solely on fall ball, probably Hightower, Gigante, Rylee, and Bender.

As far as the lineup and I’m the field, I’d also say the only set positions are Falby in CF/LF, Kistler in LF/CF, Charla at 3B, and Skylar at SS. If everyone is healthy, I’d say Egan and Longley are bench pieces. Maybe Egan will be the pinch hitter when you need someone to try to put one over the fence. At first, I think you will see plenty of Avery, especially late in games. Though I think she will also get starts in RF. Walsh and Gigante, could both get time at first. I think Walsh has the upper hand at second base right now over Pollard. Late in games, Longley will probably enter at 2nd or SS. I think/hope Longley is getting extended time at catcher this fall just as an insurance piece and that Roe takes over at that spot. I don’t think Emily has caught at all this fall. Roe has thrown out a runner or two and has looked stronger in that department to my eye than in the past this far.

I definitely think we more depth than in years past. I think we could see a different starter at 1B, RF, and DP every game.

 

I don’t currently have access to recruiting rankings, so bare with me. But in the last 3 cycles, the higher ranked players have not been the best players in their classes. And that is not meant as a shot at them, more so a note to myself to stop writing off some recruits before they step foot in campus. In 2020, Avery I believe was a top 5-10 recruit and while the light did seem to come on at the end of last season, Kistler has been the star of that class so far. In 2021, I believe Lexie and Cali were the higher ranked players and Walsh and in particular Falby have been more productive. And because she came in early, I will include her here, Roe was a top 3 recruit in her class, and based on their freshmen seasons, I have to rank her 4th out of those 5.

Obviously, these players are all still young and figuring it out and what they have produced thus far isn’t their ceiling. Gigante was the main reason of this post. I believe she was unranked and I was confused on the take from Walton. We are the Florida Gators we shouldn’t be taking unranked recruits. But I have been very impressed by her this fall. Pitching, hitting, and fielding have been better than I would have thought. Not to take anything away from Pollard, whom I believe was ranked top 10 along with Roe in that class, Gigante has outperformed her so far and dare I say has shown more power and plate discipline than Roe.

 

Good points. But I believe Gigante had an injury (knee I believe) that kept her off the field and likely prevented her from being ranked. Props to the staff for not missing there.

 

2023 Class signs tomorrow.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/ariel_ak47_/2967008517979534644/

 

Either I had it on my calendar wrong, or the Thursday game has been moved to Sunday, probably in anticipate of the hurricane.

 

Here is the 2023 Class that will sign their LOIs tomorrow and their Softball America Ranking.

 

And I've seen Brown as high as #3.....and the others (beyond Keegan and Mia) ranked higher as well. Absolutely phenomenal class

 

There are 286 D1 softball teams which translates to about 1600 incoming freshman. TW and company have recruited and about to sign 6 of the top 45 in the country. That statistic is incredible. It is going to be a fun ride.

 

I know people are wondering when UF Softball will make another legit run at the National Title again.

The issues have been pitching and basically hitting with RISP.

I will say in my opinion with this signing class and then the next two coming up signing classes that I would say there is a 99% - 100% chance that UF will win the SEC Conference in the next 2-5 year span. I would say there is a 99% - 100% chance of UF getting into the WCWS. And there is a 90% to 100% chance of UF getting that National Title again. And yes that is considering the concepts of Texas and OU entering the league and also considering what OU has done.

If you are going to make any serious run at the whole thing you need the pitching. That is the potential in my mind of what this recruiting class and the next few now represents.

These recruiting classes that are coming in the next few years starting with this one today you are bringing in alpha dog players so to speak. They are high impact players that you will see immediate results so there won't be any transition process so to speak going from high school to college.

And again it starts with the pitching coming in.

You are getting in the best pitcher in the country and then another pitcher that is also an extremely high level pitcher that is on par with Keagan pitching wise. And what is unique is both of these pitchers can hit for high average. So what will be interesting is if they will be allowed to hit or not. Given what both did in high school I can't imagine them not being allowed to hit.

Keagan Rothrock is the best player in the country and is the best pitcher in the country (Gatorade National Player/Indiana Player of the Year) with 4-5 pitches I believe she can throw for strikes. She can definitely throw above 70 mph. Per Maxprep site stats through her junior year - 62 games played, career era of .42, 52 wins, 55 pitching appearances, 43 complete games, 32 shuts outs, 15 no hitters, 10 perfect games pitched, 746 strikeouts in 330 innings pitched, I know her high school team has won over 40 something games in a row and career hitting for herself .487 average with 17 HRs.

It is ungodly how many no hitters and perfect games she has pitched in her career right now. Whether talking about baseball or softball you don't know how difficult it is to pitch even one perfect game.

Any national title run again will begin with the pitching and she is the real deal. To me she could end up being the most significant pitcher to ever go through UF up to this point in time which will be saying alot. A ton of pressure on her but she seems to thrive on it and is not bothered by it.

Ava Brown is just as good a pitcher. Texas Gatorade Player of the Year - per Maxprep site stats through her junior year career era .57, 5 no hitters, 2 perfect games, 54 wins and no losses, 552 strikeouts in 296 innings pitched, .991 fielding %, opponent batting average .101, and her career batting average is .512 with 31 home runs.

The other recruits coming in are good players as well. The push for making a run in the WCWS is about to begin again.

 

Gators Sign Six to Talented 2023 Class - Florida Gators

The official in depth article on gatorzone is now up and running.

The 2023 class hails from across the country as Florida, California, Indiana and Texas are represented this year. McLellan (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) and Williams (Windermere, Fla.) are the 100th and 101st recruits from Florida, while Hovermale (Norco, Calif.) is the 30th from California, Rothrock (Whiteland, Ind.) is the fifth from Indiana and Brown (Montgomery, Texas) and Kowalewski (Richmond, Texas) are the eighth and ninth from Texas.

The decorated signing class is the second in program history to feature multiple Gatorade Player of the Year recipients as Rothrock earned 2022 National Gatorade Player of the Year to go along with her two Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year accolades from this year and last year, while Brown was named this year’s Texas Gatorade Player of the Year.

Overall, the Gators have now signed 11 state Gatorade Player of the Year recipients, two of which earned the award multiple times, along with two National Gatorade Player of the Year winners. In addition, this group of individuals still has the opportunity to add to their accolades for the upcoming 2023 awards cycle as they compete in their last season on their respective high school and travel teams.

This year’s class also includes a Florida Gators legacy. Williams looks to forge her own path as a second-generation Gator as Mia’s parents Jason and Denika both attended and competed at UF. Mia’s dad was a standout on the men’s basketball team during the 1997-98 season, and went on to have a prosperous career in the NBA, while Denika competed on the track and field team and was a two-time All-American in the javelin.

Ava Brown

Hometown – Montgomery, Texas | Position – RHP/1B | Bat/Throw – R/R

High School/Travel Ball:

• 2022 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year
• 2022 Max Preps First Team All-American
• 2022 Houston Chronicle Greater Houston Area Hitter and Pitcher of the Year
• 2021 Houston Chronicle Greater Houston Area Hitter and Pitcher of the Year
• 2022 Texas Girls Coaches Association All-Star & All-State Pitcher of the Year
• 2022 District 20-5A MVP
• 2022 All-Montgomery County – 1B
• 2022 Conroe Currier Montgomery County MVP
• 2022 Lake Creek High School Principles List
• 2022 Lake Creek High School A-Honor Roll
• 2022 Montgomery County Academic All-American
• 2022 Texas Girls Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete

Alyssa Hovermale

Hometown – Norco, Calif. | Position – Infield | Bat/Throw – R/R | Athletics Mercado – Coached by Dave Mercado & Mark Smith

High School/Travel Ball:

• 2022 First Team All-League
• 2022 Cal-Hi Sports All-State
• 2022 Michelle Carew Classic All-Tournament Team
• 2022 All-Academic Team
• 2021 First Team All-League
• 2022 All-Academic Team

Ariel Kowalewski

Hometown – Richmond, Texas | Position – Catcher | Bat/Throw – L/R

High School/Travel Ball:

• 2022 PGF Futures All-American
• 2022 Houston Chronicle All-Greater Houston First Team
• 2022 TFL Championship All-Tournament Team
• 2022 Texas UIL District 20-6A Most Valuable Player
• 2022 Texas UIL District 20-6A Academic All-District
• 2021 Texas UIL District 20-6A Most Valuable Player
• 2021 Texas UIL District 20-6A Academic All-District
• 2021 Alliance Fastpitch All-Tournament Team
• 2021 Extra Innings Softball All-Summer Team
• 2020 Extra Innings Softball All-Summer Team
• 2017 USA Softball All-American

Cassidy McLellan

Hometown – Lakewood Ranch, Fla. | Position – Outfield | Bat/Throw – L/R

High School/Travel Ball:

• 2022 Herald Tribune Softball Player of the Year
• 2022 Lakewood Ranch Offensive Player of the Year
• 2021 Florida 7A Player of the Year
• 2021 Herald Tribune Softball Player of the Year
• 2021 FACA District 16 7A Player of the Year
• 2021 Lakewood Ranch Offensive Player of the Year
• 2021 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Softball Runner-Up

Keagan Rothrock

Hometown – Whiteland, Ind. | Position – RHP | Bat/Throw – R/R

High School/Travel Ball:

• 2022 National Gatorade Softball Player of the Year
• 2022 Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year
• 2022 USA Today National High School Player of the Year
• 2022 Extra Innings Softball Player of the Year
• 2022 Indiana 4A State Champion
• 2022 NFCA High School All-American
• 2022 Max Preps First Team All-American
• 2022 Circle City First Team All-Conference
• 2022 First Team All-State
• 2022 First Team All-County
• 2021 Indiana 4A State Champion
• 2021 Max Preps First Team All-American
• 2021 Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year
• 2021 NFCA High School All-American
• 2021 USA Today Indiana High School Female Athlete of the Year
• 2021 USA Today Indiana High School Softball Player of the Year
• 2021 Extra Innings Softball Player of the Year
• 2021 Circle City First Team All-Conference
• 2021 First Team All-State
• 2021 First Team All-County

Mia Williams

Hometown – Windermere, Fla. | Position – Utility | Bat/Throw – R/R

High School/Travel Ball:

• 2021 Florida Athletic Coaches Association First Team All-State
• 2021 Florida Athletic Coaches Association Academic All-State
• Windermere Prep Female Athlete of the Year
• Three-time Honor Roll Member