After an extra long offseason, cleats will finally hit the clay again in just two days.
The Florida Gators softball team is loaded with talent once again and opens the 2021 season ranked No. 7 in the nation. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and cancelled the second half of the 2020 season, the Gators were 23-4 and 3-0 in the SEC.
This year, Florida will skip the typical season opening tournaments and jump right into series play. The Gators will spend the first month of the season in the Sunshine State, with this weekend’s series at USF and a trip to FSU being the only games outside of Gainesville until the second weekend of conference play.
Along with the rest of the country, Tim Walton has high expectations for his team this season. He said Florida has more potential All-Americans on the roster this season that it’s had in a long time.
At the Plate
Though averages from last season can be a little misleading due to the shortened schedule, the Gators return a lot of pop.
A pair of Gators in Kendyl Lindaman and Charla Echols were batting above .400 prior the abrupt ending.
Florida got a huge boost when Lindaman announced her intentions to take advantage of her granted extra year of eligibility. She hit .410 with seven home runs, four doubles and 22 RBI in 2020.
Fellow Preseason First Team All-SEC selection Echols topped that with a .417 average, eight homers, five doubles and 28 runs batted in. The Michigan State transfer was just getting started last season and could establish herself as one of the best in the country in her first full season in orange and blue.
In the leadoff spot, lefty Hannah Adams led the team with 26 runs scored in 2020 to go along with a .375 batting average and four home runs. Clutch at the plate and in the field, Adams has started every game of her career at second base for the Gators.
Speedy slapper Cheyenne Lindsey cannot go without mention in this preview. She batted .381 a year ago, racking up extra bases with four doubles, two triples and a home run. In the final series before the cancellation of the season, she went 8-for-11 at the plate against Auburn to earn D1Softball.com National Player of the Week and SEC Player of the Week honors.
Julia Cotrill should take over behind the plate for Florida in her sophomore season. She led the Gators with eight doubles and batted .323 as a freshman.
With the exit of players like Sophia Reynoso and Jordan Roberts, the Gators will either need a few veterans to finally make a leap or some newcomers to make immediate impact. We will get into who those players might be a little later on.
In the Circle
The Gators are deep as ever in the circle this season.
The days of riding a single pitcher for as many innings as possible on a given weekend are over, as they should be. While softball arms are much more durable than baseball arms, the mental and physical wear and tear that takes on a player over the course of a season (or a career) finally became evident.
Florida had a team ERA of 1.89 a season ago, with Natalie Lugo and Rylee Trlicek leading the way along with Elizabeth Hightower.
Lugo led the nation with six saves and was second in the SEC with 102 strikeouts in 2020. She had a 7-2 record and a 1.64 ERA, and looks to improve upon that as a senior.
The left-handed Trlicek racked up honors in her freshman season with the Gators, including 2020 SoftballAmerica.com Freshman Pitcher of the Year. She had a 9-2 record and 1.99 ERA in 52.2 innings despite allowing a batting average of .298.
While she was the least used of Florida’s top pitchers last season, Walton raved about Hightower’s consistency in the offseason. The junior righty went 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA as a sophomore after earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors the season before.
Gainesville native Katie Chronister should continue to provide some situational appearances for the Gators in her final season as well. She led Florida’s pitchers with a 1.08 ERA in limited innings in 2020.
New in Orange and Blue
The Gators should get a boost in all areas from a few newcomers this season.
Florida softball is attempting to give the football team a run for its money as the master of the transfer portal. After nabbing high-profile transfers in Lindaman (Minnesota) and Echols (Michigan State) in the previous two offseasons, the Gators did it again with Skylar Wallace this time around.
After spending her first two seasons at rival Alabama, Wallace is starting fresh with Florida as a junior. And though there has not been official word yet, she is expected to get a waiver to play immediately.
Wallace started in the Crimson Tide’s infield in both of her seasons there, taking over at shortstop in 2020. The lefty hitter batted .387 in her shortened sophomore season and .295 as a freshman. She had success against the Gators in 2019, going 3-for-6 at the plate with a triple and a homer.
Freshman Haley Pittman adds to Florida’s already loaded pitching staff as another crafty left hander. The former Alabama 4A State Pitcher and Player of the Year should have a chance for some meaningful innings in her first season in Gainesville.
Walton mentioned that he has considered using Pittman and Chronister in an opener strategy similar to some MLB teams.
The Gators also bring in 2020 Florida Gatorade Player of the Year Avery Goelz. The first baseman/outfielder is the sister of redshirt junior Kinsey Goelz, who will be eligible this season after transferring in from Mississippi State in 2019.
Expectations
Oklahoma City is the goal for this team each and every season. Anything less than that is underachieving by the standard set for this program.
The Gators have the talent across the board to do just that this season, but will once again have to make it through the gauntlet that is the SEC schedule. LSU is the conference favorite just ahead of Florida to start the season, with Bama also settling into a Top-10 ranking.
Before SEC play begins, No. 11 Florida State is Florida’s first big test on March 5-6. The Gators can use the first few weeks of the season to get a better grasp on the best pitching rotation and get back in a rhythm after nearly a year between games.