While we all love to blame Aric Thomas as the hitting coach, the buck stops with the head man. I LOVE Tim Walton and give him all the credit for making Gator softball what it is today. But he's the one ultimately responsible for the building and maintenance of the program. If there are problems that need corrected, CTW is the one who has to do it.
I just saw that TN also got Knight's teammate Mackenzie Butt - she hit .363 and had 22 HR's and 77 RBI's and is a freshman. TN cleaning up in the portal and will have hitting to go along with the pitching of Pickens! When are we gonna announce a pickup!!!!!
One of the few things Mia's mom said that made sense was that Tim doesn't want things announced until the portal closes. I think that is pretty much true. She said, and she probably knows, he already has portal commitments.
Corri Hicks from OU in the portal. Guess she didn't like not getting a shot behind the struggling catcher.
I think this would be a perfect get for us. We absolutely need to get a young catcher for next year that has potential and is willing to sit one year behind Jocey. We need a potential quality backup in the event Jocey gets hurt. I am not convinced we have it now. Hicks is a Batbuster. That, in an of itself, is a resume booster.
@rickjs1 - You mentioned yesterday I think that we have several future Gators playing at a tournament in Newberry. Other than Leah Stevens, I didn't recognize any of them. Do you know what positions they play and what type of credentials they have? Are any of them projected to be SEC-quality players?
I would assume we think all of them are potentially SEC caliber players or we wouldn't offer. At least I hope not. Leah Stevens, I feel in my bones and without any other real evidence than that, might just be the steal of the bunch. Avery Killian is a catcher from Louisiana who previously played for LA Voodoo and has made a quality jump to play for Impact. She was named a top performer at a USA National camp. As an aside, I don't get to see any of these kids the way I saw Taylor for three years. The Batbusters broadcast every game. Nobody else does that. Anyway, Nina Carcone is a shortstop out of Woodstock, GA. and rated #29 by Softball America (and I hate rankings). I don't know much else. Shayla Bahar is a CF/SS out of Norcross, GA and was rated #38 by Softball America. Stevens is the only one to help next year. The others are 2026 high school kids. All I can say for sure is they are all welcome to play for one of the better travel clubs in the country. They may not be the Batbusters but Impact is a quality organization. They don't want you unless you've got something to offer.
Yes i would be very happy if we picked her up.... thought it would probably hurt us with Kilian down the road. She had an injury in the fall and patty jsut wanted the experience behind the plate apparently. Hicks looked good to me in the chnaces she ahd when I saw her. Shes got the pedigree. And im sure she would catch midweeks or even some saturday games to give Jocey a break. She needed it bad this year. And assuming her bat is what i think it is she could dp. That is one position we need depth. I wouldn't be suprised for her to end up tennesee though. I will say instantly when I saw her name i said that would be fantastic. Im assuming she played with Taylor?
