This team went to the WCWS last year; which gets harder and harder every year with the parity in softball. Nobody is steamrolling the competition any longer. Games are tight and extremely competitive. The game hasn’t passed Walton by. I do think he had to make adjustments to his recruiting strategy and he obviously did that with the class coming in.
I appreciate the optimism about upcoming classes, but this is a big reason to keep expectations in check.
Michigan pitcher Alex Storako was supposed to visit the Gators but that visit was short circuited when she allegedly got $50,000 and a new truck to transfer to Oklahoma. This info from a source VERY close to the Gator softball program.
Walton and the Gators have been to the WCWS four out of the last five years it’s been played including last year as the only the only SEC team to make it to OKC. Any team not named Oklahoma or UCLA would take that record. Does that time frame fit into your “adjustment period”?
Gators have played in the last 9 super regionals and in that same period have played in 7 CWS. We have no bitch but I will continue to be critical of TW at times just because I'm an avid fan and the back and forth banter on this message board is interesting. Make no mistake. TW has forgotten more about coaching college softball than any of us will ever know. If they loose every game the rest of the season he will have my support for I know this program under his leadership will get back to the success we fans expect. If the football and basketball programs were half as successful as softball, Gator Nation would be jumping up and down with excitement.
Yes it fits into my “adjustment period “. I’m well aware of the success the program has had, I’m well aware the Gators were the only SEC team to make the WCWS last season. Doesn’t change the fact that recruiting has been a bit down in recent years. However with next season’s highly touted class coming in it seems recruiting is back on track!
I would lean towards the idea that the recruiting hasn’t been that bad, but Developmemt and Adjusments have been lacking. Let’s take K. Barnhill as an example. She was as dominant a pitcher as I’ve seen play the game for the Gators. “Ring ‘Em Up Kelly” was a common refrain. I recall the Georgia HC petitioned for illegal pitches in a crucial series and for me it marked the beginning of a fall off in Barnhills performance (her weaknesses were exposed and she was unable to recover to her previous dominance). JMHO but we’ve got highly touted players. As soon as their tendencies are scouted, we seem to hit the wall on performance.
Our batting is not as bad as I thought it was. Fla Cumulative is 342 Conference 240 Ala 292/216 Ten 328/244 LSU 319/250 It is all about pitching. The average ERA in conference play is 3.48 and the Gators ERA in conference play is 6.08 which is next to last in the conference. There in lies the problem.
I wonder why Lexi Kilfoyl chose not to become a Gator - she's from Land O' Lakes. We could have really used her, even if it was just for a year!.
wonder if the same thoughts about baseballs being more in tune shall we say to hitters translates to softball?
Unfortunately, NIL has arrived to destroy college sports. Montana Fouts is making $146,000 this year, according to well-sourced Internet reports. And while UF is a top five school, Gainesville is not a major city. There will always be less local business $$$ in Gainesville than in larger cities, so colleges in those cities will have an advantage. Since NIL depends on local money -- especially in "lesser" sports like softball/volleyball -- I fear that UF is going to be out of the running for elite players who want to be paid. In decades to come, we may look back at next year's recruiting class and fondly say, "Yeah, those were the days you could get talent by selling the program, not paying cash."
Johnny....I think you are almost always correct in your statements but this time I'm going to challenge you. Gainesville has a population of 140K compared to Tuscaloosa with a population of 101K. Johnny......If you are correct then we are in the same boat as some other major sports minded universities located in non major towns such as Athens, Tuscaloosa, College Station, and Auburn, just to name a few.
Spot on! The size of the city encompassing the University is not a limiting factor. We have an alumni base that is vast and successful. In addition, we're talking about 5 and 6 figures here to compete, not football numbers. I believe it has more to do with the powers that be accepting the fact that a system has become legal, and refusing to accept that means we will not be able to compete at the highest levels. At best, we will become a weigh station on occasion, with our best players moving on through the portal to be fairly compensated.
I was thinking of Univ of Miami, which just snared a bunch of volleyball transfers out of the portal. This may eventually hurt the entire SEC, to the extent that other conferences are primarily in large cities. As the "legitimate business purpose, no pay for play" becomes more enforced (which I think it will), then having rich donors will fade. I'm just bitter about NIL. I don't mind players getting paid, I just wish there was a per position cap, so that it wasn't a matter of the highest bidder.
I hate the zero consistency with illegal pitches. Either enforce it on every pitcher in every conference in every game or forget the rule. Illegal pitches have hurt teams including the Gators in the WCWS. These ladies pitch the same their entire lives and college careers and all of the sudden it’s an issue in the biggest games of their life. Drives me nuts. It’s as bad as roughing the passer or WTH constitutes a catch in football. No consistency.
