(SB) Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

lol….what happened to this post of yours as well as others you were sparing with me on back in July that I said we needed one of the transfers because if the freshmen ended up over 130 innings we could be in trouble? “Totally disagree. Ava and Keagen can do most of the pitching with not a lot of help. Both are as good as Jordy Bahl and all three were National Players of the year. Jordy's freshman year she threw 141 innings had a 1.09 ERA and a record of 22 & 1.”

 

Maybe Tim and Chelsey will allow Keagan to rest tomorrow and give Liv her deserved chance. After all she was the 13th rated recruit on some 2023 recruiting websites. She has talent and Chelsey has been working with her to perfect her pitching methods. We will need her to pitch over the next four seasons, including this one.

 

We had a ridiculously easy pre-conference schedule giving us very high statistics which made us think this team is better than it is. In conference play the Gators are currently 3rd in BA, 9th in ERA, and 10th in fielding%. I think we are quickly approaching the dreaded wait until next year part of the season.

 

Everyone needs to pump the brakes on dismissing this year's team. We are deep into SEC play and finals on a team that's largely made of young players. Give them time to reset a little. They will be fine in May. Every team goes through this near about it. The team will be stronger on the other side of this little slump. We've believed in these ladies all year. Not the time to stop jsut because of some adversity. As long as we stay in the top 16 conversation we'll be fine.

 

Keagwn and Ava are jsut as good as Bahl especially Keagen pitching wise. Bahl had the luxury of being bailed out if any trouble she got herself into along with playing an easy schedule throughout the whole season. 2amt to talk about inflated stats? Start with OU until next year. Look at Nicloe May. She's being relied on more this year and guess what.... it's showing that she really isn't a sub 1 era pitcher.

 

I like what he did with bringing her and Miller in yesterday.

 

I have no problem with Ariel at third. She's played competent ball for a freshman. She's hitting .276. She has "technically" three errors in 83 chances but one of those errors was actually a good throw that Mia dropped at second. So, more than halfway through the season she really has only two errors.

 

While I'm stating the obvious, the basic problem the last three games is that Keagan and Ava have given up 19 free on base. Which has led to 17 earned runs. Some hits with that many runners is going to blow up the earned runs. That's in a combined 12.1 innings. Conversely, over the last three games, Olivia and Mackenzie have only put two on base with free passes in 6.2 innings leading to only one earned run.

 

The free passes have been a killer recently as they were last year. I think some of that may be form a being hit some and thinking they have to be perfect now. I trust in them and the coaching staff to get back on track. Offense needs to ge back in rhythm also. It's not been awful but jsut out of sync it feels like

 

The crux of the discussion was that we would be ok with just the 2 freshmen and they could handle 150 innings or more each. Just because a freshman here or there did it in the past, with success, doesn’t mean you cross your fingers that 2 of them can pull it off successfully.
Now we are getting complaints of overuse? It’s not like they are Stacey Nelson who threw 352 innings in one year.
Keagan has thrown 141 innings so far and to win it all we likely will play another 150 innings……who is throwing those innings?

 

Not to mention it can’t help for Ava to go directly from first base to the rubber then back to first base. Pretty sure the majority of the team could play first base if we needed them to.

 

Congrats to Keagan. Good things happen when you only put two on for free, although the one unearned run was the HBP. And, as I said, I've got no problem with Ariel at the hot corner.

 

One of the great joys of following softball (compared to MLB, for example) is watching the players develop.
Kendra Falby started as mostly a bunt or slapper. Nice to watch her mature into a semi-power hitter and amazing Sports Center-type catches in the OF.
So glad she's not a senior!

 

Yup, love watching them develop and mature. However I still hate saying goodbye when they graduate.

 

Not giving up on this season, but if you are a UF opponent , you better get them this year or you won't

 

The future is indeed bright!

 

Good news bad news with upcoming SC series next weekend. The good news is that SC has the worst BA in SEC conference play at .195. The bad news is they are second in ERA at 2.36.

 

Seems like we should get two in the ESPN Top Ten. Pick one of Kendra's catches and you have to put Ariel's outstanding play against leadoff in the 7th.