Gopher softball 2021

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Do all the non-seniors have 5 years of eligibility now? New roster has everyone moved up a grade as usual but not sure what happens in a couple years
 

I assumed that extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted was only for 2020 seniors. I could be wrong.
 

If I was I interested in spending a little money on one subscription, softball-focused website, what would it be? I would be most interested in anything that gave me a little more information on college softball and high school recruiting, especially as it pertains to the Gophers. I would like a college Transfer Tracker, but it is not absolutely required.

I have perused a lot of websites and I am fully aware that there is not much info for high schools recruiting lists/rankings in Minnesota’s “band-level.” I have been closest time to buying a Softball America subscription, but haven’t done so yet.
 


I'm wondering: Will Gophers softball play a fall ball schedule of games this year? If so, it would seem reasonable to schedule the games in September rather than October, when the weather gets iffy.
 


Was out at the Lexi Kretsch tourney today. Saw some good softball. Going out there again tomorrow. Wayzata HS fields and several other locations. Worth a look if you are missing softball.
 

Hrothgar said:
I'm wondering: Will Gophers softball play a fall ball schedule of games this year? If so, it would seem reasonable to schedule the games in September rather than October, when the weather gets iffy.
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I would guess if it’s Fall ball, the 5 Sr. Will be moving on with there lives. Unless they are enrolled in a good graduate program.
 

Hrothgar said:
I'm wondering: Will Gophers softball play a fall ball schedule of games this year? If so, it would seem reasonable to schedule the games in September rather than October, when the weather gets iffy.
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I know that the ACC cancelled all fall "exhibition" games for spring sports, so I ASSUME that the other Power 5 conferences will follow suit.
 










Not sure if anybody else saw this, but d1softball.com is in the process of releasing a list of the top 50 softball programs in the country.

They had the ladies at No. 21 in their rankings, which feels about right for now.

Hopefully the next time they release another top-50 programs list, the Gophers will be able to move up a few slots.

2020 Top 50 College Softball Programs Countdown: 21-25
 

To say the 2021 season (pray hard that it happens) is critically important to gaining and solidifying the program’s reputation as THE big dog in the Big Ten is a gigantic understatement. This is the year for that.

By the way, I don’t see Brooke Vander Heide’s name posted on the Fall roster.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
To say the 2021 season (pray hard that it happens) is critically important to gaining and solidifying the program’s reputation as THE big dog in the Big Ten is a gigantic understatement. This is the year for that.

By the way, I don’t see Brooke Vander Heide’s name posted on the Fall roster.
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Brooke's Linkedin profile indicates that she is working full time in HR for Alterra Medical in Salt Lake City. Congratulations to her! And, thanks for her contributions to Gopher SB.
 

Gopher68 said:
Brooke's Linkedin profile indicates that she is working full time in HR for Alterra Medical in Salt Lake City. Congratulations to her! And, thanks for her contributions to Gopher SB.
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I wish she could have played for a full season for the Gophers. Coronavirus has been terrible.

I wonder if they tried to clear that specific lane (speedy, slap-hitting outfielder) for Densen... and clear more playing time for especially Jones, among others.
 

I wonder if the Gophers have continued with regular fall practices now in 2020, despite having no Fall Ball exhibition contests? With van de Heide leaving how much thinner does that make the roster? Or do they have even stronger players for her spot?
 

Hrothgar said:
I wonder if the Gophers have continued with regular fall practices now in 2020, despite having no Fall Ball exhibition contests? With van de Heide leaving how much thinner does that make the roster? Or do they have even stronger players for her spot?
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My opinion on their roster without Brooke is that they will be fine, and that view is really just an assessment of raw numbers. This 5th year senior class coming back really allows the roster to have much more depth than in other years. The Gophers’ roster has been down in raw numbers terms over the last two to three years so having 23 active players on the roster in 2021 puts us about 3-5 greater number of active players than we had in the last few years - of course that depends some on injuries. I just feel really good about our depth since so many seniors elected to come back.
 

Gophers add another catcher and potential starter in Megan Dray.

Never a bad thing to have another catcher in the mix. Adds depth and flexibility to the roster. On top of that, Dray looks like a very good player! :D

Gophers add Megan Dray to roster
 

MRJ said:
Gophers add another catcher and potential starter in Megan Dray.

Never a bad thing to have another catcher in the mix. Adds depth and flexibility to the roster. On top of that, Dray looks like a very good player! :D

Gophers add Megan Dray to roster
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That action suggests to an observer like me that their intention is really to “go for it” in 2021. Their roster is already quite deep, but it does have a lot of unproven Freshman.

This roster addition action just reminds me of some of the actions that Allister took in 2017 (Groenewagen’s senior year) where it seemed like she understood it was THAT group of players that needed to make national waves that year - I remember she had her players practice in Florida most of January. She must have received quite a bit of financial leeway from the athletic department.

This current roster action suggests to me that Ritter is getting financial leeway as well. She must think 2021 is the year to strike.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
That action suggests to an observer like me that their intention is really to “go for it” in 2021. Their roster is already quite deep, but it does have a lot of unproven Freshman.

This roster addition action just reminds me of some of the actions that Allister took in 2017 (Groenewagen’s senior year) where it seemed like she understood it was THAT group of players that needed to make national waves that year - I remember she had her players practice in Florida most of January. She must have received quite a bit of financial leeway from the athletic department.

This current roster action suggests to me that Ritter is getting financial leeway as well. She must think 2021 is the year to strike.
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Allister took the team to Florida for 1 week. The money came from a fund from donors.
 

Gopher68 said:
Allister took the team to Florida for 1 week. The money came from a fund from donors.
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I recall also that they were in FLA for only a week, but February was very warm in MN that year & with new turf on the field they practiced outdoors a lot in February
 

Really curious about the 2021 schedule. I find it hard to believe that there will be large preseason tournaments with dozens of teams at the same location. I sure hope that softball doesn't adopt a "conference only" schedule, but I guess that wouldn't shock me. Any rumors out there?
 

Arg. I am/was hopeful for a mostly normal outdoor Spring sports schedule - but maybe with 50 percent or so fans in the stands. But this week or so with national COVID cases spiking once again, it sure makes it seem like a back-to-normal sports schedule is threatened.

I sure hope they don’t have a weakened schedule because I am so excited for this team - they could be pretty darn good. It’s an outdoor sport with a lot of inherent social distancing anyway. I am being hopeful... but I have no inside information to be helpful.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
That action suggests to an observer like me that their intention is really to “go for it” in 2021. Their roster is already quite deep, but it does have a lot of unproven Freshman.

This roster addition action just reminds me of some of the actions that Allister took in 2017 (Groenewagen’s senior year) where it seemed like she understood it was THAT group of players that needed to make national waves that year - I remember she had her players practice in Florida most of January. She must have received quite a bit of financial leeway from the athletic department.

This current roster action suggests to me that Ritter is getting financial leeway as well. She must think 2021 is the year to strike.
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At this point, I think they really "go for it" every year. And what I mean by that is they intend to win a Big 10 title (regular season or tournament) and get a seed (hopefully a top-eight) in the NCAAs.

The program has built itself to a place where that level of expectation is warranted.

Whether they reach those goals remains to be seen, but they certainly haven't backed away from challenges in recent years.
 

I agree about the expectations for 2021, but from the gitgo they need to be a lot better than they were in 2020. 2021 pitching should be strong enough. Sorely needed, though, will be some true clutch hitting & long ball power to back up Jensen, Partain, and DenHartog. Also significantly improved defense from catching, first base, and at least one outfield position is necessary.
 

MRJ said:
At this point, I think they really "go for it" every year. And what I mean by that is they intend to win a Big 10 title (regular season or tournament) and get a seed (hopefully a top-eight) in the NCAAs.

The program has built itself to a place where that level of expectation is warranted.

Whether they reach those goals remains to be seen, but they certainly haven't backed away from challenges in recent years.
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I understand where you at coming from, especially as regards to year-in year-out expecting to be the premier or co-premier softball team of the Big Ten Conference. Over the last 5 or so years that expectation has become a realistic expectation that I accept that and have that expectation as well.

I will quibble with you in regards to team rosters like Minnesota not being strategically managed understanding some years will be more developmental-focused and other years will be less “developmental”. I believe strategic roster management should happen for a team like the Gophers; but this coming year (2021) is not one of those... it’s all out.
 

Hrothgar said:
I agree about the expectations for 2021, but from the gitgo they need to be a lot better than they were in 2020. 2021 pitching should be strong enough. Sorely needed, though, will be some true clutch hitting & long ball power to back up Jensen, Partain, and DenHartog. Also significantly improved defense from catching, first base, and at least one outfield position is necessary.
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Hrothgar, the reason I am so bullish on 2021 is we basically have that same lineup as we did in that somewhat rocky 2020 season, but with 9 new bat swingers (8 Freshman plus 1 transfer)! That is just too many people and therefore mathematically at least some of them must be able to hit college pitching. They have to... right?

I just think this 5th year compensatory season of eligibility for our seniors came at the perfect time for our program’s present and future. Bringing Fiser, Partain, Kemmetmueller and Brandt back for this 5th season along with our normal roster for 2021 is just a big boost. Without this group of 5th year seniors, especially Fiser, I do fear this would have been a developmental year in waiting for Emily Leavitt to get here in 2022 to strengthen our pitching staff.
 

What I know is what I saw on the field in 2020. We went to FLA expecting to see a superb team off a WCWS berth in 2019. What I saw was a lackluster team without any visible drive to win, mediocre hitting, and ordinary defense. Maybe the change in coaching will help, and hopefully the 2021 team will feature some high caliber new talent. Winning the BIG title and progresssing through the NCAAs will require some uplift in performance, both at the plate on offense and behind it on defense.
 

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