Gopher softball 2021

Donate To GopherHole
MplsGopher said:
If it's impossible to know, and/or they just refuse to comment, then it is what it is.

But my natural question for those two is, would you have come back if you had been given a full ride scholarship to do so?
Click to expand...

Job opportunities, chronic injury and simply other opportunities might complicate that. But otherwise, hell yeah!
 

Panthadad2 said:
Job opportunities, chronic injury and simply other opportunities might complicate that. But otherwise, hell yeah!
Click to expand...
If I am Partain and battled chronic injuries I might be happy to hang my cleats up and be proud of all the B1G rings on my fingers and a WCWS appearance. She has nothing to prove to herself or anyone else.
 

Get ready to be excited. I'm so happy. The three year decline is over. We will have a chance to reclaim the special culture Coach Al, Coach Merchant, and Coach Piper created years ago. Now if the new coaches can just recruit like the coaches used to.
 

EdinaSBfan said:
Get ready to be excited. I'm so happy. The three year decline is over. We will have a chance to reclaim the special culture Coach Al, Coach Merchant, and Coach Piper created years ago. Now if the new coaches can just recruit like the coaches used to.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Is the excitement you allude to based on info you have? Or is it wishful thinking?
 

Hrothgar said:
Interesting. Is the excitement you allude to based on info you have? Or is it wishful thinking?
Click to expand...
Agreed, do tell....still hopeful a Midwest D2/D3 that knows how to develop and can get the best recruits will stick long term! And Midwest culture is the best anyways :)
 


EdinaSBfan said:
Get ready to be excited. I'm so happy. The three year decline is over. We will have a chance to reclaim the special culture Coach Al, Coach Merchant, and Coach Piper created years ago. Now if the new coaches can just recruit like the coaches used to.
Click to expand...

??? What's the rumor mill saying?
 

EdinaSBfan said:
“Get ready to be excited. I'm so happy.”
Click to expand...

I kinda don’t know what to make of this.

Is this genuine excitement due to knowledge of an actual name of a person about to bring to Minnesota new coaching leadership? Or is this just more shadenfreude at our previous coach being told she can leave the program for more money elsewhere?

I will interpret it as the former and therefore expect a big reveal in the next 24 hours.
 

3 years of compliance violations HR complaints well documented simmering team mutiny.
Dwindling recruiting Players from the left coast that appear marginal for our level The Iowa stream dry. Hope B disappearing. luck that Natalie is kept cuz of Coach Cat and JT wanting to cut her.
Losing tight connection with us alumni and fans.
So to answer. Won't be a pipe dream but will have a chance to continue a rich history that all started in fall of 2011.
 

EdinaSBfan said:
3 years of compliance violations HR complaints well documented simmering team mutiny.
Dwindling recruiting Players from the left coast that appear marginal for our level The Iowa stream dry. Hope B disappearing. luck that Natalie is kept cuz of Coach Cat and JT wanting to cut her.
Losing tight connection with us alumni and fans.
So to answer. Won't be a pipe dream but will have a chance to continue a rich history that all started in fall of 2011.
Click to expand...

Interesting specifics. I got converted to U Softball in 2014 big-time. Then I remember the nadirs after 2017, at least the ones that depressed me most: 1) The lifeless televised performance 2018 at New Mexico St. 2) The lack of drive & spirit in Clearwater 2020 (atrocious baserunning, passive batting, embarrassing deadening quality of losses vs. MO & KY). 3) Allowing Brandner, arguably the team's best all-around player, to disappear into relative thin air without a word.

The only quibble I would have is with "well-documented simmering team mutiny." I saw nothing well-documented about it, just vague statements and allusions without anyone anywhere coming to the fore with specified descriptions. Hard to believe a program that won't fight to the bitter end to keep players like Lindaman, Brandner, and Burns, especially when they're stars as underclassmen.
 



Hrothgar said:
Interesting specifics. I got converted to U Softball in 2014 big-time. Then I remember the nadirs after 2017, at least the ones that depressed me most: 1) The lifeless televised performance 2018 at New Mexico St. 2) The lack of drive & spirit in Clearwater 2020 (atrocious baserunning, passive batting, embarrassing deadening quality of losses vs. MO & KY). 3) Allowing Brandner, arguably the team's best all-around player, to disappear into relative thin air without a word.

The only quibble I would have is with "well-documented simmering team mutiny." I saw nothing well-documented about it, just vague statements and allusions without anyone anywhere coming to the fore with specified descriptions. Hard to believe a program that won't fight to the bitter end to keep players like Lindaman, Brandner, and Burns, especially when they're stars as underclassmen.
Click to expand...

I know I am a broken record in this but I don’t have the first clue how you can blame the program for the Brandner situation. Have you checked out her twitter? There may be serious stuff going on that is far beyond coaching or playing.

Emotional stuff unconnected or just tangentially connected with coaching or softball may have been involved in some transfers as well. I don’t know. I just don't KNOW if others KNOW either. What if kids were going through romantic relationship issues and felt they needed to get away. I don’t know. It’s possible. Did you consider it?

One more thing on the “lack of enthusiasm” to start 2020. I honestly wonder if they missed Rachel Lowery in that regard. She came off to the casual follower/viewer as the biggest personality on the team during 2028/2019. She seemed like fun personified. I think the 2020 team may have missed that dugout energy she provided.
 

Hrothgar said:
The only quibble I would have is with "well-documented simmering team mutiny." I saw nothing well-documented about it, just vague statements and allusions without anyone anywhere coming to the fore with specified descriptions.
Click to expand...

Not well-documented to the general public. When the whole team has a meeting with the AD because of their coach that does not stay a secret. Winning put a veneer of "all is well" on the surface. I think that the use of the word "simmering" is a good way to put it. It was always there.
 







A great choice! She has proven herself as a student athlete and great coach for many years
and apparently has earned the trust of the athletes. Most importantly, she wants to be at
Minnesota. This should solidify talk of athletes wanting to transfer and make the transition
easier for the incoming athletes. Will be interesting to see who she hires on her staff as I assume
she will continue to the primary pitching coach.
 

Very very happy for coach Ritter!! :D

She's more than paid her dues (as we all know!), she's already one of the best pitching coaches in the country and it'll be fun to see her fully in charge of things.

Has there been any confirmation/news about assistants? Just want to make sure my post regarding Piper and Katie Richardson comes to full fruition!!
 

MRJ said:
Very very happy for coach Ritter!! :D

She's more than paid her dues (as we all know!), she's already one of the best pitching coaches in the country and it'll be fun to see her fully in charge of things.

Has there been any confirmation/news about assistants? Just want to make sure my post regarding Piper and Katie Richardson comes to full fruition!!
Click to expand...
Yes to Richardson.
 


I have been a gopher softball fan for 25 yrs and have watched the coaching changes, The one stable individual in the program has been Coach Ritter. I watched her keep the team together during coaching changes that could have resulted in players leaving the team but didn't. If you have any doubt the university made the right move just look at the Minnesota softball twitter and see how much not only the other u coaches feel about her but her past players, alums, and yes even Hutch. The u has hired a very special person.
 

Well, there are three volunteer & grad assistants still listed on the roster in Lewis, Reina and Newman. Then the two normal paying assistant roles need to be filled for a combination of hitting/fielding/pitching duties. This next week will be interesting to see how Piper fills all those roles.

I somehow have a better feeling for the team's future now than I did a few weeks ago.
 

Michael definitely deserves a promotion to paid assistant role. How big of a part of recruiting was Piper under Jamie?
 

Panthadad2 said:
Well, there are three volunteer & grad assistants still listed on the roster in Lewis, Reina and Newman. Then the two normal paying assistant roles need to be filled for a combination of hitting/fielding/pitching duties. This next week will be interesting to see how Piper fills all those roles.

I somehow have a better feeling for the team's future now than I did a few weeks ago.
Click to expand...

Newman has already indicated on Twitter that she plans to return.

If/when Katie Richardson joins, that will take one of the spots. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Reina and Lewis.

Would love to have Reina come back. She seems to fit in extremely well with the team and she's already been on staff for three years.

Not sure about Lewis. He's relatively new and I don't know about his background to judge.
 

rowdaboat said:
Michael definitely deserves a promotion to paid assistant role. How big of a part of recruiting was Piper under Jamie?
Click to expand...

I get the feeling she was pretty instrumental.

There are a whole lot of retweets regarding this move coming from the signees and future recruits, which is a good sign.
 

ComoGopher said:
Not well-documented to the general public. When the whole team has a meeting with the AD because of their coach that does not stay a secret. Winning put a veneer of "all is well" on the surface. I think that the use of the word "simmering" is a good way to put it. It was always there.
Click to expand...
the key word I used was quibble. I know there was much talk about meetings with the AD and all to quiet things, but this more or less leaked out to the public. I see no way that it was ever "well-documented." Maybe it was documented inside the Athletic Dept., but not to the reading public, which we in this site belong to.
 

Dang. So happy. Allister, Piper, and Merchant built this Gopher program. it was on a path of destruction. Piper will right the ship and get us back on track. What a great relief.
 

EdinaSBfan said:
Dang. So happy. Allister, Piper, and Merchant built this Gopher program. it was on a path of destruction. Piper will right the ship and get us back on track. What a great relief.
Click to expand...

I don't know enough about assistant possibilities, but those will be huge decisions for her in the next week or two. Glad to have a familiar face in charge. Maybe she brings Sara G back in some capacity?
 


Also, as it pertains to Sara G, she definitely expressed an interest in coming back following her Olympic duties last week on Twitter. Her exact words were that it would be "a dream come true."

It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

I'd love a coaching staff of Piper, Katie Richardson, Michael Lewis, Alyssa Reina, Nicole Newman and Sara G. That'd be phenomenal imo.
 

Great hire. Think of all the studs in the circle she has helped develop. Kinda been around for the resurgence of Gopher Softball all along. This is a good thing.
 

I hope Piper has some ideas about how to go about handling her catchers. What a disaster under Trachsel, and another two catchers hit the transfer portal before Trachsel departed.

Alyssa was a catcher at NDSU under Trachsel and Mueller. She could obviously handle whatever catching regimen was implemented there, but since that method is all she knows, will Piper look elsewhere for someone to work with the catchers?

Sara Kinch, listed as a catcher and utility, and arguably the top-rated catcher candidate since Lindaman, signed a NLI on National Signing Day last fall. She was quoted in her signing story on gophersports.com that she has family ties here, so she may not be a huge risk to ask for a release and reopen her recruitment due to the coaching change. If she is in the mix for the catcher position, I hope she has a better experience under Piper than other catcher candidates allegedly had under Jamie.

We really need to develop some stability at the catcher position going forward.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom