Gopher Softball 2022

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rowdaboat said:
Autumn getting hit hard today, 3 HRs through 4+
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She didn't have it. Couldn't find the plate, got behind hitters all day, gave back a three-run lead late and Ritter wouldn't make a move to replace her until it was too late. Not a good performance.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
GCU is good. However, I sure would have preferred a win.

I was only following Gametracker so I don’t know how bad the throw out to end the top of the 7th inning was.
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The camera angle wasn't good but I don't think Hollifield even made it halfway to home then turned around and got tagged out near where 3B coach stands. Was a shallow grounder that hit/near 2B base that CF fielded right away
 

MRJ said:
She didn't have it….Ritter wouldn't make a move to replace her until it was too late…
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Uh, didn’t Leavitt give up a bomb HR in the 7th within the first 3 batters she faced? I think GCU is pretty darn good; however, I still expected a win.
 





ClassOf98Gopher said:
Uh, didn’t Leavitt give up a bomb HR in the 7th within the first 3 batters she faced? I think GCU is pretty darn good; however, I still expected a win.
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I should have specified a bit more; left her in too long to keep the 6-3 lead. And, yes, Leavitt did give up the bomb to end it. But the momentum was with GC throughout the game. It felt like Ritter was hoping Pease could hold on for dear life for the most part, especially late. When you lose despite the other team committing four errors (to your none), you haven't performed very well.
 

GopherAlum03 said:
How many more runners is that LOB? The lineup needs some serious changes especially with Dray. Give me Costa or Valencia.
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I don’t say this to be mean… but why is it that some posters are raving about this Valencia so much?

I can find and have found evidence on a lot of softball recruits of their abilities and accomplishments that could translate into being a real college star on the web but I hadn’t located these rave reviews about Valencia. I am not saying she isn’t great, I am just wondering what evidence some have for saying she is… or is it this Valencia talk is the result of an echo chamber where nobody knows where the original sound came from?
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I don’t say this to be mean… but why is it that some posters are raving about this Valencia so much?

I can find and have found evidence on a lot of softball recruits of their abilities and accomplishments that could translate into being a real college star on the web but I hadn’t located these rave reviews about Valencia. I am not saying she isn’t great, I am just wondering what evidence some have for saying she is… or is it this Valencia talk is the result of an echo chamber where nobody knows where the original sound came from?
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I'm not sure if she's good but it's pretty safe to say Dray, Denson, and Lindner shouldn't be getting starts and hitting
 



Won’t know until she plays. Drey didn’t do it last year and is not getting it done this year. At least give her a shot at it. Also, where is Costa
 

MRJ said:
I should have specified a bit more; left her in too long to keep the 6-3 lead. And, yes, Leavitt did give up the bomb to end it. But the momentum was with GC throughout the game. It felt like Ritter was hoping Pease could hold on for dear life for the most part, especially late. When you lose despite the other team committing four errors (to your none), you haven't performed very well.
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Who else is there to hang on for dear life? They lost Dueck & Hostettler. They never use Hollifield (except to pinch run). Leavitt is the other starter.
 


Hrothgar said:
Who else is there to hang on for dear life? They lost Dueck & Hostettler. They never use Hollifield (except to pinch run). Leavitt is the other starter.
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They'll need to find out this weekend with 6 games over 4 days, not smart to have Pease pitch 3 more after today's outing or Leavitt to do 2 in a day this early in season
 



I don't see how a team with hopes of success can go through a whole schedule, theBIG tournament, and the NCAAs with only 2 pitchers. Autumn was pitching today like Amber last year. Always behind in the count, then forced to come over the plate to good hitters. Those pitching errors hurt the Gophers every bit as much as the opponents' 4 fielding errors hurt them, maybe more.
 


ClassOf98Gopher said:
I don’t say this to be mean… but why is it that some posters are raving about this Valencia so much?

I can find and have found evidence on a lot of softball recruits of their abilities and accomplishments that could translate into being a real college star on the web but I hadn’t located these rave reviews about Valencia. I am not saying she isn’t great, I am just wondering what evidence some have for saying she is… or is it this Valencia talk is the result of an echo chamber where nobody knows where the original sound came from?
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I just google searched “Nani valencia softball” and found plenty on her(HS all American). I haven’t seen her play either outside of last Fall but those that watcher her play will tell you she can flat out hit it. Honestly, Costa would be my first option to replace Dray since she has shown she can hit college pitching. The question is how long will coach Ritter stick with Dray at 1B? Her BA last year looks to be leaking over into this year.
I don’t know what the answer is but why not give some of the bench players an opportunity to showcase what they can do?
 

Hrothgar said:
I don't see how a team with hopes of success can go through a whole schedule, theBIG tournament, and the NCAAs with only 2 pitchers. Autumn was pitching today like Amber last year. Always behind in the count, then forced to come over the plate to good hitters. Those pitching errors hurt the Gophers every bit as much as the opponents' 4 fielding errors hurt them, maybe more.
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Haven't seen anything suggesting Ava transferred elsewhere yet, would be great if they can add her back onto team if that's possible and she's up for that plenty of innings to get
 

GopherAlum03 said:
I just google searched “Nani valencia softball” and found plenty on her(HS all American). I haven’t seen her play either outside of last Fall but those that watcher her play will tell you she can flat out hit it. Honestly, Costa would be my first option to replace Dray since she has shown she can hit college pitching. The question is how long will coach Ritter stick with Dray at 1B? Her BA last year looks to be leaking over into this year.
I don’t know what the answer is but why not give some of the bench players an opportunity to showcase what they can do?
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A real issue in these first 6 games is that DenHartog is off to a slow (for her obvious capabilities) start. She will be fine but she has struck out too much. Strelow is also off to a slow start. Neither of those is going to come out of the lineup. And then Dray is off to a slow start. The only realistic replacements at first that I know of are Hansen and Elke. Otherwise we would need broader fielding shifts.

Finally, I will always advocate for Cox getting in the lineup. With Espalin doing so well, I don’t think she can get around her, but Cox has so much power.

my last point is a positive point. Chloe Evans is going to be really good. She swings out of her shoes and for the fences and despite that almost never strikes out.
 




i’m so frustrated with the game management by the coaches. how do you let slap hitter denson hit in that situation? bases loaded, down by 6 and you don’t bring someone in who can get you back in the game with one swing? just makes no sense at all.
 


I didn’t expect that result. That day will cause some alarm bells to go off. It’s early and we can all see what the two major problems are… hitting and pitching. As for the hitting problem, it seems like they have some capability to make it a little better.

As for pitching, I am worried for this year and the future. With Jones, Dueck, and Hostettler all not having worked out and Hollifield clearly not having Ritter’s confidence and all this happening all at once, that just wipes out years of pitching recruits over a couple months period. Ouch.
 

junc1929 said:
i’m so frustrated with the game management by the coaches. how do you let slap hitter denson hit in that situation? bases loaded, down by 6 and you don’t bring someone in who can get you back in the game with one swing? just makes no sense at all.
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Agreed, but it's not just Denson. Several in the lineup have no business in the batter's box at all, as it is now. Not anything new, though. This pattern is 2+ years old now.
 

Hrothgar said:
Who else is there to hang on for dear life? They lost Dueck & Hostettler. They never use Hollifield (except to pinch run). Leavitt is the other starter.
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Agree. This is where losing Dueck hurts. But they're going to need somebody to step in during those moments. Can't be just Pease and Leavitt all year.
 

I got to watch today's games. In the GCU game we should have hit the first two pitchers better than we did. The third pitcher was pretty good. Autumn left a few to many over the plate. The GSU head Coach almost cost his team the game when he got his hitters attention when she was in the box and she struck out then he yells at his pitcher and gets her a little rattled not good coaching there.
In the ASU game Levitt was actually throwing really well after the first batter of the game. Her rise ball was getting outs.
Hitting wasn't great. We lose a lot when Jensen is not in the lineup. It will be interesting to see how the team responds tomorrow. Hopefully they will be dialed in.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I didn’t expect that result. That day will cause some alarm bells to go off. It’s early and we can all see what the two major problems are… hitting and pitching. As for the hitting problem, it seems like they have some capability to make it a little better.

As for pitching, I am worried for this year and the future. With Jones, Dueck, and Hostettler all not having worked out and Hollifield clearly not having Ritter’s confidence and all this happening all at once, that just wipes out years of pitching recruits over a couple months period. Ouch.
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Yeah, worrisome. IMO the Gophers' pitching problem is: They don't have a true ace. Pease is good, I like her style, but she's not a top 20 team's Nr 1 or 2 pitcher. She should be, say, #3 starter on a good pitching rotation. As pitchers, Jones, Dueck, Hostettler, Hollifield (probably), and others they've had, besides Groenewegen and Fiser, are of that same somewhat lesser ability level. To get back to the WCWS, they need elite pitching, which would've made today's 7-run GCU game an easy win and kept the ASU game scoreless. Asking a lot, surely, but that's the kind of team we wish for.
 

rowdaboat said:
Haven't seen anything suggesting Ava transferred elsewhere yet, would be great if they can add her back onto team if that's possible and she's up for that plenty of innings to get
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Had the pleasure of meeting Ava this evening. She is a very personable young lady! Her left knee was giving her a lot of trouble. It got to the point where she woke up every morning in severe pain. Wanting to be able to walk and play with any children she night have, she has retired from softball.
 

Gopher68 said:
Had the pleasure of meeting Ava this evening. She is a very personable young lady! Her left knee was giving her a lot of trouble. It got to the point where she woke up every morning in severe pain. Wanting to be able to walk and play with any children she night have, she has retired from softball.
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Thank you for the update on, Dueck. That is a very unfortunate injury. Those are tough decisons when you have been competing your whole life to get to this point in your softball career. I wish her all the best in her academics and for life after softball.
 

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