Gopher softball 2023

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Nobody in big ten will be good enough to host a regional
 

rowdaboat said:
Nobody in big ten will be good enough to host a regional
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I’m not seeing it.

But some team in the Big Ten will be good enough to win the Big Ten! That is plenty enough reason to get excited for the 2023 season; before Big Ten softball is ruined by UCLA and others joining the conference and preventing any legacy Big Ten team from ever winning the Big Ten softball championship again. Sad.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I’m not seeing it.

But some team in the Big Ten will be good enough to win the Big Ten! That is plenty enough reason to get excited for the 2023 season; before Big Ten softball is ruined by UCLA and others joining the conference and preventing any legacy Big Ten team from ever winning the Big Ten softball championship again. Sad.
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UCLA will be #2 and well ahead of everyone behind them for upcoming season(s) with recruiting class and transfer class
 

Key is for the new Big Ten to get better. Thirty years ago Big Ten Volleyball was not great but now it is the best. Softball can improve with changes to the rules. The problem in the north is weather. If we can get enough support move the season back to allow the northern teams equal footing, Option 2 limit the number of "home" games and "warm climate" games. Say a team can only play a limited number of home games or limited number of games before April
 


NextYear_76 said:
Key is for the new Big Ten to get better. Thirty years ago Big Ten Volleyball was not great but now it is the best. Softball can improve with changes to the rules. The problem in the north is weather. If we can get enough support move the season back to allow the northern teams equal footing, Option 2 limit the number of "home" games and "warm climate" games. Say a team can only play a limited number of home games or limited number of games before April
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Adding more PAC teams might help in that regard. Much of the negative commentary on UCLA joining the B1G from a softball perspective revolves around the Bruins having to play cold-weather games. Given that political power in softball is concentrated in the south and west, this issue for UCLA and any other PAC teams that might eventually join the B1G could finally help make this a reality.

Also wouldn’t hurt if the RPI took road games into account as part of the formula. Baseball does it. No idea why softball doesn’t. The fact that it doesn’t helps marginal SEC and other teams that are able to host early-season non-conference tournaments build an inflated RPI, which plays a huge part in who gets those last few Top 8 and Top 16 hosting slots at the end of the season.
 


NextYear_76 said:
Key is for the new Big Ten to get better. Thirty years ago Big Ten Volleyball was not great but now it is the best. Softball can improve with changes to the rules. The problem in the north is weather. If we can get enough support move the season back to allow the northern teams equal footing, Option 2 limit the number of "home" games and "warm climate" games. Say a team can only play a limited number of home games or limited number of games before April
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Move the beginning of the season to mid-march

Move both the WCWS & CWS to Mid-July.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Move the beginning of the season to mid-march

Move both the WCWS & CWS to Mid-July.
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Good point, but never going to happen, is it?, until the northern conferences step up and make their voices/demands heard.
 



Hrothgar said:
Good point, but never going to happen, is it?, until the northern conferences step up and make their voices/demands heard.
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I honestly think northern teams could get more national exposure by separating from southern teams and having their own later season and year-end national tournament, even if viewed in the beginning as a "B" league. Right now, all but a handful of northern teams are an afterthought with the occasional team making waves in the WCWS. Even more so for baseball. The population and income potential in the northern markets could eventually make that league a preferred place to play in late spring and summer.

I know, I know. That's just dreaming.
 

Hrothgar said:
Good point, but never going to happen, is it?, until the northern conferences step up and make their voices/demands heard.
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No… it’s just never going to happen. The NCAA is never going to move the season too far into the summer or they are going to have the heat-related deaths of Athletes playing/practicing in the deep southern states on their hands.

Maybe they could pair up the season with baseball; that’s probably about the best they can do and the most we can wish for.
 






mngolf said:
Well once the B1G starts paying their athletes(and I'm sure that's on the horizon) more and more of the talent will filter to the B1G schools.
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Was thinking more about this last night. With the announcement of the new TV contracts, and the increase by at least $20M per year, not only should we have top notch facilities for all sports but they could easily pay the athletes very well. Like an example would be that paying 100 athletes an avg of $25k each would only cost the school $2.5M per year. That's in addition to any NIL the athletes can earn on there own or through collectives. And if more donors started moving their donations away from the school and more towards those collectives.......
 


ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Carol Hutchins, the legendary University of Michigan softball head coach, announced Wednesday (Aug. 24) that she is retiring after 38 seasons leading the Wolverines.

Hutchins, who recently completed her 39th overall season as a head coach, is the winningest coach in NCAA softball history with 1,707 victories and a career winning percentage of .755 (1,707-555-5).

"Words can not adequately describe my appreciation for all that Carol Hutchins has done for the University of Michigan, the sport of softball, nor for the impact she has had on the lives of countless young people," said the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics Warde Manuel. "I also cannot succinctly articulate my personal sadness at her decision to retire from coaching while being so happy that Hutch can enjoy life beyond the game. Hutch is a force who elevated not only the sport of softball but generations of female athletes as a staunch advocate of equality. She has been a tireless fundraiser for societal causes, including the American Cancer Society, and I know that she will continue to impact lives beyond the game of softball. Carol Hutchins is a legend."
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ClassOf98Gopher said:
Makes sense. Her team is going to stink this upcoming year, right? All her best players transferred to the South.
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Maybe, but more likely she didn’t want to deal with the new reality that is college sports in general. I think it won’t be long and others will follow her out the door rather then deal with the system now.
 


JacksonMedford said:
Even though she was the opposing coach, I'll always remember her for the way she stood up for Gopher Softball when it got disrespected by the selection committee a few years ago.
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Studying Hutchins on the sidelines, in the dugout, and after games this past season, it seemed she was heading toward retirement. That's an intuitive response by me, but her players may have transferred out knowing she was leaving. Two or three years ago, she was quoted in June, "It's been a long season and we're all tired. I'm the oldest and most tired of all us." I always felt that if Allister had stayed at the U she would've build the same legacy of excellence. MN was at MI's heels. I also noticed that the MI sport pages commented several times, with some seeming surprise, that MI hadn't won a regional title for several years running. Maybe that was a burden unusual for MI softball.
 


mngolf said:
It's on the 28th. But I'll let you know. She has seen the communication increase dramatically between lots of coaches and her travel coach. Sep 1 should be a big date as well as coaches can talk to her directly then.
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She was very good today. Very proud. Lots of positive comments while their scrimmage was going on. Others you could hear some issues or just silence. She was catching, we were sitting right behind backstop. I'm confident she was the best catcher there today. Just my opinion of course, but when you see her competing with girls from some of the other top clubs in this area and she's doing better.....many of them older than her too.
 

Chidester new Michigan assistant coach. I'd assume that's a 2 year audition to be promoted to be head coach given how old the replacement coach is, at which point they'd be back to a recruiting powerhouse
 

Gopher Alumni game today! It will be fun to see the new and old faces !
 


Hrothgar said:
Please report on what your impressions are. Too far for me to drive. Hoping for some vital new talent.
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Here are some takes from the alumni game. Nani V alternated at 1B with Delaney and both of them had really good swings. Fr Jess Oakland played SS and looked strong and talented with the bat and in the field. Transfer Riley me payed LF and looks like an effective slapper. Sydney S pitched and used 3 different speeds with a great change up. Transfer Bre pitched for the Alumni and hit spots well. Overall they looked more athletic than last year.
 

Twocents said:
Here are some takes from the alumni game. Nani V alternated at 1B with Delaney and both of them had really good swings. Fr Jess Oakland played SS and looked strong and talented with the bat and in the field. Transfer Riley me payed LF and looks like an effective slapper. Sydney S pitched and used 3 different speeds with a great change up. Transfer Bre pitched for the Alumni and hit spots well. Overall they looked more athletic than last year.
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Thanks!
 


Twocents said:
Here are some takes from the alumni game. Nani V alternated at 1B with Delaney and both of them had really good swings. Fr Jess Oakland played SS and looked strong and talented with the bat and in the field. Transfer Riley me payed LF and looks like an effective slapper. Sydney S pitched and used 3 different speeds with a great change up. Transfer Bre pitched for the Alumni and hit spots well. Overall they looked more athletic than last year.
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Will their pitching be better compared to last year? especially how did the new pitchers look?
 

Ragnor said:
Will their pitching be better compared to last year? especially how did the new pitchers look?
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I believe it will be better. I think if they limit how much Autumn pitches she becomes a better pitcher. The GCU transfer looks real good and Schwartz and FSU transfer will be competitive also. I hope they pitch by committee in every game.
 

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