Gopher Softball 2024

Donate To GopherHole
ClassOf98Gopher said:
I fully agree with rwlawson’s analysis.

The only addition I would make is that these next handful or two of weeks will be the most important of Ritter’s tenure. She will have to convince Gopher players and pending recruits (and we all know especially who) that this team is on a path to be again making strong runs in Big Ten tourneys and into NCAA tourneys. Players and recruits have expected this program to be a top 30 or so team. Piper needs to convince them that we will be again… starting next year.
Click to expand...
To start with she needs to believe it herself.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I fully agree with rwlawson’s analysis.

The only addition I would make is that these next handful or two of weeks will be the most important of Ritter’s tenure. She will have to convince Gopher players and pending recruits (and we all know especially who) that this team is on a path to be again making strong runs in Big Ten tourneys and into NCAA tourneys. Players and recruits have expected this program to be a top 30 or so team. Piper needs to convince them that we will be again… starting next year.
Click to expand...
Agree. No reason this can't be a top 30 team every year.
 

mngolf said:
Agree. No reason this can't be a top 30 team every year.
Click to expand...
To be one if those teams, it is now more clear to me than ever before that it all starts in the circle. It is essential that the Gophers have at least one ace pitcher on staff with BOTH the command to reliably throw strikes and the stuff to be able to strike out opposing batters in bunches.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
To be one if those teams, it is now more clear to me than ever before that it all starts in the circle. It is essential that the Gophers have at least one ace pitcher on staff with BOTH the command to reliably throw strikes and the stuff to be able to strike out opposing batters in bunches.
Click to expand...
Good insightful comment, Classof98. Don't mean to be a smart aleck, but I've argued that for years also. As you say, "at least one ace pitcher," preferably two to be really good.
 

DietCokeFan said:
Piper as the head coach and pitching coach is simply not working. I have also seen enough of the 3rd base coach. The amount of terrible decisions she makes is horrendous. The kids look absolutely lost out there. I understand there's injuries, but the fact that a team cannot adjust to pitching is baffling. How do you only get three hits off that Nebraska pitcher when she literally threw probably 300 pitches the weekend before. Expect Oakland and others to be long gone.
Click to expand...
Not sure what it means, but Oakland just signed for another year with Dinkytown Athletics.

MARA BRAUN AND JESS OAKLAND ARE BACK WITH DINKYTOWN ATHLETES​

Thank you to those who are supporting Gopher Women’s Basketball and Softball NIL. Mara Braun and Jess Oakland will be back for another year with Dinkytown Athletes.

I hope this means she will be back with Gopher softball.
 


Gopher68 said:
Not sure what it means, but Oakland just signed for another year with Dinkytown Athletics.

MARA BRAUN AND JESS OAKLAND ARE BACK WITH DINKYTOWN ATHLETES​

Thank you to those who are supporting Gopher Women’s Basketball and Softball NIL. Mara Braun and Jess Oakland will be back for another year with Dinkytown Athletes.

I hope this means she will be back with Gopher softball.
Click to expand...
She's collecting her coins, of course she would continue with Dinkytown. That doesn't stop anyone from going to the portal. Trust me, I hope she and others stay, I really do.
 


Gopher68 said:
End of Season interview with Taylor and Jess:
Click to expand...
Taylor and Jess provide a well-practiced interview. They are clearly disciplined in their sport so it only makes sense that they are disciplined and practiced in their communication.

They don’t step on any landmines, speak clearly, and give the appropriate (though often stated by most players) response to these types of questions.
 

Second day of the softball NCAAs and no BigTen team has escaped the elimination round.
 






Ski U Mah Gopher said:
With UCLA, Oregon, and Washington joining the league, there will be at least one team in the supers in 2025.
Click to expand...
I may be the only one who thinks this but in my mind, “who cares?” I couldn’t care less about UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. But I didn’t want them in the conference anyway.

All I care about is Minnesota and how that Gopher softball team will provide to me maximum entertainment from February to May.
 



ClassOf98Gopher said:
I may be the only one who thinks this but in my mind, “who cares?” I couldn’t care less about UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. But I didn’t want them in the conference anyway.

All I care about is Minnesota and how that Gopher softball team will provide to me maximum entertainment from February to May.
Click to expand...
Could look at it as: SEC gets so many bids because of their depth. If the depth on B1G is better, could help conference get more bids.
 

mngolf said:
Could look at it as: SEC gets so many bids because of their depth. If the depth on B1G is better, could help conference get more bids.
Click to expand...
The SEC teams get more bids and possibly have more roster depth because the collegiate softball schedule is skewed to fit their weather (and, in my assumption, less rigorous academic programs.
 

PreacherRoe said:
The SEC teams get more bids and possibly have more roster depth because the collegiate softball schedule is skewed to fit their weather (and, in my assumption, less rigorous academic programs.
Click to expand...
More bids because of weather? Not following.
 

mngolf said:
More bids because of weather? Not following.
Click to expand...
It’s quite simple. I live in Tennessee so I can tell you that it is really pleasant to do athletic things outside in March, April and into May. By June and certainly July, it is hot as the sun.

Anyway, the best outdoor days in the American South line up perfectly with the softball season. Whereas Minnesota’s best softball playing days are right about when the NCAA softball season ends.

So Minnesota Gopher players had better be the type of human beings that like to travel and don’t mind practicing indoors.
 
Last edited:

ClassOf98Gopher said:
It’s quite simple. I live in Tennessee so I can tell you that it is really pleasant to do athletic things outside in March, April and into May. By June and certainly July, it is hot as the sun.

Anyway, the best outdoor days in the American South line up perfectly with the softball season. Whereas Minnesota’s best softball playing days are right about when the NCAA softball season ends.

So Minnesota Gopher players had better be the type of human beings that like to travel and don’t mind practicing indoors.
Click to expand...
Ok, so i equated that to roster depth. But bids should work to our advantage based on the weather you listed.
 

It’s kind of a Catch-22 situation. For northern schools to get more hosting opportunities in the NCAA tournament, when the weather for games is at its finest, they have to win more games early in the year when they can’t play tough opponents at home due to weather.
 

I think you're all being too bland/kind. The February-thru-early-June NCAA calendar playing season was clearly a rig-job by NCAA-SEC-PAC 12 to favor the warm weather schools and allow them to play almost their entire pre-conference seasons (Febr & March) on their home fields v. traveling northern teams. One can only imagine the lobbying efforts by SEC and PAC12 to get that done, plus the timid non-efforts by the BigTen to let it happen. It will be fun if we see UCLA sent to play at MN, MI, or NW's Windy City on, say, February 9! LOL My hope is that Northern teams will get stronger. With its TV network, the BigTen should lobby for a season from early April to early August. The Big Ten could get it done. If SEC schools don't want to travel, they can stay home.
 

PreacherRoe said:
I think you're all being too bland/kind. The February-thru-early-June NCAA calendar playing season was clearly a rig-job by NCAA-SEC-PAC 12 to favor the warm weather schools and allow them to play almost their entire pre-conference seasons (Febr & March) on their home fields v. traveling northern teams. One can only imagine the lobbying efforts by SEC and PAC12 to get that done, plus the timid non-efforts by the BigTen to let it happen. It will be fun if we see UCLA sent to play at MN, MI, or NW's Windy City on, say, February 9! LOL My hope is that Northern teams will get stronger. With its TV network, the BigTen should lobby for a season from early April to early August. The Big Ten could get it done. If SEC schools don't want to travel, they can stay home.
Click to expand...

I think the season is dictated more by the school calendar. Most college academic schedules are done in early May now. There are about 800 NCAA softball-playing institutions (plus NAIA/JC) with only a few dozen at the Power 5 level and a much smaller number probably actually making significant TV revenue and making a profit. Most student athletes go home for the summer. Running the full season into the summer wouldn't work for probably at least 700+ programs.

That said, I'd love to see the BG10 baseball and softball members partner with other northern schools to shift the season by about 6 weeks later in the year. Fan attendance would definitely be boosted with more home games. Maybe realigned conferences would give them enough clout to get some TV revenue. I can only dream.
 

Panthadad2 said:
I think the season is dictated more by the school calendar. Most college academic schedules are done in early May now. There are about 800 NCAA softball-playing institutions (plus NAIA/JC) with only a few dozen at the Power 5 level and a much smaller number probably actually making significant TV revenue and making a profit. Most student athletes go home for the summer. Running the full season into the summer wouldn't work for probably at least 700+ programs.

That said, I'd love to see the BG10 baseball and softball members partner with other northern schools to shift the season by about 6 weeks later in the year. Fan attendance would definitely be boosted with more home games. Maybe realigned conferences would give them enough clout to get some TV revenue. I can only dream.
Click to expand...
Agreed. "Shift the season by about 6 weeks later in the year" is what I suggested also, which would mean starting April 1 and extending the season at least through July. That would put everybody close to being on the same calendar weather wise. As for student-athletes being home for the summer or playing ball, I think they'd want to play ball.
 

Watching the NCAAs shows, as it always does, that the elite teams make spectacular plays and bad fielding/throwing mistakes just like the Gophers do. What the elite teams have that the Gophers lack is a relative abundance of power pitching. Without top pitchers who stop potent lineups, the Gophers won't get back to where they were.
 

PreacherRoe said:
Watching the NCAAs shows, as it always does, that the elite teams make spectacular plays and bad fielding/throwing mistakes just like the Gophers do. What the elite teams have that the Gophers lack is a relative abundance of power pitching. Without top pitchers who stop potent lineups, the Gophers won't get back to where they were.
Click to expand...
I'm amazed seeing batters in the lineups hitting. 200. Along with some really dumb plays. Clearly elite pitching makes the biggest difference.
 

Despite Jessica Allister's admirable coaching, Stanford came up a bit short. The Cardinal's advancement gives the Gophers something to shoot for. Hope for the best, but I have my doubts.
 

PreacherRoe said:
Despite Jessica Allister's admirable coaching, Stanford came up a bit short. The Cardinal's advancement gives the Gophers something to shoot for. Hope for the best, but I have my doubts.
Click to expand...
I don’t think Stanford came up short at all. Stanford is a top 4 team! That’s an incredible achievement unlikely to happen again anytime soon.

I am not a huge fan of Coach Allister given what she did to us, but I gotta give her credit, she took a bad team and turned it into a great team. Of course she had the name “Stanford” and all of that Stanford Athletic Department money to work with… so she had THAT going for her. And I mean a lot of money.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I don’t think Stanford came up short at all. Stanford is a top 4 team! That’s an incredible achievement unlikely to happen again anytime soon.

I am not a huge fan of Coach Allister given what she did to us, but I gotta give her credit, she took a bad team and turned it into a great team. Of course she had the name “Stanford” and all of that Stanford Athletic Department money to work with… so she had THAT going for her. And I mean a lot of money.
Click to expand...
Some of the money issues will be turned around in the near future.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I don’t think Stanford came up short at all. Stanford is a top 4 team! That’s an incredible achievement unlikely to happen again anytime soon.

I am not a huge fan of Coach Allister given what she did to us, but I gotta give her credit, she took a bad team and turned it into a great team. Of course she had the name “Stanford” and all of that Stanford Athletic Department money to work with… so she had THAT going for her. And I mean a lot of money.
Click to expand...
I'm convinced Allister would have taken MN as far as she's taken Stanford, if she'd had the loyalty to stay with the MN program she was building, but who knows what lack of support she was given by the MN athletic program & Administration. I'm guessing it was paltry. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 

PreacherRoe said:
I'm convinced Allister would have taken MN as far as she's taken Stanford, if she'd had the loyalty to stay with the MN program she was building, but who knows what lack of support she was given by the MN athletic program & Administration. I'm guessing it was paltry. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Minnesota did all they could to keep her. They renovated the field at JSC. They offered her a substantial raise and incentives. The lure of her alma mater was too much to overcome
 

Gopher68 said:
Minnesota did all they could to keep her. They renovated the field at JSC. They offered her a substantial raise and incentives. The lure of her alma mater was too much to overcome
Click to expand...
I understand your points. They make sense. My sense is why didn't they start as early as 2014 when it must have been obvious they had a special coach. They could've fortified their position by planning in incentives. Of course, nothing is foolproof, but it amounted to another MN loss
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom