Gopher Softball Fall Season
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Chase the Rise
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I agree it will be a nice first look, but I don't put too much stock into fall games. Do we have a healthy catcher on the roster?
I think Krapf should be OK to play. Meniscus injuries are faster recovery than other knee issues. Cassie Lindmark, the transfer catcher from Penn State should be available. And, freshman Brooklyn Jones played catcher in high school.
as did leschber
Chase the Rise
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Lindmark had shoulder issues coming from Penn State, Forgot about Jones. I'd be surprised if we see either Lindmark or Krapf during meaningless fall games if they aren't 100%
Forgot to mention another incoming freshman catcher - Tara Wolocko from Kingwood, TX
Lindmark played the last half of the season last year. Her injury was earlier in the year. I would guess she and Taylor would play a limited role this weekend.
WayOfTheGopher
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I think Leschber even played a few games at catcher early in the season last year.
Chase the Rise
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Pretty uneventful so far, UMD out hitting us 5-3 through 3 innings, but Gophers have the lead 4-0 mostly due to free bases. Hambrick pitched the first 3 innings, Enter came in in the 4th.
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Gophers win game 1 vs UMD 4-1
No sign of Krapf or Lindmark.
No sign of Krapf or Lindmark.
As was mentioned earlier, it is hard to get a good reading from an exhibition game. These are my observations/opinions:
Other than catching, the freshman usually pinch ran or batted only once or twice. Hambrick, Enter and Schwartz did all the pitching. They all had a few wild pitches. Hitting really missed Krapf in the lineup. The freshmen catchers did well. Individually:
DeBord played outfield - She led off, didn't hit well, fielded well
Chavez played 3rd - hitting and fielding were both great
Oakland at short - hitting and fielding were both great
Strelow at 2nd hit the ball hard but got nothing to show for it, fielded the chances she had
Schwartz pitcher and first - did well at both
Leschber DH and 1st - played ok, not much power from her
Elke DH - Good eye and contact at the plate
Burnett outfield - OK at the plate, tried diving catches a few times - playing one into a triple
Valencia outfield - covered center field well, hit OK
Cox 1st base - didn't see much action
Snippes pinch hit twice - nothing eventful
Overall, I thought the fielding was solid. Pitching will allow the freshman to develop until they are ready for higher level of competition. As I mentioned, hitting really needs Krapf in the lineup.
The highlight of the afternoon for me was getting to see and talk to Autumn Pease!
ClassOf98Gopher
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Thank you for that update! Very helpful, and I am glad you got to talk to Autumn Pease. I hope she is well. What is she doing these days?
Did not ask her.
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Agree with a lot of observations here.
A couple of notes outside listed above:
Pitchers looked like a first fall game, weren't as sharp as mid-season form, nor should anyone expect them to be. However, I like to watch catchers...the freshmen have work to do in the receiving game. Both missed a lot of borderline strikes that their technique didn't allow them to get those close calls. It will improve I'm sure.
DeBord-this one is tough. Fielding was good, but I really didn't like her at bats. Had too many swing and misses at bad pitches for a lead off, in my opinion. Just because you're a lefty and somewhat fast doesn't mean you are a leadoff.
Chavez-typical Chavez. great hitter and should continue to be leadoff. hit a HR and every at bat was solid
Oakland-Great again, both in the field and hitting. Hit a HR
Strelow-typical Syd, nothing outstanding from the hitting side, made the play she should make in the field
Schwartz-had an uneventful hitting round in the first game, second game came back with a HR and a single I believe. Pitching wasn't as sharp as I thought it would be, seems to be a good fielder
Leschber-Like above, played OK as DH, had a misplayed ball at first
Elke-Will continue be the DH, did OK
Burnett-Seems to almost have the tools to be good, speed definitely helps her, but hitting and reads in the OF aren't on par with where her speed is. I'd love to see her improve both in hitting and fielding.
Valencia-does everything well, just not sure if it's good enough to be a full time starter. Seems to always have good at bats.
Cox-agree with above, didn't see much action and had a soft ground ball single
Snippes-a couple of at bats, balls in play but nothing to note.
It was interesting to not see more of the freshmen pitchers.
Good to see them play, but hard to get a read on anything vs a not very good UMD team.
After seeing both games v. UMD, i'm not disappointed, but not overwhelmingly enthusiastic either. I can't see any additions to the roster who will be outstanding, but not horrible either. Seems like a continuation of pretty good but not quite good enough Gopher SB ever since 2020.
ClassOf98Gopher
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I think I agree with some of the sentiments above, although I was not there to see it. I guess the question this comment poses however is what the heck does “good enough” really mean?
We will clearly be down this year as our pitching will be down compared to the past dozen years or more. But, I expect Northwestern and Indiana to be a lot worse. So we have that going for us going into our last year before all these Pac 12 teams come in and ruin Big Ten softball.
Sounds like we saw the same games!
Chase the Rise
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I entirely disagree with the comment that the Pac 12 schools coming in will ruin Big Ten Softball. IF anything, these teams coming in will make the conference better, make coaches recruit better, give better competition throughout the conference schedule, and will increase the entire conferences RPI. If the goal is make the post season, the PAC 12 schools coming in will do nothing but help that and give more credibility to a conference that is not seen as a power in softball. If the goal is win a conference with historically 3 good teams....then yes, you might be disappointed. But the 3 schools coming in will help B10 softball top to bottom and for the post season.
What is ruining softball is the portal and the NIL...it's creating a split in teams of haves and have nots. the way it stands currently, teams like Oklahoma has their 12 full scholarships that they can divide up any way they choose. The difference is, they can also offer all 23 girls a lucrative NIL contract that is probably worth more than a full scholarship. How does any school compete with that? From what I know, MN has zero softball kids getting any NIL money.
Different sandbox.
ClassOf98Gopher
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Which is why this (“the goal is win a conference with historically 3 good teams”) is and has for 50 years for Big10 teams playing within the NCAA baseball/softball structure been the appropriate goal the fan should have for their team.
I likely will never cheer on another conference tournament title win again in my lifetime once UCLA, Washington, and Oregon get here.
As you said, different sandboxes.
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ClassOf98Gopher
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To be honest, I don’t care even a little bit about the above. I only care about how much entertainment I get from following the team and their games. It’s 100 percent about entertainment; a distraction from the real world to be enjoyed by the fan. If my team (the Gophers) is not as competitive for conference championships as they have been since 2014, then I am much more likely to tune my attention out of that sport and find another entertaining distraction, maybe politics? or Roman history?
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Nice article by Pat Reusse about Autumn. She is back in school working at becoming a medical sales rep.
How the Twins' Sonny Gray inspired former Gophers softball star Autumn Pease
Former Gophers standout Autumn Pease is back in town after excelling in a pro league in Texas, and she'll watch childhood favorite Sonny Gray pitch for the Twins on Thursday.
www.startribune.com
Notes from the game vs. St. Thomas tonight:
Enter pitched 4 decent innings. She gave up 3 hits and 3 runs...but the Gophers also had 2 errors while she was pitching and another play that probably should have been an error (Freshman Jones was catching and Oakland tried to come home to get a force out, but Jones wasn't touching the plate).
DeBord - played CF and dropped the only ball I remember her getting. Went a long way for it and it was windy, but hit her glove and popped out. Had good at-bats, saw a lot of pitches, looked to slap a few times, drew a walk and scored the game winning run.
Burnett played left but I don't remember any balls hit out to her. She had a hard hit for an out and laid down a nice bunt.
Ehlke was 2-2 with a walk. Smoked one off the pitcher. Looked good, solid/smart at-bats.
Leschber played outfield and 1st. She did not look natural at 1st. She dropped the first throw that came her way. She did field a few grounders and another throw fine, but definitely has more to work on there. She really stabs at the ball. Was chatting a lot with the coaches after every defensive inning. Also hit into a DP.
Schwartz pitched 1 good inning. Good movement on her pitches, quick inning. Had a couple uneventful at-bats. Also dropped a ball while playing 1st.
Hambrick pitched 1 solid inning.
Oakland hit a triple to lead off the 7th. The outfielder came in, got burned and then fell down on the play, but it was solidly hit. Looked smooth in the field - played all 7 innings at short.
Strelow had the game winning sac fly to deep center.
Highlight for me was seeing freshman Macy Richardson get to pitch 1 inning. Looked like she threw a rise, fast and a change. Rise/fast was 63-65 mph. Change was 50-52. Threw a great inning. Obviously a very small sample size, but it was encouraging.
I was surprised that none of the freshman got an at-bat. They pinch ran some, got a few innings in the field, but no at-bats. Jones/Wolocko split the game catching. Both looked...meh. I realize they are freshman and it's fall ball, but just being honest.
Lindmark, Krapf, Snipes and Werner didn't play.
This is just my memory...so sorry if I missed anything or got something wrong. Gophers only had 6 hits. Overall, the D was not great early and we didn't exactly light up a not great St. Thomas pitching staff. Would have liked to see cleaner D and more offense. Hopefully we will in the spring.
Enter pitched 4 decent innings. She gave up 3 hits and 3 runs...but the Gophers also had 2 errors while she was pitching and another play that probably should have been an error (Freshman Jones was catching and Oakland tried to come home to get a force out, but Jones wasn't touching the plate).
DeBord - played CF and dropped the only ball I remember her getting. Went a long way for it and it was windy, but hit her glove and popped out. Had good at-bats, saw a lot of pitches, looked to slap a few times, drew a walk and scored the game winning run.
Burnett played left but I don't remember any balls hit out to her. She had a hard hit for an out and laid down a nice bunt.
Ehlke was 2-2 with a walk. Smoked one off the pitcher. Looked good, solid/smart at-bats.
Leschber played outfield and 1st. She did not look natural at 1st. She dropped the first throw that came her way. She did field a few grounders and another throw fine, but definitely has more to work on there. She really stabs at the ball. Was chatting a lot with the coaches after every defensive inning. Also hit into a DP.
Schwartz pitched 1 good inning. Good movement on her pitches, quick inning. Had a couple uneventful at-bats. Also dropped a ball while playing 1st.
Hambrick pitched 1 solid inning.
Oakland hit a triple to lead off the 7th. The outfielder came in, got burned and then fell down on the play, but it was solidly hit. Looked smooth in the field - played all 7 innings at short.
Strelow had the game winning sac fly to deep center.
Highlight for me was seeing freshman Macy Richardson get to pitch 1 inning. Looked like she threw a rise, fast and a change. Rise/fast was 63-65 mph. Change was 50-52. Threw a great inning. Obviously a very small sample size, but it was encouraging.
I was surprised that none of the freshman got an at-bat. They pinch ran some, got a few innings in the field, but no at-bats. Jones/Wolocko split the game catching. Both looked...meh. I realize they are freshman and it's fall ball, but just being honest.
Lindmark, Krapf, Snipes and Werner didn't play.
This is just my memory...so sorry if I missed anything or got something wrong. Gophers only had 6 hits. Overall, the D was not great early and we didn't exactly light up a not great St. Thomas pitching staff. Would have liked to see cleaner D and more offense. Hopefully we will in the spring.
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ClassOf98Gopher
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Richardson’s capabilities may be the most important open question as to how well the Gophers softball team performs in 2024. If she can pitch at the college level, that may be numerous more games in the win column versus the scenario where she can’t get college batters out. There are few other players on the team where this question as to how well they can play at the college level will have such a large impact on wins and losses. Quality pitching is just so important in this game.
Did Richardson appear in the game? Are there any Gophers newcomers who look outstanding?
from the post above: Highlight for me was seeing freshman Macy Richardson get to pitch 1 inning. Looked like she threw a rise, fast and a change. Rise/fast was 63-65 mph. Change was 50-52. Threw a great inning. Obviously a very small sample size, but it was encouraging.
I agree with you. I saw Richardson pitch 3 innings v. NDSU today. The game was in some doubt, slim 2-1 MN lead when she entered, and she shut things down decisively. She was very impressive--- some good velocity on her hard pitches and changed speeds well. She also looked eager to face hitters and ready to compete.
I was there for both games (all 3 in fact: MN, ISU, NDSU). The Gophers arre stacked with 6 pitchers, all of whom saw some action. It seemed Enter was throwing harder (by her standards) than last year & more confident. Richardson impressed me for a first-yr player. Remains to be seen who, if anyone, will be the "ace", but they all threw lots of strikes and few BOB. Gophers played very good defense in the infield. Chavez was her usual reliable self & Strelow also made a couple of excellent plays on hard grounders.Oakland was even better than last year in covering to her right & left and with a quicker ball release on throws. Kinda minor-league spectacular defense by her (considering it was Fall Ball.) Burnett & DeBord made some good catches in LF, but the outfielders made some ill-advised throws to the wrong bases. Homers by Oakland (2), Chavez, Leshber, can't remember who else. Elke lined a smash off the right center field wall, which drove in a run but only went for a single. LOL, I liked that for some reason. Some of the seasoned veteran hitters puzzle me. They continue to dribble meek grounders back to the circle or hit easy popups to the infield off pitches that would seem cinches to be driven deep to the outfield. Krapf didn't play, but I saw Piper & asked about nr. 13. Piper smiled and said she'll be ready. Piper said the team looks pretty good: some strengths but also holes to fill. She warned about their having a tough schedule. They may be pitching by committee, but a committee of 6 ain't bad.