Hey Governmentmule - softball thread needed

#176
#176
alexvol said:
The TV announcer speculated that Arnold would be the starter but nothing official that I have seen corroborates that.
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That would be my guess as well but may bring Matty back since Arnold closed it out today. Not many options in the circle this year.
 
#177
#177
sccshortstop said:
I think that they tried going the power route a few years back and it did not work out that well. They had some so called power hitters from the right side, Koenig, Aldrette,Spigner and Akamine who ended up transferring because they could not cut it, except Aldrette had other issues as well. I would be 99% of all the major programs will turn smaller speed players around like we do. In many cases that has happened in summer leagues before the girls even get to college.
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Looking at the top of the SEC (Alabama and UF) they seem to do well without doing it.
 
#179
#179
MadWorld said:
I'm not trying to rile you up, but you are totally wrong on this statement. I would bet that a vast majority of the top 20 programs do not turn RH hitters around to make them slappers. In fact, I challenge you to find more than a handful that the Weekly's have SUCCESSFULLY done this with. It's just not easy to do. If they haven't done it by the time they are 12-13, it's probably not going to work.

Do the Weekly's do this? Yes they do. And that is one of my beef with them. It's a common running theme with TB coaches around Tennessee about them. It's known that they will do this to speedy players, and if they can't, they will use them for only pinch runners. Like Tim said above, they value the slappers much more than most programs, almost to the point that they have tilted their program too far in that direction.

The Weekly's have their philosophy, but I think they are getting passed up by a bunch of coaches in this league because they are so set with this.

Look, I probably don't have 25% of your knowledge of Vols softball and I apologize for this rant. It is not directed at you. I want them to succeed but I not a sunshine pumper and I don't see it this year. Maybe next year/maybe not.
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Absolutely agree. Mcclain had a good day and could be effective but shes lost 2 years working on it. The girl can flat squash a ball.
 
#183
#183
sccshortstop said:
Just curious but how do you know that they have not turned any of their players around? No disrespect intended.
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Im assuming of course, but none seem to be ones who would benefit from it. They dont seem to have elite speed which (normally) prompts it.

And, of course no disrespect felt. I enjoy discussing this game. They obviously have forgotten more than I'll ever know I just see the game trending away from their philosophy.
 
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#184
#184
tim said:
Im assuming of course, but none seem to be ones who would benefit from it. They dont seem to have elite speed which (normally) prompts it.
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I see. You may be right. Both of those mentioned have relied in the past on their pitching which has been I would argue has been and still is better than ours. Alabama especially have had some big boned power hitter in the past but I have not watched them this year either. I think both overall speed has been as good or better than our until this year as far as I know. When you win or have won a NC you tend to get the pitchers you really want and Florida can recruit their own state and get the ones that they want. No disrespect here and agree love friendly discussion over friendly fire!!JMHO
 
#185
#185
LVJeff said:
Did they say who is pitching tomorrow? Is Arnold coming back to pitch the rubber game?
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I would expect her to start with a short hook don't think they will let her walk the batters she did Friday night got her own self in that jam that resulted in the grand slam.
 
#187
#187
sccshortstop said:
I see. You may be right. Both of those mentioned have relied in the past on their pitching which has been I would argue has been and still is better than ours. Alabama especially have had some big boned power hitter in the past but I have not watched them this year either. I think both overall speed has been as good or better than our until this year as far as I know. When you win or have won a NC you tend to get the pitchers you really want and Florida can recruit their own state and get the ones that they want. No disrespect here and agree love friendly discussion over friendly fire!!JMHO
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No doubt about it. Their pitching is ridiculous and they probably give up a little defensive athleticism due to that in favor of these "big boned" hitters.
 
#188
#188
tim said:
No doubt about it. Their pitching is ridiculous and they probably give up a little defensive athleticism due to that in favor of these "big boned" hitters.
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Yep you can cover for some of those big less athletic hitters by having one as the catcher and one at first base and one as a DP. I don't think we have any of those positions covered up at all at this time.
 
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#189
#189
tim said:
No doubt about it. Their pitching is ridiculous and they probably give up a little defensive athleticism due to that in favor of these "big boned" hitters.
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If you're talking about Florida, I believe the two seasons they won the National Championship they had the best defense in the nation both years. I haven't checked on that so I may be wrong but I think so.
 
#191
#191
LVJeff said:
If you're talking about Florida, I believe the two seasons they won the National Championship they had the best defense in the nation both years. I haven't checked on that so I may be wrong but I think so.
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Sometimes great pitching makes an average defense great sometimes great defense makes average pitching great. They've been loaded either way.
 
#192
#192
Post game media up:

https://youtu.be/dpTUb-kPge8

Karen said they were trying to get more speed at the top and bottom of the lineup. Not sure moving Gregg up accomplishes that but Gregg does have good speed.

Matty is a hoot - so upbeat.
 
#193
#193
Side comment about SC's lineup. Their top 11 players includes 5 seniors, 4 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 1 freshman. The pitchers are seniors. This is a veteran group it would seem.

Contrast that with Tennessee's top 11 of 4 freshman, 4 sophomores, 2 juniors, and 1 senior.
 
#195
#195
peachstatevolgirl said:
No, no. I was asking in general. She throws right-handed. I met her hitting coach, Rhett Lister, in 2015. He came and put on a day camp at the school I coached at. The Weeklys didn't turn her around; Lister did. He said he did it whenever she was young, but I never asked why. I just used her as an example.

The commentators just talked about the number of lefties in both TN and SC's lineups.
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Gregg, like Lauren Gibson, Lexi Overstreet and many others throw righthanded, but were taught to hit from the left side at a very young age to maximize their matchups in a sport dominated by righthanded pitchers.
 
#196
#196
tim said:
Looking at the top of the SEC (Alabama and UF) they seem to do well without doing it.
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Florida and Alabama have both recruited and utilized slappers for years.

I can't speak to whether they have turned any players into slappers once they got to campus, but UT has only done it with three players ever, so I'm going to guess the number isn't high if they have.

I'm sorry that you're mad they turned CJ around for whatever reason, but she was a .200 hitter at the college level when they did it. The fact that they've done it with her (and she's starting to see some success with it) doesn't mean that the other slappers on the roster have been turned around once they got to campus. That's just not true, and you saying it over and over doesn't make it any more true. It's wrong.
 
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#197
#197
DeerPark12 said:
That's just not true, and you saying it over and over doesn't make it any more true. It's wrong.
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sccshortstop said:
I would bet 99% of all the major programs will turn smaller speed players around like we do.
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I'm not sure where you keep seeing this from Tim or I, but neither of us said it. It was started by SCC.

Neither here nor there. Good win today. SEC is very balanced this year. Anyone could win it.
 
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#198
#198
LVJeff said:
Well that is total BS. The SC hitter hits a dribbler to Rowland at first and the batter runs into the grass to avoid the tag. Ump calls her safe. Absolute horse-hockey.

Another run in. 9-1 SC.
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I think the ump was just ready to go home. It was a really cold night at the stadium. That run was enough for a run-rule.
 
#199
#199
You can't just start hitting from the other side in college. I mean, maybe you can be taught to slap, which is just putting the bat on ball, but that is all one can do switching that late. And all mclain can do is just that. Most of her hits don't get out if the infield.
 
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#200
#200
DeerPark12 said:
Florida and Alabama have both recruited and utilized slappers for years.

I can't speak to whether they have turned any players into slappers once they got to campus, but UT has only done it with three players ever, so I'm going to guess the number isn't high if they have.

I'm sorry that you're mad they turned CJ around for whatever reason, but she was a .200 hitter at the college level when they did it. The fact that they've done it with her (and she's starting to see some success with it) doesn't mean that the other slappers on the roster have been turned around once they got to campus. That's just not true, and you saying it over and over doesn't make it any more true. It's wrong.
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Im not mad. Havent said it over and over. I have zero ties to CJ. I will still contend they are overly infatuated with speed and undervalue hitting away. Look, I know that the basepaths are 60 feet and speed can be deadly, but it has failed them time and again when facing teams built on power hitting. Moving power to the top of the lineup is not what they are inclined to do yet when they do it the outcome improved. I would say I am a fan of the big stick in softball.

Also, CJ had 15 AB's as a freshman with that .200 avg and still had more RBI's (5) than she did in last years outing with over 40 AB's (3). Her OBP and SLG percentage was also higher as a freshman. Averages dont tell the whole story when reading box scores.
 
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