In Reply to: Softball thoughts posted by lafong on May 18, 2026 at 19:00:14
Other than basketball, softball is my favorite sport. My team had a dynasty in the UCLA intramural co-ed leagues, winning four consecutive championships. But we couldn't have done it without our women.
I was so involved watching basketball (men and women) and professional hoops, I completely missed most of the softball season. All I knew that it was doomed from the start with such a decimated pitching staff: One semi-reliable senior and the rest best suited for pitching in the Home Run Derby. They probably thought at least one of the new players would be a capable #2, especially Cable who put up phenomenal stats in high school, 1,136 strikeouts in 552 innings (do the math). But she clearly wasn't ready for major college competition.
To catch up before the NCAA tournament, I watched all but three of the last 33 games in the last few weeks on Big10+ and ESPN+. That's why I couldn't come here until I caught up to avoid the inevitable spoilers. What I saw was the remarkable hitting which kept us in most games despite poor pitching. What especially drove me crazy, though, was all the walks given up with big leads, totally unacceptable. Also crazy were so many balls hit so hard that they bounced off the wall so fast and far that they resulted in only a single.
One would think losing Kaitlyn Terry, who is a finalist for college Player of the Year, would ruin the season. But I hear she had an attitude problem and judging by the incredible chemistry of this season's team, maybe it helped to some degree. Seeing Texas Tech lose would almost be as satisfying as us winning this week.
Looking forward to next year, there are plenty of bats returning (unless some rich NIL schools steal some of them). But they MUST get a top flight transfer pitcher to be competitive. There is only one pitcher listed in the incoming freshman class and not highly rated. They have a commit from one of the best in the 2027 class, but no help next season.
So as it turns out, the season wasn't doomed, only domed with a very high ceiling.