Our championship bracket

[j2d2]

I'm not knowledgeable about other teams but it appears to me that our championship bracket is clearly the toughest and by a good margin.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I think any team can win it all. We need to be at our best in every facet of the game. If we had one more dominant pitcher I would feel a little more confident but we will likely go as far as Paige carries us. If she stays true to form and doesn't give out, we have a reasonably good chance of winning it all. It's great news that Florida and Oregon are out.

 

[scrybe]

Alabama, our opponent in the opening round, may be the toughest team remaining (outside of OU) due to their pitcher, Osorio. She's a sophomore, like Paige. Her strengths are pure speed and maybe the best riser in softball.

Our hitters need to be patient and lay off the pitches that rise out of the zone. Intelligence is one of the strengths of our team this year, and our young players have matured so much as the season progressed. I think they will be patient this time against Osorio and force her to throw strikes. If so, they'll have some success. Should be one of the marquee matchups of the entire series.

 

[j2d2]

It seems we are doomed to play Alabama in championship series.

 

[SoonerSpock]

It seems we are doomed to play Alabama in championship series.

Unless they are sending the losers in the loser's bracket cross bracket we would play Bama in the semi's after one team comes out of their loser's bracket.

The finals will be the winner of each bracket. If we win Thursday night against Bama I don't think the Tide will win the losers bracket. I think Michigan has a better shot. Bama has been too inconsistent. They have lost 11 games to top 50 teams and only Bama and Georgia have lost a game to a 51-100 ranked team. And they don't get to play in Tuscaloosa anymore. They have the sixth worse road record in the tournament.

Key is win the first two and put both Bama and Michigan in the losers bracket to fight it out. Bama is the worst hitting team in the tournament. Also have the 7th lowest HR's per game average. They are also 7th in scoring. Seventh in staff ERA and their ace is 7th in ERA.

Michigan is first in scoring, 3rd in BA, 3rd in HR's, 4th in fielding, 2nd in staff ERA, second in ace's ERA. Have the best winning % against top 50 teams. The were especially impressive coming from down 4-1 with two out in the seventh to tie and win in overtime against Missouri. But you do have to give
Bama some credit for playing in the SEC

 

[sybarite]

Alabama, our opponent in the opening round, may be the toughest team remaining (outside of OU) due to their pitcher, Osorio. She's a sophomore, like Paige. Her strengths are pure speed and maybe the best riser in softball.

Our hitters need to be patient and lay off the pitches that rise out of the zone. Intelligence is one of the strengths of our team this year, and our young players have matured so much as the season progressed. I think they will be patient this time against Osorio and force her to throw strikes. If so, they'll have some success. Should be one of the marquee matchups of the entire series.

As I remember, she pitched a two-hitter against us this year. It's just that Paige also pitched a two-hitter against them. Their hits were both singles. Our hits were a leadoff single by Romero in the bottom of the seventh, followed by a bunt pop up by Wodach, and a two-run home run by Knighten.

 

[SoonerSpock]

As I remember, she pitched a two-hitter against us this year. It's just that Paige also pitched a two-hitter against them. Their hits were both singles. Our hits were a leadoff single by Romero in the bottom of the seventh, followed by a bunt pop up by Wodach, and a two-run home run by Knighten.

As we all know Osorio is primarily a rise ball pitcher and she struck out 13 Sooners in California in March. Hopefully JT has taught these young kids to do a much better job of laying off of that pitch. I know is seems to me the last two months we have done a much better job of not swinging at the high rise ball than we have historically under Tripp MacKay. Of course we did not see a rise ball pitcher of Osorio's caliber in those 32 games.

Hopefully JT teaching these freshmen and sophomores to swing down on the ball will entice the Sooners to not swing at pitches too high to hit the top half of the ball. If so we could mitigate the effectiveness of Osorio's best pitch.

 

[sybarite]

If I remember, it was after hitting that shot against Osorio that Knighten said something to the effect that some of the pitchers that were thought to be difficult to hit were those that they had played against in summer ball, and they knew what the pitchers had if they had played summer ball. The implication was that the freshman might have known Osorio having played her in summer ball. Of course, Osorio struck out a lot of players for being so well-known, but I do think that one of the reasons that this team has come this far with four freshmen in starting roles is that they have had the experience of summer ball against good pitching, the type that are being recruited by the top schools. Our freshmen seemed less intimidated than anyone, and they had a lot of very key hits this year. Aviu was key in the first game against Louisiana-Lafayette, and Romero and Knighten were key in the second.

 

[scrybe]

I believe you've got it exactly right, sybarite. Osorio is a really good pitcher, but I'll be very surprised if the Sooners don't cut down on the strikeouts when they face her again. They were already very skilled, both offensively and defensively, when they came to OU. And their participation in summer/travel ball had as much to do with that as anything. And they're better players today than they were when they faced Osorio back in March. Of course I'm sure she's better too, and she seems to be fully healthy as well.

I also agree that our freshmen are less intimidated than most freshmen when they face top NCAA pitchers. They were elite players/athletes when they came to OU and Patty has made them even better. In fact, I believe four of our freshmen could start for any team in the NCAA. And I know two of our sophomores could as well.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I'm not sure at all it will help our hitters just because they have faced Osorio previously. A lot of hitters faced Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, etc, several times and still had plenty of trouble getting hits. Likewise, Alabama will have trouble hitting Parker even though they have faced her in the past.

 

[sybarite]

I'm not sure at all it will help our hitters just because they have faced Osorio previously. A lot of hitters faced Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, etc, several times and still had plenty of trouble getting hits. Likewise, Alabama will have trouble hitting Parker even though they have faced her in the past.

As a huge fan of Gibson and Koufax, a part of the reason that you couldn't hit them is that the umpires let them get away with throwing balls. In the year that Gibson set the 1.12 ERA, he was throwing off a high mound (lowered by rule the following year) and had a slider that was called a strike if it didn't land in the dirt. A six-inch high pitch was called a strike. Good pitchers often have a certain pitch that umpires give them. But, that was a special year in which Bob got away with a strike that was unhittable.

Koufax had somewhat of the same situation. His curve ball broke down more than in. It was often below the knees when it passed the plate, and it often broke inside or outside. They still called it a strike. In both his and Gibson's case, they modified what they were calling strikes. Both were great players and didn't need the help.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I'm not sure at all it will help our hitters just because they have faced Osorio previously. A lot of hitters faced Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, etc, several times and still had plenty of trouble getting hits. Likewise, Alabama will have trouble hitting Parker even though they have faced her in the past.

If is definitely an advantage to have faced a pitcher before as you better understand her stuff. Likewise it is an advantage to a pitcher to have faced a batter before as she have learned their weaknesses. Perhaps a push in general but will vary from player to player. I think the advantage still says with the pitcher but batter has the opportunity to learn the most from the experience.

As is always the case with a rise ball hitter the size of the strike zone is key to their effectiveness. If the ref is not giving the high strike and thereby forcing the pitcher to lower her offering her effectiveness is definitely reduced. Of course the first key is for the Sooners not to swing at that high pitch out of the zone. Traditionally a problem for the Sooners under Tripp MacKay.

It will be interesting to see if JT has taught the youngsters to layoff the high rise ball offering better than the Sooners have in the past.

Osorio has been getting a lot stronger as she recovered from injury/surgery in 2015.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20160531/news/160539968?p=3&tc=pg

 

[SoonerNorm]

I can name 3 pitchers (they all played in the majors) I faced in high school numerous times and no one on our team (or any other team) ever figured out how to hit them. That's why they played in the majors. When you have a pitcher who starts with a really good fastball, has good control, changes speeds, and has great movement on the ball, he/she will always have a significant advantage.

The batter came help themselves by not standing there with the bat on their shoulder while taking the first two pitches right down the middle of the plate. I haven't seen us do that as bad this year but it was noticeable last year and not just in their first at bat.

 

[scrybe]

If Koufax was the best pitcher I ever saw play the game, Gibson was a close second. Of course Sandy was a southpaw and Hoot was a righty, so comparisons of the two pitchers are somewhat difficult to make.

Gibson was, for my money, hands-down the most nasty pitcher I ever saw. It seemed to make him angry when a hitter had any success at all against him. Get a base hit off Bob your first time up and you could expect a little 100-mph chin music the next time you came to the plate. Gibson was a rare breed of player whose combination of talent and attitude made him the quintessential MLB'er.

This analogy may sound crazy to some of you, but Leah Woodach, the Sooners' sophomore catcher, plays softball with an attitude that reminds me of Bob Gibson.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I can name 3 pitchers (they all played in the majors) I faced in high school numerous times and no one on our team (or any other team) ever figured out how to hit them. That's why they played in the majors. When you have a pitcher who starts with a really good fastball, has good control, changes speeds, and has great movement on the ball, he/she will always have a significant advantage.

The batter came help themselves by not standing there with the bat on their shoulder while taking the first two pitches right down the middle of the plate. I haven't seen us do that as bad this year but it was noticeable last year and not just in their first at bat.

That is one of the difficulties with a pitcher like Osorio. You need to be aggressive but not swing at bad pitches. Kind of a catch 22. One advantage the Sooners may have against Osorio is her control. She walks about 1 batter per game more than Parker and hits about 4 times as many batters than does Parker. Statistically that should give the Sooners about 2 more free base runners per game. In the first game of their super regional against Washington Osorio walked 8 batters. In the second game she walked only 2 which could have been nothing more than the refs strike zone. Who knows?

I think a tight strike zone will help Parker more than Osorio.

 

[SoonerNorm]

That is one of the difficulties with a pitcher like Osorio. You need to be aggressive but not swing at bad pitches. Kind of a catch 22. One advantage the Sooners may have against Osorio is her control. She walks about 1 batter per game more than Parker and hits about 4 times as many batters than does Parker. Statistically that should give the Sooners about 2 more free base runners per game. In the first game of their super regional against Washington Osorio walked 8 batters.

I think a tight strike zone will help Parker more than Osorio.

I agree, if Osorio has control problems, that certainly tips the scales in our favor.

 

[sybarite]

Like Gibson, Koufax, and Maddox, Osorio's strikeout pitch is a ball. She tends to bait you to go up a ladder. If the umpire is giving her the high strike, it is difficult to hit her. She will stay up there. She does give up a number of home runs. I think it will come down to whether Paige or Osorio is having the best day.

But, there is another factor. I think Bama is not a lineup full of hitters. They do throw some 250 hitters at you. They hit a lot of doubles, but about the same number of home runs that we do. They like to steal. Wodach is important. But, I don't fear the Alabama hitters as much as I did last year. Runyon is still there, and she can hit it out. But, she's only about a 270 hitter this year.

 

[SoonerSpock]

In OU's March 19 game with Bama their clean up hitter Lafaele stole one base off of Whitney Montgomery in their only attempt. They like to run but have averaged only about two attempted steals per game although they are 87% successful. If Wodach can throw one out the Tide will probably not be too inclined to run. For the season Lea has thrown out 9 of 14 (64%). ff she can throw out McCleney (22 SB) or Chandler (17 SB) that would be a big message.