Softball

This year has already surprised me. After losing Ricketts and Gascoigne, I didn't think there was any way that we would have adequate pitching to get back to the World Series. I was impressed by what Kelsey had done as a freshman at Stanford, but she is only a sophomore, and the World Series intimidates seniors. I was concerned after last weekend that she wasn't ready for that next step in her development. If you don't get her this year, it may be your only chance.

Next year, we have so much returning. We lost Destinee and Brittney. Javen, who let us know that she wanted one more weekend in softball, is also graduating. But, Lauren, Shelby, Georgia, Callie, Whitney, and Jessica are back. Most importantly, Kady will be here for the full year. Erin and Leslie Miller showed signs that they are ready. Macey hit 300 as a freshman. But, add a couple of names to that roster.

Nicole Pendley may well take over Destinee's place as a freshman. Paige Parker will definitely get a chance to pitch---and hit. Destinie Lookout may be a replacement for Javen. With her power, she will have a chance to play. Kelsey Arnold may challenge Nicole Pendley to see who starts in the outfield. There are some great people coming back, and coming in.
 
The balance of power continues to shift eastward away from the Pac 12. It looks like Oregon may be the only PAC 12 team in the WCWS. I can remember a few years ago when over half the field came from the old Pac 10.
 
Scattershooting: Ellen Renfroe has received lots of love (and rightfully so) for her career stats and her gutsy performance in a losing cause against OU in last weekend's Super Regionals. But for those who aren't already aware of it, Kelsey Stevens' work against the Lady Vols' hitters overshadowed Renfroe, even in the one game Tennessee won.

ESPN commentators prefaced each game by pointing out that Stevens had problems handling the pressure of the big stage, starting with her performance against A&M in the regionals. They implied that Kelsey's big game jitters had surfaced again in her losing performance Saturday against Tennessee. In reality, Stevens gave up fewer hits than Renfroe and, in general, had a better performance than the Tennesse pitcher. She had one shaky inning in which she hit a batter and walked a couple more, and the Lady Vols, who were leading 1-0 at the time, wound up scoring three insurance runs. Still, Stevens would likely have gotten out of the inning unscathed had it not been for the Sooner defense collapsing behind her. In reality, Stevens was never intimidated by the "big stage" at all. She was lights out in all three games against Tennessee and deserves to receive higher accolades than Renfroe.

Another thing I found humorous was the way Renfroe appeared to try to show up a couple of OU batters late in Game 2 by screaming at them when she struck them out to retire the side. I know Ellen was pumped, since she had failed to beat the Sooners in every previous try. But I don't recall Ricketts, Gascoiyne (sp) or Stevens ever doing that sort of thing. Then, in Sunday's loss to OU, Ellen's frustrations became apparent when OU's Henson came to the plate in the fifth(?) inning. Renfroe immediately threw a "purpose pitch" up around Henson's head to try to back her off the plate. Three pitches later, however, instead of moving off the plate, Henson deposited the ball over the left field fence for OU's second homerun.

And how about those two long homers by Chamberlain? Lauren is amazing and without a doubt the most feared hitter in college softball. And she's doing it basically on one leg. Her first homerun seemed to settle down her teammates – especially Destinee Martinez. After that HR, everyone in the stadium sensed that the Sooners were about ready to erupt offensively. Pendley also showed why she's such a valuable player, catching Tennessee completely off guard with that squeeze bunt that scored Martinez. And those homers by Williams and Casey were also special and like icing on the cake.

Now it's on the the WCWS and a date with Alabama in the first round. Don't know about the rest of you, but I can't wait. So I'll just paraphrase Lester Miles by saying: "This game will feature a really good softball team against a great team whose pitcher may be one of the best of all time. And on Thursday, we'll find out which is which."
 
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I thought Kelsey pitched with some anxiety in the last two games. She seemed to struggle with control, unlike her. The team seemed anxious during the loss, and OU started out uptight yesterday. It wasn't until Lauren finally sent the ball out that we seemed to begin to play with confidence. We really didn't play like we expected to win on Friday---as a team.

Once Lauren hit that home run, it seemed that we forgot that we had wasted several chances to score in the last day plus two innings. Williams walked, and Erin drove her home. After nine scoreless innings, we scored twice to take the lead. I thought Kelsey's demeanor changed, like she wasn't going to have to do it all herself. She sailed through the next couple of innings.

OK. So, Tennessee ties it, only to have Destinee, Lauren, and Shelby execute perfectly to score the go-ahead run again. Still the bottom of the order gets more on base, but we couldn't get them home.

Then, indeed, Henson hit one out. Payback. Just as I was becoming convinced that Williams had hurt herself in such a way that it had affected her swing, she hit one out. Casey got to bat without Renfro, and she did something right after two days of struggling.

Curiously, i thought Kelsey stuggled getting that last out. She seemed totally in control from Lauren's home run to the last couple of hitters. But, I think she needed this weekend.

Kelsey isn't yet a dominating pitcher like Ricketts or Gascoigne could be. She is very good, and I'm not sure that there is a better pitcher this year. My only concern with Traina is that we sometimes have problems with good riseball pitchers, and she throws it nearly all the time. We have to lay off. Kelsey will keep us in the game, but we will need two or more runs. I don't see a shutout.
 
scrybe said:
Scattershooting: Ellen Renfroe has received lots of love (and rightfully so) for her career stats and her gutsy performance in a losing cause against OU in last weekend's Super Regionals. But for those who aren't already aware of it, Kelsey Stevens' work against the Lady Vols' hitters overshadowed Renfroe, even in the one game Tennessee won.

ESPN commentators prefaced each game by pointing out that Stevens had problems handling the pressure of the big stage, starting with her performance against A&M in the regionals. They implied that Kelsey's big game jitters had surfaced again in her losing performance Saturday against Tennessee. In reality, Stevens gave up fewer hits than Renfroe and, in general, had a better performance than the Tennesse pitcher. She had one shaky inning in which she hit a batter and walked a couple more, and the Lady Vols, who were leading 1-0 at the time, wound up scoring three insurance runs. Still, Stevens would likely have gotten out of the inning unscathed had it not been for the Sooner defense collapsing behind her. In reality, Stevens was never intimidated by the "big stage" at all. She was lights out in all three games against Tennessee and deserves to receive higher accolades than Renfroe.

Another thing I found humorous was the way Renfroe appeared to try to show up a couple of OU batters late in Game 2 by screaming at them when she struck them out to retire the side. I know Ellen was pumped, since she had failed to beat the Sooners in every previous try. But I don't recall Ricketts, Gascoiyne (sp) or Stevens ever doing that sort of thing. Then, in Sunday's loss to OU, Ellen's frustrations became apparent when OU's Henson came to the plate in the fifth(?) inning. Renfroe immediately threw a "purpose pitch" up around Henson's head to try to back her off the plate. Three pitches later, however, instead of moving off the plate, Henson deposited the ball over the left field fence for OU's second homerun.

And how about those two long homers by Chamberlain? Laura is amazing and without a doubt the most feared hitter in college softball. And she's doing it basically on one leg. Her first homerun seemed to settle down her teammates – especially Destinee Martinez. After that HR, everyone in the stadium sensed that the Sooners were about ready to erupt offensively. Pendley also showed why she's such a valuable player, catching Tennessee completely off guard with that squeeze bunt that scored Martinez. And those homers by Williams and Casey were also special and like icing on the cake.

Now it's on the the WCWS and a date with Alabama in the first round. Don't know about the rest of you, but I can't wait. So I'll just paraphrase Lester Miles by saying: "This game will feature a really good softball team against a great team whose pitcher may be one of the best of all time. And on Thursday, we'll find out which is which."
Click to expand...

Great post! I totally agree! Bring on the J Train! We owe her big time!
 
sybarite said:
I thought Kelsey pitched with some anxiety in the last two games. She seemed to struggle with control, unlike her. The team seemed anxious during the loss, and OU started out uptight yesterday. It wasn't until Lauren finally sent the ball out that we seemed to begin to play with confidence. We really didn't play like we expected to win on Friday---as a team.

Once Lauren hit that home run, it seemed that we forgot that we had wasted several chances to score in the last day plus two innings. Williams walked, and Erin drove her home. After nine scoreless innings, we scored twice to take the lead. I thought Kelsey's demeanor changed, like she wasn't going to have to do it all herself. She sailed through the next couple of innings.

OK. So, Tennessee ties it, only to have Destinee, Lauren, and Shelby execute perfectly to score the go-ahead run again. Still the bottom of the order gets more on base, but we couldn't get them home.

Then, indeed, Henson hit one out. Payback. Just as I was becoming convinced that Williams had hurt herself in such a way that it had affected her swing, she hit one out. Casey got to bat without Renfro, and she did something right after two days of struggling.

Curiously, i thought Kelsey stuggled getting that last out. She seemed totally in control from Lauren's home run to the last couple of hitters. But, I think she needed this weekend.

Kelsey isn't yet a dominating pitcher like Ricketts or Gascoigne could be. She is very good, and I'm not sure that there is a better pitcher this year. My only concern with Traina is that we sometimes have problems with good riseball pitchers, and she throws it nearly all the time. We have to lay off. Kelsey will keep us in the game, but we will need two or more runs. I don't see a shutout.
Click to expand...

I thought Kelsey pitched much better this weekend. Of course she had a shaky inning or two but they were playing a very good team. I think Renfro, who by the way was a senior versus Kelsey being a sophomore transfer, was more shaky than Stevens. And when you compare anyone to Keilani or Michelle, 99.9% of the time they are going to come up second. Kelsey has been better than I imagined coming in as a transfer. She improved remarkably from the beginning of the year and made great strides from the regional to sub-regional. I think if she can handle the pressure of the WCWS, we will be just fine. I don't think there is any team we can't beat. We owe Bama from 2012, lost 2 of 3 to ULL and lost to KY this year. I think that plus, no one expected us to make the WCWS this year, is going to make the Sooners a tough out in OKC.
 
tycat947 said:
I thought Kelsey pitched much better this weekend. Of course she had a shaky inning or two but they were playing a very good team. I think Renfro, who by the way was a senior versus Kelsey being a sophomore transfer, was more shaky than Stevens. And when you compare anyone to Keilani or Michelle, 99.9% of the time they are going to come up second. Kelsey has been better than I imagined coming in as a transfer. She improved remarkably from the beginning of the year and made great strides from the regional to sub-regional. I think if she can handle the pressure of the WCWS, we will be just fine. I don't think there is any team we can't beat. We owe Bama from 2012, lost 2 of 3 to ULL and lost to KY this year. I think that plus, no one expected us to make the WCWS this year, is going to make the Sooners a tough out in OKC.
Click to expand...

Right back at you on the great post comment, tycat. Don't quite understand why some of us believe Kelsey was shaky against the Lady Vols. If she can be that shaky against Traina and the Tide Thursday, we'll advance in the WCWS winners bracket. Could we lose that game to Alabama? Of course. But I expect another good outing by Stevens. I think whether or not we can string together some base hits against Traina is what will determine the outcome.
 
SoonerNorm said:
Pendley named 1st team All-American. Chamberlain named 3rd team.
Click to expand...

Great news. The Sooners would likely have had two first team All-Americans had Lauren been healthy all season.

Go Sooners! Roll the Tide!
 
scrybe said:
Great news. The Sooners would likely have had two first team All-Americans had Lauren been healthy all season.

Go Sooners! Roll the Tide!
Click to expand...

The Sooners beat Alabama in Football.
The Sooners beat Alabama in Men's basketball.

Might as well make it a clean sweep and beat 'em in softball.
 
If Kady and Lauren had been healthy, we would have had three all-americans.
 
SoonerTraveler said:
Tulsa World:

NCAA to keep Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City through at least 2035

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_6aa69c5e-48b3-50e1-8fd2-0989054411a0.html
Click to expand...

Check that -- definitely 2020, maybe 2035.

Link

Also, is it OK to Baylor bash in basketball's offseason? Yes? OK then --- let's do a blanket ban on Baylor teams getting to play in postseason games in OKC. All sports. If you are wearing a Baylor uniform, you can only go as far north as Moore. No WCWS or Sweet 16/Elite Eight games.
 
In case some of you don't yet know, Florida ran roughshod over Baylor, 11-0 (run-ruled the Baptists) in the first game of today's WCWS. Last I checked, Oregon was leading Florida State 2-0 in the fourth inning of the second game.
 
We had no luck against Alabama's rise ball pitcher in the national championship game two years ago who we will be facing
Thursday night. And that was in the rain. I'm hoping and thinking that Patty and the hitting coach have some sage words of advice for our hitters to deal with that pitch which is apparently the only thing she throws except for an offspeed pitch.
 
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