Softball

[Speedy17]

You made very similar posts on here and OUInsider about next year's lineup. What I found intriguing is the certainty with which you spoke of Parker and Pendley becoming an immediate part of the regular lineup, as well as the apparent confidence that Parsons, Self, and Pendley would be the outfielders, which excludes Erin who was coming on pretty well at the end of the year. You also projected Vest to be the everyday starter at SS with Parker acting as the DH for her, except when she pitches. I had thought more that Vest seemed to be playing less than a couple of years ago.

The confidence with which you made these observations made me wonder if your sources are sufficiently inside the program to have an idea of what they are thinking.

Incidentally, I had no idea that there was a girl's slowpitch league.

On my estimates about the lineup in the outfield. There is no way that Kady Self won't be starting in LF after last year unless she is not completely healthy with her batting avg - hitting over .400 overall and over .500 in Big 12 play. Second, Patti is all about defense and this year - Parsons had a perfect fielding percentage 1.000 and in fact Patti moved Destinee Martinez to left field during post season. Third, Nicole Pendley is that good and she will have the strongest defensive arm from Day 1. It might be the best defensive outfield that OU has ever had (not totally going there) - hard to believe when you consider Turang, Martinez, and Williams.

As for Erin Miller, she is an outstanding player who got off to a solid start in front of Kady Self in left to start the season and became the RF after Brittany Williams got hurt on that Friday night against Tennessee. However, she did get beat out by Kady Self in left. However, she stepped up in the Super Regional and WCWS. If you watched the season closely, OU played Leslie Miller in RF in the regional, however, on that Friday when Brittany got hurt, the replacement in RF was Jessica Vest. The only conclusion to make is that Erin Miller stepped in practice after the injury to Brittany then performed well at the plate in the games. The problem for Erin is that she is not on the same level as Nicole Pendley with regard to power, arm, and speed. It kind of reminds you of the situation at 3B where Javen Henson started all year in 2012 then gave way to Shelby Pendley in 2013. Javen was an excellent player as well. The bottom line is the best players play. I think you can expect Nicole Pendley to move to CF in her soph year.

 

[jimlou]

A name to remember is Caleigh Clifton. I have never coached a D-1 softball player so I don't know how to compare talent level. I do know Coach Gasso was at several of her basketball games when she was in the 8th and 9th grade. That should tell you about Coach's interest in Caleigh. She played in the same high school league as Macy Hatfield so I can draw some comparison there. Macy goes to Seminole JC, plays against OU and earns a spot with the Sooners. Caleigh has been committed to OU since she was in the 9th grade. I don't know if you can officially be committed at that age but she knew where she was going and they knew she was coming. She is a stud. I think she will be player of the year in Oklahoma next year. She plays travel ball with several girls committed to OU and even played some travel ball with the Townsend girls a couple of years ago who are about 3 years older than her. If the girls coming in are better players than her then OU will be stacked for several more years! She will be a two sport all-stater next year in basketball and softball. That's my two cents.

 

[SoonerNorm]

One thing of interest to me is we seem to see Patty recruiting over other girls but we don't see that much in basketball. Is this accurate or am I off base?

 

[sybarite]

On my estimates about the lineup in the outfield. There is no way that Kady Self won't be starting in LF after last year unless she is not completely healthy with her batting avg - hitting over .400 overall and over .500 in Big 12 play. Second, Patti is all about defense and this year - Parsons had a perfect fielding percentage 1.000 and in fact Patti moved Destinee Martinez to left field during post season. Third, Nicole Pendley is that good and she will have the strongest defensive arm from Day 1. It might be the best defensive outfield that OU has ever had (not totally going there) - hard to believe when you consider Turang, Martinez, and Williams.

As for Erin Miller, she is an outstanding player who got off to a solid start in front of Kady Self in left to start the season and became the RF after Brittany Williams got hurt on that Friday night against Tennessee. However, she did get beat out by Kady Self in left. However, she stepped up in the Super Regional and WCWS. If you watched the season closely, OU played Leslie Miller in RF in the regional, however, on that Friday when Brittany got hurt, the replacement in RF was Jessica Vest. The only conclusion to make is that Erin Miller stepped in practice after the injury to Brittany then performed well at the plate in the games. The problem for Erin is that she is not on the same level as Nicole Pendley with regard to power, arm, and speed. It kind of reminds you of the situation at 3B where Javen Henson started all year in 2012 then gave way to Shelby Pendley in 2013. Javen was an excellent player as well. The bottom line is the best players play. I think you can expect Nicole Pendley to move to CF in her soph year.

I never thought of Leslie Miller in this role. Sometimes, the stronger competition of playoff games reveals a difference in talent. Unless you have seen a lot of a player in those circumstances, you can't be sure whether a performance is a hot streak, cold streak, or typical. I thought that Erin was one of our most effective hitters in the playoffs. While others were striking out with the bases loaded, she was moving runners and getting key hits. I was rather impressed by her bat control in the playoffs. Is this the real Erin Miller? She also appears to be somewhat difficult to strkeout compared to other hitters. I think she had like 24 in 120 at bats, about twenty percent. Some were a lot higher.

I expected Self to start if healthy. During the conference, I thought she became our best hitter, the hitter that I wanted at the plate with runners on base. She is very difficult to strikeout, and she gets wood on the ball. Where she came from after her freshman year is beyond me.

I thought Callie had all the good traits: makes things happen, speed, a bit of a Turang although not quite that good.

The surprised to me was that Pendley was regarded as a can't miss starter as a freshman. I'm happy with that. It really didn't jump out at me when Gasso introduced the recruit list.

A couple of years ago, I was a big fan of Vest, liking defense. I thought that this year, Casey surpassed her in the field, primarily due to a stronger arm. Sometimes, a SS needs to fire the ball to first. Vest is good, but is she good enough to overcome a 220 hitter who had zero extra base hits? It's difficult to give up outs when playing good teams.

I had wondered if Hatfield or Arnold might replace her. Is she starting material, or simply a defensive replacement? How good is Lookout?

 

[sybarite]

A name to remember is Caleigh Clifton. I have never coached a D-1 softball player so I don't know how to compare talent level. I do know Coach Gasso was at several of her basketball games when she was in the 8th and 9th grade. That should tell you about Coach's interest in Caleigh. She played in the same high school league as Macy Hatfield so I can draw some comparison there. Macy goes to Seminole JC, plays against OU and earns a spot with the Sooners. Caleigh has been committed to OU since she was in the 9th grade. I don't know if you can officially be committed at that age but she knew where she was going and they knew she was coming. She is a stud. I think she will be player of the year in Oklahoma next year. She plays travel ball with several girls committed to OU and even played some travel ball with the Townsend girls a couple of years ago who are about 3 years older than her. If the girls coming in are better players than her then OU will be stacked for several more years! She will be a two sport all-stater next year in basketball and softball. That's my two cents.

You can be committed at any time. None of it is official until you actually sign a letter of intent.

Caleigh is committed. She has some competition since Sydney Romero and Marshaylee Knighten are rather #3 and 4 in the nation next year, and are coming in as shortstops or middle infielders. But, you don't really know how good they are until they take the field.

 

[Speedy17]

I never thought of Leslie Miller in this role. Sometimes, the stronger competition of playoff games reveals a difference in talent. Unless you have seen a lot of a player in those circumstances, you can't be sure whether a performance is a hot streak, cold streak, or typical. I thought that Erin was one of our most effective hitters in the playoffs. While others were striking out with the bases loaded, she was moving runners and getting key hits. I was rather impressed by her bat control in the playoffs. Is this the real Erin Miller? She also appears to be somewhat difficult to strkeout compared to other hitters. I think she had like 24 in 120 at bats, about twenty percent. Some were a lot higher.

I expected Self to start if healthy. During the conference, I thought she became our best hitter, the hitter that I wanted at the plate with runners on base. She is very difficult to strikeout, and she gets wood on the ball. Where she came from after her freshman year is beyond me.

I thought Callie had all the good traits: makes things happen, speed, a bit of a Turang although not quite that good.

The surprised to me was that Pendley was regarded as a can't miss starter as a freshman. I'm happy with that. It really didn't jump out at me when Gasso introduced the recruit list.

A couple of years ago, I was a big fan of Vest, liking defense. I thought that this year, Casey surpassed her in the field, primarily due to a stronger arm. Sometimes, a SS needs to fire the ball to first. Vest is good, but is she good enough to overcome a 220 hitter who had zero extra base hits? It's difficult to give up outs when playing good teams.

I had wondered if Hatfield or Arnold might replace her. Is she starting material, or simply a defensive replacement? How good is Lookout?

Georgia is the most flexible because she can play anything. Vest is the best SS - she was the dominant SS on the 2012 and 2013 teams that played for the National Championship. However, in both of those seasons - she did not hit every game and the lineup was so tough that it didn't matter. When Keilani pitched they used the DP for Vest. This year, the lineup was not nearly as tough especially after Lauren went down then Kady went down. Bottomline is that Patti needed the extra hitter this year that she didn't need before so she benched Vest. Next year, you have the same situation almost as 2013. Paige will hit for herself when she pitches. This means someone else will DP for Vest. When Kelsey pitches then she can move Georgia to SS and Hatfield to 2nd or just let Vest hit. Next year's lineup will be much improved if they are healthy.

Lookout is awesome but she is a corner infielder - who is she going to replace Lauren or Shelby? She could DP for Vest but so could Erin Miller, Leslie Miller, Hatfield or Lucas. I think Lookout will spend next season studying Shelby just like Whitney Ellis spent 2013 studying Shults. Arnold will pinch run a bunch next year.

As for Nicole, you have to remember that she had taken a year off from softball so it was actually a year and a half when Patti was introducing the players. Think about it, Patti signed a player who had not hit the softball field since her soph year in HS. Nicole stole 42 bases and had 30 extra base hits including 19 homers to go with her .568 batting average as a sophomore. She can slap, bunt, and hit homers. Arizona offered her after that season. By the way, you know who pitched for her local rival that year - none other than OU's own Kelsey Stevens. Of course this year, she was Gatorade Softball Player of the Year in New Mexico and Female Athlete of the Year in New Mexico and two time state champion in the javelin and a sprinter in track. The young lady will be the best athlete on the team next year. From all accounts, she works harder than everybody as well. My question is who is going to keep her out of the starting lineup. I don't think that player exists on next year's team in the OF.

 

[sybarite]

What do you know about Arnold?

 

[Speedy17]

What do you know about Arnold?

Another corner infielder with speed to burn. I imagine she could go to 2b or the OF. Her name doesn't pop up much on the big tournaments like other OU recruits have so far this Summer. 3B is a logjam behind Shelby but will be an interesting battle in the future. You know it is possible that Shelby could move back to SS to make room for a Frosh at 3B but I doubt it. She is too good at 3B.

 

[sybarite]

Another corner infielder with speed to burn. I imagine she could go to 2b or the OF. Her name doesn't pop up much on the big tournaments like other OU recruits have so far this Summer. 3B is a logjam behind Shelby but will be an interesting battle in the future. You know it is possible that Shelby could move back to SS to make room for a Frosh at 3B but I doubt it. She is too good at 3B.

I'm thinking more of what our options are if Shelby is at third, and Casey is retained at short. Can Arnold, Lookout, or Hatfield play second and hit? If we get a lead, we can always bring Vest in for defense.

At the end of the year, Erin, Shelby, Callie, and Lauren were the only ones that seemed to be hitting. Brittany was good until her injury. Then, she either struck out or got a HR. OK. So, we get Self and Lauren back. Shelby can hit. Casey wasn't hitting well at the end, but she can hit. Callie has shown she can do an adequate job. Ellis was going well, but she couldn't hit anything in the playoffs, and she was biting at pitches shoulder high. We may need a DH for Ellis and Vest. We have too many outfielders who can hit, but a catcher and a SS who aren't certainties. I think Ellis can do the job, but she needs her confidence back.

It might help if someone told our hitters that you can work your way out of a slump by going the other way.

 

[Speedy17]

Nobody hit in the WCWS besides Shelby (4-9 with 2 Hrs and 2 RBI). We only had 12 hits and 7 runs in the three games. Traina pitched a 1 hitter against us. Brittney Williams had a 2 Run double that won the Lafayette game, however, she could not touch the lefty from Oregon, Hawkins. She also hit a 2 run homer in the deciding game against Tennessee after the injury. I think she was 3 for 9 with 2 homers, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and 2 walks in the Tennessee series. That is pretty good. Ironically, Vest and Ellis had hits against Oregon and Lauren came up empty. It is kind of crazy but Erin Miller was 1-6 in the WCWS with 3 walks and Lauren was 1-6 with 2 walks. Vest had some really good ABs against Oregon. Kady would have made a real difference. That is why those other two big bats will make a difference.

Whitney had a great season at the plate for a first year starter. She hit .300+ until the World Series. She will be fine. Again, I expect the DP for Vest like in 2012 and 2013 when Paige pitches and Vest will hit when Kelsey pitches with Paige as the DP. The other option is probably Hatfield at 2b and Georgia at SS when Kelsey pitches.

 

[atlantasooner]

Some silly non softball follower questions

1. Was Ricketts as highly ranked as her eventual college performance. Sounds like she should have been a top 10/top 20 recruit at least?

2. Has Gasso changed anything recruiting wise? Was she always getting top ranked early verbals like she currently has?

3. Is Gasso building off the momentum of this national title "better" than the last one? Again, anything noticeably different?

 

[sybarite]

Some silly non softball follower questions

1. Was Ricketts as highly ranked as her eventual college performance. Sounds like she should have been a top 10/top 20 recruit at least?

2. Has Gasso changed anything recruiting wise? Was she always getting top ranked early verbals like she currently has?

3. Is Gasso building off the momentum of this national title "better" than the last one? Again, anything noticeably different?

The entire Ricketts family was highly-ranked. I don't know that we will know how a title affects recruiting until we see how these kids develop. A lot of them have been commits for some time. The new ones won't even be here for a year or two. Then, we have to see how they play.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Some silly non softball follower questions

1. Was Ricketts as highly ranked as her eventual college performance. Sounds like she should have been a top 10/top 20 recruit at least?

2. Has Gasso changed anything recruiting wise? Was she always getting top ranked early verbals like she currently has?

3. Is Gasso building off the momentum of this national title "better" than the last one? Again, anything noticeably different?

I would say without question that Patty has used their national championships and World Series success to her advantage when it comes to recruiting. If she keeps up this recruiting pace, I could see her becoming the Geno of softball. She is a phenomenal recruiter and coach.

 

[sybarite]

There is one for six, and there is one for six. One for six with three walks is not a bad line. Erin was something like two for six in the Tennessee series with another two or three walks and a couple of RBIs. The key is that she only struck out once in the six games. At least, she was meeting the ball. I really do hate strikeouts. Have I mentioned that? They don't advance the runner. The difference between winning and losing teams is often can they get that run home from third, or get it to third. I thought Erin made pretty good contact in the CWS. It actually irritated me that Shelby hit two HRs, both solo. We needed a three-run home run to give us some fire.

We didn't help ourselves in the CWS with our hitting. Traina pitched 7.2 innings (?) against Florida and allowed nine earned runs. Is that right? They made her bring that rise ball down and hit her when she did. We swung at the rise ball. We swung at bad pitches against Oregon as well. We didn't play our best.

 

[Speedy17]

Some silly non softball follower questions

1. Was Ricketts as highly ranked as her eventual college performance. Sounds like she should have been a top 10/top 20 recruit at least?

2. Has Gasso changed anything recruiting wise? Was she always getting top ranked early verbals like she currently has?

3. Is Gasso building off the momentum of this national title "better" than the last one? Again, anything noticeably different?

1. Ricketts was the #1 player in the country (you can thank Samantha for that one) and Shults (Keilani for this one) was Top 5 and they came in together. I think they both lived up to the performance. Just like football - those two helped to recruit Chamberlain. Martinez committed when she was a freshman. The key is the Cali pipeline with a bunch of good Oklahoma players that are developed. OU has never done well in softball recruiting in Texas. Pendley just fell in OU's lap and Kelsey Stevens was the arch rival to Pendley in HS.

2. I think she has always gotten Cali players but never the top ones. Samantha's only offer was to San Jose State. Kind of reminds you of the Paris twins, however, the recent success has kept the Cali pipeline going and the next class is rated #1.

3. I would say yes, she is recruiting better after this title than the first national title. OU never attracted the top stars like they have lately. Sydney Romero is like recruiting Adrian Peterson - that one is not going to miss. She is that good. Knighton is the same way. Lopez, Mendes, and Olmos are just dominating in the top tournaments. The Ricketts/Shults/Chamberlain effect is still going strong.

 

[Speedy17]

There is one for six, and there is one for six. One for six with three walks is not a bad line. Erin was something like two for six in the Tennessee series with another two or three walks and a couple of RBIs. The key is that she only struck out once in the six games. At least, she was meeting the ball. I really do hate strikeouts. Have I mentioned that? They don't advance the runner. The difference between winning and losing teams is often can they get that run home from third, or get it to third. I thought Erin made pretty good contact in the CWS. It actually irritated me that Shelby hit two HRs, both solo. We needed a three-run home run to give us some fire.

We didn't help ourselves in the CWS with our hitting. Traina pitched 7.2 innings (?) against Florida and allowed nine earned runs. Is that right? They made her bring that rise ball down and hit her when she did. We swung at the rise ball. We swung at bad pitches against Oregon as well. We didn't play our best.

Sybarite,

You make me laugh - my biggest irritation in softball is when OU's pitcher walks someone. It is like a free base hit. Make them earn it. No doubt that during the regular season - to the WCWS - OU worked the count. They were not patient at all in OKC. They swung at a lot of balls outside the zone. Probably the worst was Brittany Williams in OKC - she always was the most patient hitter around until the WCWS. Just be glad that you didn't watch that dubious doubleheader in Lafayette. We got 5 hits in two games and turned Christina Hamilton into an ace.

Just think, even with the injuries and graduating Ricketts, Shults, Turang, and Gascoigne - OU won 51 games. That is three AAs and the National Leader in ERA - not to mention the injuries to Chamberlain and Self. I think it was an absolutely amazing job by Patti.

 

[sybarite]

Sybarite,

You make me laugh - my biggest irritation in softball is when OU's pitcher walks someone. It is like a free base hit. Make them earn it. No doubt that during the regular season - to the WCWS - OU worked the count. They were not patient at all in OKC. They swung at a lot of balls outside the zone. Probably the worst was Brittany Williams in OKC - she always was the most patient hitter around until the WCWS. Just be glad that you didn't watch that dubious doubleheader in Lafayette. We got 5 hits in two games and turned Christina Hamilton into an ace.

Just think, even with the injuries and graduating Ricketts, Shults, Turang, and Gascoigne - OU won 51 games. That is three AAs and the National Leader in ERA - not to mention the injuries to Chamberlain and Self. I think it was an absolutely amazing job by Patti.

No doubt that it was an amazing job. I thought that we would have difficulty winning the Big Twelve without Ricketts and Gascoigne. Neither was chopped liver, and they were totally dominate together. Going from having the ability to shut out a top ten team with your number two pitcher to having no experience should have killed us. Once again, like with Shelby, we lucked into Kelsey. She wasn't Keilani, but she was pretty good. Still, she had to carry the entire load. The loss of Turang was also the loss of someone who could create at the plate and on the basepaths. We weren't that good without her.

We, essentially, lost our two best hitters. Lauren was pretty good, but she wasn't Lauren, the Lauren that could take a pitch off her shoetops and leave it fifty feet over the wall. Self stunned me with her bat control. Then, we really lost Brittany, for the most part. There is no way that we make the CWS last year. Yet, we were one of the top six. Destinee also seemed to lose the ability to hit in the CWS, unlike the year before. We were still one of the six best in the nation. There is no way that we have this type of success. We haven't done that well in years that we didn't lose Keilani, Turang, Shults, and Michelle.

I'll probably remember this year for the performances of Kelsey and Kady. Nobody hits 553 in conference play with five home runs in only 38 at bats. During conference play, she was the best hitter I had ever seen at OU, and she was totally nonproductive as a freshman. The emergence of those two made the year for me. I also loved the emergence of Whitney. Wonder who it will be this year. If you expect it to be Parker or Pendley, we already count on them. I never counted on Kady.

And, it was very, very difficult to strike Kady out. Have I said how much I hate strikeouts.

Yes, I also hate walks and hit batsmen by pitchers. Make them earn it. Don't lose games, and you'll be pretty good.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Sybarite,

You make me laugh - my biggest irritation in softball is when OU's pitcher walks someone. It is like a free base hit. Make them earn it. No doubt that during the regular season - to the WCWS - OU worked the count. They were not patient at all in OKC. They swung at a lot of balls outside the zone. Probably the worst was Brittany Williams in OKC - she always was the most patient hitter around until the WCWS. Just be glad that you didn't watch that dubious doubleheader in Lafayette. We got 5 hits in two games and turned Christina Hamilton into an ace.

Just think, even with the injuries and graduating Ricketts, Shults, Turang, and Gascoigne - OU won 51 games. That is three AAs and the National Leader in ERA - not to mention the injuries to Chamberlain and Self. I think it was an absolutely amazing job by Patti.

I couldn't agree more about walks, they drive me nuts! Errors run a close second tied with a bat on the shoulder strikeout.

I have to admit, walks bothered me more by Kelsey than they did with Ricketts because Kelani was so dominant that you knew she would still probably retire the sides, likely by striking them out. I never had that much confidence in Kelsey although, to be fair, she often pitched out of trouble as well.

 

[sybarite]

But, if Keilani didn't hit or walk anyone, it was pretty much a shutout. They weren't going to hit their way to a win against her stuff. When she lost, it was by beating herself.

 

[tycat947]

Sybarite,

You make me laugh - my biggest irritation in softball is when OU's pitcher walks someone. It is like a free base hit. Make them earn it. No doubt that during the regular season - to the WCWS - OU worked the count. They were not patient at all in OKC. They swung at a lot of balls outside the zone. Probably the worst was Brittany Williams in OKC - she always was the most patient hitter around until the WCWS. Just be glad that you didn't watch that dubious doubleheader in Lafayette. We got 5 hits in two games and turned Christina Hamilton into an ace.

Just think, even with the injuries and graduating Ricketts, Shults, Turang, and Gascoigne - OU won 51 games. That is three AAs and the National Leader in ERA - not to mention the injuries to Chamberlain and Self. I think it was an absolutely amazing job by Patti.

Totally agree! And they really started with a bullseye on their backs...ranked #2 in at least one poll. After the rough start, they could have easily collapsed for the season but they played, they learned and they grew throughout the season and finished #4 in the nation, in spite of the bats pretty much disappearing during the WCWS. Amazing job by Patty and staff and also by those young women on the field!