Softball

SoonerSpock said:
As I remember it is an NCAA violation for Ole Miss to be the first to contact a player on another team regarding a transfer. If this were not the rule every team could contact any player on any team at any time.

However, if Finney contacts Ole Miss firstr they are required to contact OU and advise on the contact and then can then go after Finney full bore.

Disappointing to see her go. I had hopes she would become the staff closer as Speedy 17 suggested might happen in a earlier post. It appears she really wanted to be a starting pitcher and with Lopez and Olmos coming in to join Parker and Chestnut she did not like her chances in Norman.
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Since this happened so quickly after the season's end, I suspect that it has all been in the works for a month or more. As I understand, Patty gave Brit a long hug after the final game, and I wonder if it wasn't a good-bye hug. I suspect that both Brit and Patty have known about this move for some time, and it may have even been encouraged.

For some reason, Brit wasn't a fit. Since I'm not that high on Chestnut's future, I'm surprised. Maybe Chestnut will be better than I anticipate. I suspect that Lopez and Olmos will surpass her in year one. Mendes---I really think she plays OF, although I've heard that she can throw hard, and she is a lefty.

If Hatfield is the backup, she'll be OK until Elam arrives next year. Perhaps, Dalton will be an interim substitute. There are a lot of pieces that need to be plugged in. We have more people than positions.
 
I hope you're wrong about Chestnut. I haven't seen her pitch a lot; she got hit hard in a relief role in a Big 12 game (believe it was against Texas or maybe OSU). But she was very effective against Auburn until that eighth-inning meltdown.

Jayden throws hard, which is good, of course. But I'm not sure how much movement she has on her pitches. It's hard to tell watching on TV. Whatever the case, it seems Patty was higher on Chestnut than on Finney since she gave Chestnut more innings.

We need to remember that both Chestnut and Finney were freshmen and both were relegated to spot duty behind probably the best lefthander in softball. Neither of them really got an opportunity to throw enough innings to build their confidence. I'll be pulling for Chestnut and hope she blossoms into a pitcher we can count on next year.
 
scrybe said:
I hope you're wrong about Chestnut. I haven't seen her pitch a lot; she got hit hard in a relief role in a Big 12 game (believe it was against Texas or maybe OSU). But she was very effective against Auburn until that eighth-inning meltdown.

Jayden throws hard, which is good, of course. But I'm not sure how much movement she has on her pitches. It's hard to tell watching on TV. Whatever the case, it seems Patty was higher on Chestnut than on Finney since she gave Chestnut more innings.

We need to remember that both Chestnut and Finney were freshmen and both were relegated to spot duty behind probably the best lefthander in softball. Neither of them really got an opportunity to throw enough innings to build their confidence. I'll be pulling for Chestnut and hope she blossoms into a pitcher we can count on next year.
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I agree about Jayden. I was really impressed with the job she did against Auburn. She didn't have a pitch in postseason play and then was called on to pitch in biggest game of the year. The girl from Tennessee gave up a walk off HR in 2013. It happens to the best. I think Jayden will be a great asset to this pitching staff.

As far as Jayden seeing more innings than Brittany, none of us were at practice and Patty and staff probably played who did the best job in practice, attended classes, etc. That's why Patty is highest paid softball coach in the country and makes those decisions.
 
tycat947 said:
I agree about Jayden. I was really impressed with the job she did against Auburn. She didn't have a pitch in postseason play and then was called on to pitch in biggest game of the year. The girl from Tennessee gave up a walk off HR in 2013. It happens to the best. I think Jayden will be a great asset to this pitching staff.

As far as Jayden seeing more innings than Brittany, none of us were at practice and Patty and staff probably played who did the best job in practice, attended classes, etc. That's why Patty is highest paid softball coach in the country and makes those decisions.
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I am certain you are right but in the 18.2 inning Finney threw this season she gave us a significant indication why she go so few innings and mostly mostly forgotten once the conference season started. She threw 10.1 innings in the non-conference season had a 2.08 ERA, allowed 8 hits but walked 10 batters, almost 1 per inning. Her walk ratio(.714/inning on 13/18.2 innings) for the season was almost 50% worse than Kelsey Stevens (.487/inning on 40/82.2).

Once the conference season started Brittany's opportunities fell off but her control improved significantly. In 8.1 inning she had one start, a 0.0 ERA, allowed two hits and walked three. She finished the season with a 1.12 ERA.

If Brittany can maintain her control next year with Ole Miss' ace Madi Osias graduating I think that Brittany has an opportunity to be the Ole Miss' ace next year as the #2 starter for Ole Miss had a 4.1 ERA this year.

http://stats.ncaa.org/team/522/stats?id=12381&year_stat_category_id=10841

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ole/sports/w-softbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/stats/season_stats.pdf
 
Mississippi was dependent on Osias. She pitched a lot of innings in conference play, and they got into trouble when they used someone other than her. It wasn't all that different from what we experienced.

What causes me concern with Chestnut is that she gives up as many hits as innings pitched. Her control isn't all that great. But, she could get bombed. She gave up six runs to Auburn, not just the one grand slam. A lot of balls are hit hard. In contrast, Finney seemed to be difficult to hit. If you didn't get a walk, you had trouble scoring.

In general, it seems that control is usually more likely to be gained as you get experience. But, if your pitch can be hit, I don't see that going away. It means to me that you will always be hit, unless you develop pin point control to put that pitch where they won't hit it.

I think we will be fine with Lopez and Olmos. I like what I've seen on film. Of course, that can be misleading. But, their track records are pretty good as well.

If Finney isn't ready to pitch 150 innings, Ole Miss may have trouble.
 
You are right on Jayden she is way to easy to hit. For the season Stevens gave up .67h/inning, Paige .69 and Brittany .71. Jayden allowed 1.00h/inning (73h/73.2inning) about 45% more hits than the rest of the staff.

Jayden is extremely dependent on hitting the edge, spinning the ball, changing speeds and she needs more than a couple of effective pitches to mix things up against the big boys. Otherwise I think she will continue to be vulnerable. Her ERA was twice as high as Paige and almost three times as high as Brittany. Just my take.

While I thought she had her moments against Auburn she did give up 11 hits in 5.2 inning and 6 earned runs. You cannot give up 2 hits per inning an win many games.
 
You are right on Jayden is way to easy to hit. For the season Stevens gave up .67h/inning, Paige .69 and Brittany .71. Jayden allowed 1.00h/inning about 45% more hits than any other member of the staff.

Jayden is extremely dependent on hitting the edge, spinning the ball, changing speeds and she needs more than a couple of effective pitches to mix things up against the big boys. Otherwise I think she will continue to be vulnerable. Her ERA was twice as high as Paige and almost three times as high as Brittany. Kelsey's was slightly higher. Just my take.

While I thought she had her moments against Auburn she did give up 11 hits in 5.2 inning and 6 earned runs. You cannot give up 2 hits per inning and win many games.
 
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posted originally by SoonerEagle over at Ouinsider. But it's a public video.
If you want a great picture of why Patty has things rocking at OU, then
listen to the interview with two future Sooners.
I found their different reasons for choosing the Sooners enlightening.
Overall it's just a great interview.

2 more future Sooners interviewed.

http://www.flosoftball.com/video/981566-tulsa-elite-jacks-rylie-boone-paige-knight
 
Thanks to CCLift, we have the following link:

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/#sport/softball/type/replay/

You can watch Melanie Olmos, the starter for the Firecrackers, and Brooke Vestal who pitches the last two innings for the Firecrackers. At some point, Aliyah Flores comes in to play third for the Firecrackers. They win, 11-7.

The So Cal Mercado has Destiny Noury at SS and Kinzie Hanson at C. Hanson is worth watching. She is a 2019 recruit, which means she will be here as Wodach leaves. The announcers rave and make the comment that she is just better than the other players on the field, although I think she'll only be a sophomore this year. She is tall, athletic, can throw, frames pitches well, and I don't think they had a wild pitch or passed ball when she was in the game. She is also described as their best hitter (#3 in the lineup). From what they were describing, she seemed like Dottie Henson of A League of Their Own.

Nicole Mendes pitched the first inning of the red/blue all-star game. She struck out the last hitter and allowed two singles. Throws hard.
 
If you want to watch the CWS again, you can watch every game on the link provided above. The Michigan, LSU, and all three Auburn games are on it.
 
On another board, OU just got seasoned depth: transfer, Paige Lowery of Missouri (upontop reports that she tweeted that she would be at OU).
 
If you google "Earlywine investigation", there's some quite interesting articles that come up. Sounds like she's just getting out ahead of the bleepstorm, IMO.
 
Speedy17 said:
Is this confirmed? It would not surprise me because of the number of pitchers coming to town.
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It is my understanding that Jayden's mother has it on her Facebook. A couple of sources have reported this, one from inside the program.
 
sybarite said:
It is my understanding that Jayden's mother has it on her Facebook. A couple of sources have reported this, one from inside the program.
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Kind of sad but kids want to play and there are only so many innings. Lowary will be the #2 pitcher next year with Parker as the ace. Jayden had a lot of offers including Texas, Missouri, Auburn, Houston, Minnesota and Oklahoma State. I am not sure about a within the conference release in softball.
 
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