next year's softball team
Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 1:01 pm
while it's fresh on the mind...
this year, we returned 8/9 everyday position players, so things were pretty easy to forecast. next year, we'll only be returning 4, all of them in the infield.
3B jenna lilly and SS nikki udria should both be pac-12 POTY candidates. 2B lauren lindvall solidified herself at second this year, and C gwen svekis was the back-up catcher/designated player on days where janelle lindvall was catching. udria will be a senior, lilly/lindvall/svekis will be juniors.
luckily, we've been recruited like mad lately, so while we'll be short on experience, we shouldn't be short on talent.
this year's freshman class (next year's sophomores) was very talented, but with such a heavy senior-laden class, none of them started much and were mostly relegated to pinch hitting duties in-conference. but i think we'll see OF cherish burks (#18 recruit in her class), INF madi bishop (#45), and INF april utecht all start next year. bishop and utecht might fight it out at 1B, with the other taking over DP duties. burks, especially, should provide much needed speed in the outfield.
and as most of us know, this year's class -- high school seniors right now, freshmen in the fall -- was the #1 ranked class in the nation. i think shannon rhodes (#8 player in the country) and mia camuso (#18) might both start in the outfield right away.
as for pitching, megan kleist will be a sophomore, but we also signed the top two pitching recruits in the nation, so it's kind of hard to say how things will shake out. kleist has the experience, and she's very good, but miranda elish (#1) and maggie balint (#4) are going to come in and push for time right away. we might see a set-up kind of like ucla's where all three end up pitching a ton of innings. if we start one and they just don't have it, there may not be much of a leash with two other quality arms ready to go.
i think we'll be in the hunt for a 5th straight pac-12 title. ucla and arizona will both push us the whole way. washington, utah, and oregon state should all be good. asu and cal won't be down forever. it'll be tough, and we lose a ton of contributors, but there's a ton of talent in this program right now.
this year, we returned 8/9 everyday position players, so things were pretty easy to forecast. next year, we'll only be returning 4, all of them in the infield.
3B jenna lilly and SS nikki udria should both be pac-12 POTY candidates. 2B lauren lindvall solidified herself at second this year, and C gwen svekis was the back-up catcher/designated player on days where janelle lindvall was catching. udria will be a senior, lilly/lindvall/svekis will be juniors.
luckily, we've been recruited like mad lately, so while we'll be short on experience, we shouldn't be short on talent.
this year's freshman class (next year's sophomores) was very talented, but with such a heavy senior-laden class, none of them started much and were mostly relegated to pinch hitting duties in-conference. but i think we'll see OF cherish burks (#18 recruit in her class), INF madi bishop (#45), and INF april utecht all start next year. bishop and utecht might fight it out at 1B, with the other taking over DP duties. burks, especially, should provide much needed speed in the outfield.
and as most of us know, this year's class -- high school seniors right now, freshmen in the fall -- was the #1 ranked class in the nation. i think shannon rhodes (#8 player in the country) and mia camuso (#18) might both start in the outfield right away.
as for pitching, megan kleist will be a sophomore, but we also signed the top two pitching recruits in the nation, so it's kind of hard to say how things will shake out. kleist has the experience, and she's very good, but miranda elish (#1) and maggie balint (#4) are going to come in and push for time right away. we might see a set-up kind of like ucla's where all three end up pitching a ton of innings. if we start one and they just don't have it, there may not be much of a leash with two other quality arms ready to go.
i think we'll be in the hunt for a 5th straight pac-12 title. ucla and arizona will both push us the whole way. washington, utah, and oregon state should all be good. asu and cal won't be down forever. it'll be tough, and we lose a ton of contributors, but there's a ton of talent in this program right now.