That's my line of thinking. Replacing Tank and Soto will be difficult to do, especially Soto's mental toughness and leadership.
Brodhead will also be tough to replace, but if Codi Runyan can come back healthy, I think that'll be an upgrade, at the plate at least.
I might be counting those proverbial chickens before they hatch, but I think Gabby Bridges will fill in quite nicely for Tank next year (homers and RBI production-wise) and Bowers and Verde will have a much bigger role in the leadership category.
Plus, like someone said, with Brig, Boo and Britney locked into a solid rotation, I could easily see the Lotiefs being able to convince some big-time offensive players to come to Lafayette for the next few years.
A little birdie told me that an All Big XII player has already committed to transferring to UL, one who knows her way around a bat...
_ I'm from Port Barre. Trust me, I've seen Codi play short.
She's a fantastic fielder, but I also know she's got potential to hit 15+ homers, so she'll be counted on heavily in the middle of that order next year.
I certainly wasn't knocking Codi's defensive prowess, just saying that she's going to provide a lot of lumber (or aluminum in this case). _
Cool, she is a good kid and her defense was missed more then anything this year. But you are correct, she told me this past week she is ready to play. She was swinging the bat in the cage.