Week One Softball Critique

[VObserver]

Here is my opinion of what I saw this weekend......Emily Smith and Mallory Wheeler have the ability to be really, really good for a long time, if we can keep them.

That is not a coincidence. Both were on several pre-season Top 100 recruits lists.

[CajunSID]

The SBC favorite was Texas State according to www.sunbeltsports.org, they went 2-2 losing to Bradley and Arkansas, they won vs San Diego and Lipscomb. JMU went 0-5, but they were not the preseason favorite according to the conference.

Ahh..you’re right. Forgot it was the D1 writer who had JMU first. Texas St didn’t exactly light it up either. My original point still stands..conference is wide open 😂

[VObserver]

Current SBC Standings

2025 Softball Standings
School Conference Conf. PCT Overall Overall PCT Streak
South Alabama 0-0 .000 4-1 .800 W2
Coastal Carolina 0-0 .000 3-1 .750 W2
Louisiana 0-0 .000 3-2 .600 W3
Troy 0-0 .000 3-2 .600 L1
Texas State 0-0 .000 2-2 .500 L1
Ga So 0-0 .000 2-3 .400 L1
App State 0-0 .000 1-4 .200 L4
Marshall 0-0 .000 1-4 .200 W1
Southern Miss 0-0 .000 1-4 .200 L3
ULM 0-0 .000 1-4 .200 L2
Georgia State 0-0 .000 0-5 .000 L5
James Madison 0-0 .000 0-5 .000 L5

[JMV JustMyView]

Ahh..you’re right. Forgot it was the D1 writer who had JMU first. Texas St didn’t exactly light it up either. My original point still stands..conference is wide open ��

He had Texas State first.

[CajunSID]

He had Texas State first.

You’re right..he had them 2nd. Seems to be a bit of a stretch, but there’s not one team that distinguished themselves week 1.

[JMV JustMyView]

I liked Erin Ardoin in the outfield in either left or right.

Left definitely isn't happening. Once Knox and Allen get healthy they will get the bulk of the playing time in RF if no other injuries happen.

[VObserver]

We are definitely blessed with an abundance of outfield talent. In fact, the only "weakness" we have defensively is at the corner infield positions, and that is only a weakness by comparison with our strength up the middle.

[SportyCajun459]

The Ugly: The injury to Tyla Clary leaves us with only 3 healthy pitchers on the roster. Those 3 have a total of 30 innings pitched at the D1 level.

I don't know the status of Cleary and i hope that her being on crutches was something more precautionary more so than an indicator of a more serious injury. IMO, her injury falls entirely on the Cajun field crew. You could see both pitchers lead foot sliding when planted their foot to pitch. The field crew came out a couple of times during the game to work on the pitching lane. The guy working the tamp acted like he didn't know what it was used for from the soft tamps he was giving the dirt. I've only worked on rec fields but I know that you really have to tamp down hard the fill dirt you put in the hole that the pitchers dig out when pitching so as to pack the soil. That guy might as well been using a fly swatter for all of the pressure he was putting on the tamp. I'm surprised that neither coaching staff said anything to him. And then when Shelbi and Lacey came out to throw clumps of clay away that were left after he "raked' the circle following the Cleary injury was pathetic.

[cajun4life]

I don't know the status of Cleary and i hope that her being on crutches was something more precautionary more so than an indicator of a more serious injury. IMO, her injury falls entirely on the Cajun field crew. You could see both pitchers lead foot sliding when planted their foot to pitch. The field crew came out a couple of times during the game to work on the pitching lane. The guy working the tamp acted like he didn't know what it was used for from the soft tamps he was giving the dirt. I've only worked on rec fields but I know that you really have to tamp down hard the fill dirt you put in the hole that the pitchers dig out when pitching so as to pack the soil. That guy might as well been using a fly swatter for all of the pressure he was putting on the tamp. I'm surprised that neither coaching staff said anything to him. And then when Shelbi and Lacey came out to throw clumps of clay away that were left after he "raked' the circle following the Cleary injury was pathetic.

Yeah, it’s not supposed to be soft when you’re done with filling a hole.

[JayWalker]

Having attended all 5 games this weekend, I remain cautiously optimistic about this year's team. Aside from the Seton Hall loss in game one, the results were pretty much what we all should have expected. Even in that loss, we fielded well and our hitters were smashing the ball; just almost always straight at a fielder. Starting pitching was not so good in games 1 and 2, but otherwise was pretty good. Relief pitching was outstanding in every game.
Last weekend's opponents final 2024 RPI:
Texas 1
Longwood 139
Seton Hall 149
GMU 216

The good:
Pitching: Sam Ryan and Mallory Wheeler were both lights out. Ryan gave up 1 earned run in 3.2 innings vs Texas, then had a CG [6 innings] with 0 earned runs in the second Seton Hall game. Wheeler gave up no ER in 3 innings in the Seton Hall loss and 0 runs in .2 innings vs George Mason; then pitched a 7 inning [1ER] CG in the Longwood game. Tyra Clary struggled with control issues in the Seton Hall loss, but pitched very well in the George Mason game [5.1 IP, 1 ER]. For those who may doubt Ryan's ability; her career ERA is 0.81, career WHIP is 1.21 [admittedly the sample size is small].

Defense: 7 DP in 5 games.

Hitting: 6 hitters at or above .400 BA. Ceci Vasquez with 7 RBI, Emily Smith with 5.

The Bad:

Pitching: 8 walks in Seton Hall loss.

Defense: 6 errors in 5 games.

Hitting: 33 runners LOB in 5 games.

The Ugly: The injury to Tyla Clary leaves us with only 3 healthy pitchers on the roster. Those 3 have a total of 30 innings pitched at the D1 level.

Looking forward:

Next weekend we have two games with Ole Miss and single games with Sam Houston, Central Arkansas and Northern Illinois. In final RPI last season Ole Miss was 47, SHSU was 169, UCA was 93 and NIU 256.
SHSU and UCA are decent wins, Ole Miss would be outstanding win[s]. The following week we have a three game series vs Houston [92] and a single game vs Kansas City [185].

For these two weeks, I believe that we must improve our hitting with RISP. The lack of pitching depth is very concerning; though I am pretty confident that Ryan and Wheeler will do fine, if one of them has a bad day, we could be in trouble unless we do significantly improve in the previously mentioned hitting area. If Hoover becomes available and/or Clary is able to return I will be much less concerned about pitching.

Solid Stuff VO. Thanks.

[sunbeltsports]

Really like the outfield with Falterman, Hayden, and Ardoin.

Wish we could get Stutes more opportunities, but hard to find a place in the starting lineup for her.

Gotta find a way to keep Smith and Wheeler here for years to come.

[CajunsSball22]

Left definitely isn't happening. Once Knox and Allen get healthy they will get the bulk of the playing time in RF if no other injuries happen.

Assuming that this is only your opinion, right?