2021 Softball Schedule & Season Discussion Thread

[AU1947 157]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:27 PM, blakem said:

This one doesn’t really surprise me. My question is have they already started practice or did she just assume she was the odd woman out.

She has left the team and entered the portal..

[LetsGo 31]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:27 PM, blakem said:

This one doesn’t really surprise me. My question is have they already started practice or did she just assume she was the odd woman out.

She never seem to be a great fit. She struggled at the plate and rarely got catching time. Hope she finds a good home. Wish her the best.

[Jad0003 405]

Hopefully we will get some kind of stream or radio for the game this Sunday. I would like to see some improvement in all facets of the game, especially hitting.

We have 7 players who have started games in different capacity - Packer, Godwin, Cox, Garcia, Bryant, Schmidt, McCondichie, plus 3 players - Englekes, Majors, and Geraghty - who have gotten ABs over the past two years. The new players should push for playing time with so many positions open. I hope the coaches are trying to find the strongest batting lineup since it was our weakness last year. I don’t have inside information, but these are the players I imagine competing at each position (in no particular order):

Catcher: Godwin, Blaine, Lisenby

1B: Englekes, Majors, Ellis, Blaine

2B: Cox, McCondichie, Peralta, Roach, Moody, McNemar

SS: Cox, Bryant, Garcia, Peralta, Moody, Roach, McNemar

3B: Bryant, Garcia, Moody, McNemar

OF: Packer, Schmidt, Geraghty, Smith, Cooper, Failisi, Majors, McCondichie, Moody, Roach

It is very possible we see some players move around based on need, especially if they are hitting well. 

Hopefully we get to see all four pitchers across the two games, and I’ll be interested to see how they have all developed over the summer. We know Lowe is an elite, shutdown ace. Penta can be a shutdown ace if she improves her control and location. Yarbrough also showed she has the potential to be an ace in 2020. The team will need to provide run support, so she has chances to build confidence. I imagine Dismukes will stay in her closer role. She pitched very well at the end of the season, and if she can hide her changeup, she will be hard to hit. We had the 4th best ERA in the conference last year with essentially 3 freshman pitchers, so we should see some improvement with the experience.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Jad0003

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Good post.  I'm struck by how young we are.  With the departure of Dowell, we have exactly one senior position player (Godwin), and two seniors total.  The leading returning batters seem to be Cox, Garcia, Packer, and Godwin.  Can't wait to see the freshmen.  Also, I noticed a photo on Twitter or somewhere that seemed to show Packer playing infield. (!) 

We had 307 hits last season.  170 of them are no longer on the team.

Edited September 17, 2021 by OlderWhiskey

[slot canyon 1,333]

Softball 9/18/2021 3:42:00 PM

Softball postpones Sunday's doubleheader

 

[slot canyon 1,333]

AUBURN, Ala. – Following the cancellation of last weekend's fall exhibition opener, head softball coach Mickey Dean announced changes to Sunday's schedule as the Tigers will now host a tripleheader at Jane B. Moore Field.
 
Sunday's slate begins at 11:30 a.m. CT as Andrew College was face Wallace State – Hanceville. Auburn will take the field at 2 p.m. CT to face Wallace State. Sunday's finale will see Auburn meeting Andrew College at 4:30 p.m. CT.
 
As with all home fall games, admission is free to the public. There will be limited concessions
serving bottled beverages, assorted candy and snacks.

The fall games will not be streamed, but fans can stay updated through the Auburn softball Twitter account: @AuburnSoftball.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

I'm a little surprised by the starting lineup for the first fall game.

Seriously, no Cox or Garcia?  Majors as DP?  Not sure what interpretation to put on this, but I hope it means all these freshmen can smash the ball.

[blakem 296]

6 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

I'm a little surprised by the starting lineup for the first fall game.

Seriously, no Cox or Garcia?  Majors as DP?  Not sure what interpretation to put on this, but I hope it means all these freshmen can smash the ball.

I think they balanced the rosters on purpose for the 2 games.

[slot canyon 1,333]

17 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

I'm a little surprised by the starting lineup for the first fall game.

Seriously, no Cox or Garcia?  Majors as DP?  Not sure what interpretation to put on this, but I hope it means all these freshmen can smash the ball.

That lineup is pretty much bogus as far as who took the field in 1st inning.  As far as I know Bryant did not play.  I saw her in some of the warm ups and appeared OK but for some reason I don't believe she participated.  Paige Geraghty not in uniform and on sideline with left arm in sling.  That lineup is basically correct when AU went to bat in 1st inning except Falici batted 9th.  It did not reflect the starting defense in inning 1.  Cox was at 2nd, Roach SS, Garcia 3rd, Schmidt RF, and I believe McCondichi in LF.  There seemed to be players changing almost every inning and I finally had to stop trying to keep up with the changes because I could not really enjoy just watching the game.  

[LetsGo 31]

I wouldn't read much into the lineups. What we can take away from the two games is the freshmen can hit. I think Peralta was 2/4, Lisenby was 3/4, Cooper was 2/4, Ellis was 2/4, Blaine was 1/5, Roach was 2/4 and the others I lost count. Really good outing by this group.  

[RHN1975 302]

1 hour ago, LetsGo said:

I wouldn't read much into the lineups. What we can take away from the two games is the freshmen can hit. I think Peralta was 2/4, Lisenby was 3/4, Cooper was 2/4, Ellis was 2/4, Blaine was 1/5, Roach was 2/4 and the others I lost count. Really good outing by this group.  

The newcomers were impressive. Best group in a while. 

[Jad0003 405]

I wasn’t able to go to the games, but it nice to read so many players get in the game and have success at the plate. Hopefully Auburn will stream some of the games of the fall games in the future for those who can’t make it. 

It is especially encouraging to see a few HRs from the team. We hit nearly 25% of last year’s total in 2 games. It is also really encouraging to see the freshman perform really well. I’ll be interested to see how the lineup shakes out moving forward. Does anyone who went want to have stab at a lineup?

It looks like the pitching staff picked up where they left off last year. It is really nice to see Sam have some success. 

Also, here’s another write up with a few conflicting stats: https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2021/09/auburn-softball-commands-in-field-in-fall-ball

Edited September 27, 2021 by Jad0003

[LetsGo 31]

20 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

I wasn’t able to go to the games, but it nice to read so many players get in the game and have success at the plate. Hopefully Auburn will stream some of the games of the fall games in the future for those who can’t make it. 

It is especially encouraging to see a few HRs from the team. We hit nearly 25% of last year’s total in 2 games. It is also really encouraging to see the freshman perform really well. I’ll be interested to see how the lineup shakes out moving forward. Does anyone who went want to have stab at a lineup?

It looks like the pitching staff picked up where they left off last year. It is really nice to see Sam have some success. 

Also, here’s another write up with a few conflicting stats: https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2021/09/auburn-softball-commands-in-field-in-fall-ball

Those stats look better than the ones I took on a napkin, so I suggest using theirs.

[AU1947 157]

2 hours ago, Jad0003 said:

I wasn’t able to go to the games, but it nice to read so many players get in the game and have success at the plate. Hopefully Auburn will stream some of the games of the fall games in the future for those who can’t make it. 

It is especially encouraging to see a few HRs from the team. We hit nearly 25% of last year’s total in 2 games. It is also really encouraging to see the freshman perform really well. I’ll be interested to see how the lineup shakes out moving forward. Does anyone who went want to have stab at a lineup?

It looks like the pitching staff picked up where they left off last year. It is really nice to see Sam have some success. 

Also, here’s another write up with a few conflicting stats: https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2021/09/auburn-softball-commands-in-field-in-fall-ball

Interesting and so who actually has the correct report from the weekend?

 

https://auburntigers.com/news/2021/9/26/softball-tigers-open-fall-ball-with-a-pair-of-victories.aspx