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2021 Softball Schedule & Season Discussion Thread


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AUBURN swept the DH against SE Louisiana today,  9-2 and 9-1. We are now 15-1 on the year.  Starting to beat teams the way we should.  Get Troy again on Wednesday.  

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Lindsey Garcia had herself quite the inning in Game 1.  With SELa leading 2-0, she led off the home half of the 4th with a solo homer that opened the floodgates.  She came around again and stroked a 2-run double as the Tigers put up 7 in the inning.  Justus Perry also had her first homer of the season an inning later.   Garcia also had two hits in the second game, making her 4 for 6 with 5 RBI on the day.  Denver Bryant stroked her first homer of the year in the second game, as Dismukes and Yarbrough held the opposition to one run.  

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8 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

Lindsey Garcia had herself quite the inning in Game 1.  With SELa leading 2-0, she led off the home half of the 4th with a solo homer that opened the floodgates.  She came around again and stroked a 2-run double as the Tigers put up 7 in the inning.  Justus Perry also had her first homer of the season an inning later.   Garcia also had two hits in the second game, making her 4 for 6 with 5 RBI on the day.  Denver Bryant stroked her first homer of the year in the second game, as Dismukes and Yarbrough held the opposition to one run.  

Currently I believe has highest BA @.522 but also has most errors with 5.  She has made some good plays at 3rd so hopefully can cut down on the errors.  

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All of the freshmen are roping the ball at the plate. 

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Shelby Lowe SEC Freshman of the Week

https://auburntigers.com/news/2021/3/8/softball-shelby-lowe-named-sec-freshman-of-the-week.aspx

 

Something I found interesting related to our Wednesday game at Troy.......They alloy fans at 50% stadium capacity.

  Softball 

·       The Troy Softball Complex will operate at a 50 percent capacity for the 2021 season.  All fans are required to enter via the Troy Softball Complex parking lot entrance.  

·      Fans will be asked to self-distance within the facility and sit with individuals from their household. 

·       Face coverings are required to be worn at all times on premise at the Troy Softball Complex. Face coverings will be available for fans that need them. 
 

Edited by slot canyon
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I have to take another dog to Shelby Lowes dad tomorrow morning for his yearly checkup. His wife was a bit miffed that I didn't know that her baby was a starting pitcher the other day when I was there. I knew she signed but I just assumed that she wouldn't see much action as a freshman and since I am not a follower of womens sports as a rule, I really didn't know season had started. Thats all changed now. I was yelling and punching air when she retired 20 straight and was one out away from a perfect game and I have not missed a pitch since.

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36 minutes ago, chizhead said:

Thats all changed now. I was yelling and punching air when she retired 20 straight and was one out away from a perfect game and I have not missed a pitch since

Softball is addicting. Even more so when your team has a great offense.

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Yes it is.  It's a quicker game in several ways which makes it fun to watch.  It can also be fun to watch when your team has a dominating pitcher and we have 2 that will be just that very soon.  Maybe not so much this year in SEC play, but soon.  Much like basketball junkies love March Madness, I love May and June madness, with all the regional tournaments and the WCWS.

Defense like this makes it exciting as well.

image.thumb.png.2cfa20bfa985379b82248875afb563ff.png

Edited by saminbama
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47 minutes ago, saminbama said:

Yes it is.  It's a quicker game in several ways which makes it fun to watch.  It can also be fun to watch when your team has a dominating pitcher and we have 2 that will be just that very soon.  Maybe not so much this year in SEC play, but soon.  Much like basketball junkies love March Madness, I love May and June madness, with all the regional tournaments and the WCWS.

Defense like this makes it exciting as well.

image.thumb.png.2cfa20bfa985379b82248875afb563ff.png

She can go high and she can go low

Image

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15 hours ago, saminbama said:

 

Yep.  She is now and is going to be fun to watch.

Sam, we have DB's on the football team that ain't as fast as her. Hey, I just got back from the vet and talking to a proud daddy and a gloriously giddy mama. I told her about me becoming a serious fan of their baby and going back to listen to and re-watch every pitch that she has made this season. Doc was busy, so I didn't get to talk a lot, but he is concerned,a little bit, about Dean overworking her. He said that when the ball movement declines, she needs to come out because that a sign that her arm is getting tired. There are enough pitchers, I think, that one should not have to pitch as many as Shelby pitched last week

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5 hours ago, chizhead said:

Doc was busy, so I didn't get to talk a lot, but he is concerned,a little bit, about Dean overworking her

I can understand and I agree.  Right now, Dean is using 3 pitchers and that concerns me.  The SEC season is a grind and he runs the risk of letting our 2 best pitchers get arm weary before the season really gets going.  

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38 minutes ago, saminbama said:

I can understand and I agree.  Right now, Dean is using 3 pitchers and that concerns me.  The SEC season is a grind and he runs the risk of letting our 2 best pitchers get arm weary before the season really gets going.  

Let me be clear, I brought up the subject, not him. I thought Shelby pitched entirely too many innings last week. I was really shocked when he pitched her two days in a row,AFTER spelling Penta the day before that. Handley is supposed to be pretty good, right? Yarbourgh has control issues, but the only way to get her back into the groove is to let her pitch herself into it. She is not going to get better on the bench. Doc said the team can hit better than they have shown, and I do see some signs of that because they have begun to swing the bat with a lot more contact now. Garcia is an error waiting to happen, but she is hitting the ball on the nose now. Surely, surely, Dean won't try to pitch Shelby tonight?

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8 minutes ago, chizhead said:

surely, Dean won't try to pitch Shelby tonight?

My guess is Penta. I think she's still his #1 for now. That said I could see Shelby pitching tonight, letting Maddie rest til Friday & then pitch Shelby again Saturday. Also I don't get this concern y'all are having about wearing their arms out unless it's solely just because they are freshmen & may not have pitched as much in high school & travel ball last year due to covid. Most staff basically only use 3 pitchers for most of the season.

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I hope Dean doesn’t overuse our pitchers this early in the season, as well. Hopefully Sam or KK get the start against Troy. Sam needs to work some of the kinks out, and KK has been pitching very well. Troy is a dangerous team, plus we will probably be facing their ace this go around, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Lowe or Penta.

With that being said - I’m going to agree with @ellitor on the overuse topic. Shelby pitched almost every inning in 2018 when the Thunderbolts won PGF where she pitched multiple days in a row, possibly even multiple games in a day. This tournament was after a full high school ball season(~160 innings for Lowe according to her bio) and summer of travel ball. Pitching twice a week might a break for her. 

Based on videos from the Auburn Softball pages, Dean focuses on conditioning for the players, especially pitchers. I’m sure he knows their limits.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, chizhead said:

Let me be clear, I brought up the subject, not him. I thought Shelby pitched entirely too many innings last week. I was really shocked when he pitched her two days in a row,AFTER spelling Penta the day before that. Handley is supposed to be pretty good, right? Yarbourgh has control issues, but the only way to get her back into the groove is to let her pitch herself into it. She is not going to get better on the bench. Doc said the team can hit better than they have shown, and I do see some signs of that because they have begun to swing the bat with a lot more contact now. Garcia is an error waiting to happen, but she is hitting the ball on the nose now. Surely, surely, Dean won't try to pitch Shelby tonight?

 

15 minutes ago, ellitor said:

My guess is Penta. I think she's still his #1 for now. That said I could see Shelby pitching tonight, letting Maddie rest til Friday & then pitch Shelby again Saturday. Also I don't get this concern y'all are having about wearing their arms out unless it's solely just because they are freshmen & may not have pitched as much in high school & travel ball last year due to covid. Most staff basically only use 3 pitchers for most of the season.

Not long ago, I looked at pitching stats on Kelly Barnhill while at Florida 2016 - 2019.  Her freshman season she pitched 108 innings sharing time with Gourley and Ocasio.  Sophomore year 193 innings sharing with same two teammates.  Junior season she was the primary pitcher of 4 and pitched 214 innings.  Her senior season she pitched 287 innings with 4 pitchers on staff and had 200+ more innings than the number 2.  Maybe could use the wine analogy about getting better with age.  I know errors can be poison in close games but with the need to get hits and score runs Garcia seems the right choice currently.  As far as 

Currently for AU Penta has pitched 41.2 innings with 59 SO and 18 BB.  To me she has shown an ability to pitch out of jams.  Lowe has pitched 41.2 innings with 56 SO and 4 BB and may be emerging as the top gun.  She did carry a heavy load this past weekend.  Dismukes who, to this point has be a reliever sort has pitched 16.1 innings with 18 SO and 2 BB.  Handley  has pitched 8.2 innings and Yarbrough 7.2.  they have 10 and 11 SO respectively with unpredictable control.  Would be such an asset if one or both could find a grove.  

Regarding Garcia and 3rd base.  Presuming Snow would still command that position if not for the injury.  Bryant was given the opportunity at season start.  She has had 3 errors and 24 AB with BA .208, 5 H, 10 SO.  Garcia has 5 errors, 23 AB, BA .522, 12 H, and 0 SO.  I know errors can be poison in close games but with the need to get hits and score runs Garcia seems the right choice currently.    

As far as saying the team can hit better than they have shown that would be nice but we are getting ready to play higher quality pitching in SEC play.  Also, I find predicting the future difficult.

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59 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Also I don't get this concern y'all are having about wearing their arms out

E, I'm an old baseball guy who was good enough to get scouted by a couple of MLB teams and three SEC schools, AU being one. I was not good enough for them to sign me, but good enough to get a look from them. I was mentored by a guy (RIP) who did two brief stints in the majors. All I know is pitching in terms of baseball and its always about the arm. I am trying to learn about pitching in softball. Remember, like you, I thought a riseball was similar to a two seam fast ball. Sam has given me a short course on it, but I find it amazing that they can get that kind of velocity on a much larger ball without going over the top, and get that kind of movement. I probably threw in the high 80"s on my best day, and these girls are hitting 70-72 according to the gun and they do that throwing underhand with a locked elbow. I had no idea

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2 minutes ago, chizhead said:

E, I'm an old baseball guy who was good enough to get scouted by a couple of MLB teams and three SEC schools, AU being one. I was not good enough for them to sign me, but good enough to get a look from them. I was mentored by a guy (RIP) who did two brief stints in the majors. All I know is pitching in terms of baseball and its always about the arm. I am trying to learn about pitching in softball. Remember, like you, I thought a riseball was similar to a two seam fast ball. Sam has given me a short course on it, but I find it amazing that they can get that kind of velocity on a much larger ball without going over the top, and get that kind of movement. I probably threw in the high 80"s on my best day, and these girls are hitting 70-72 according to the gun and they do that throwing underhand with a locked elbow. I had no idea

@chizhead This may seam like a foreign & awkward concept but my understanding is the softball pitching motion is more anatomically advantagous for the body & puts less wear & tear on the shoulders than the baseball pitching motion. Softball gurus please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

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14 minutes ago, ellitor said:

@chizhead This may seam like a foreign & awkward concept but my understanding is the softball pitching motion is more anatomically advantagous for the body & puts less wear & tear on the shoulders than the baseball pitching motion. Softball gurus please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Thats what I was told, that the underhand motion does not wear on the arm muscles and joints like an unnatural overhand motion does,BUT, its a long year and Shelby's daddy has been our vet for a very long time. I remember when Shelby was born. I just don't want to see something go wrong and adversly affect her career

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While the underhand motion is more natural than the overhand pitching motion of baseball, you can still have issues especially with the rotator cuff.   That's an interesting account of Barnhill and her pitch counts at UF.  Her pitch counts went up up every year.  There's a lot of difference between the physical maturity of a college freshman opposed to a college senior.  My fear is these freshman pitchers get worn out too quickly.  My daughter led the state in innings pitched her freshman year in JC with 277 innings.  About two thirds of the way through the season, she started having issues with her rotator cuff, but didn't tell us.  When the season ended she had to have surgery and was never the same.  Obviously she didn't access to the quality of care in JC compared to Auburn, but there is a risk with overuse.

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5 hours ago, chizhead said:

Thats what I was told, that the underhand motion does not wear on the arm muscles and joints like an unnatural overhand motion does,BUT, its a long year and Shelby's daddy has been our vet for a very long time. I remember when Shelby was born. I just don't want to see something go wrong and adversly affect her career

I seem to remember an article in which Dr. James Andrew's was asked about the motion being more natural than baseball pitchers and his response I believe was it is still wear and tear on a joint whether it is a natural motion or not.

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I believe our pitching will be fine. Hitting is the big question... The freshman have come in strong and KK looks good. Yarbrough appears to be getting back in rhythm and again didn't appear to be wearing the ankle brace which was a good sign. Handley needs reps. Looking forward to this weekend against that other school west of Birmingham. 

Dowell is very impressive as a lead-off. And this team is super young!!! This weekend will be a good test of where we really are..

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6 hours ago, AU1947 said:

I believe our pitching will be fine. Hitting is the big question... The freshman have come in strong and KK looks good. Yarbrough appears to be getting back in rhythm and again didn't appear to be wearing the ankle brace which was a good sign. Handley needs reps. Looking forward to this weekend against that other school west of Birmingham. 

Dowell is very impressive as a lead-off. And this team is super young!!! This weekend will be a good test of where we really are..

 

13 hours ago, slot canyon said:

 

Not long ago, I looked at pitching stats on Kelly Barnhill while at Florida 2016 - 2019.  Her freshman season she pitched 108 innings sharing time with Gourley and Ocasio.  Sophomore year 193 innings sharing with same two teammates.  Junior season she was the primary pitcher of 4 and pitched 214 innings.  Her senior season she pitched 287 innings with 4 pitchers on staff and had 200+ more innings than the number 2.  Maybe could use the wine analogy about getting better with age.  I know errors can be poison in close games but with the need to get hits and score runs Garcia seems the right choice currently.  As far as 

Currently for AU Penta has pitched 41.2 innings with 59 SO and 18 BB.  To me she has shown an ability to pitch out of jams.  Lowe has pitched 41.2 innings with 56 SO and 4 BB and may be emerging as the top gun.  She did carry a heavy load this past weekend.  Dismukes who, to this point has be a reliever sort has pitched 16.1 innings with 18 SO and 2 BB.  Handley  has pitched 8.2 innings and Yarbrough 7.2.  they have 10 and 11 SO respectively with unpredictable control.  Would be such an asset if one or both could find a grove.  

Regarding Garcia and 3rd base.  Presuming Snow would still command that position if not for the injury.  Bryant was given the opportunity at season start.  She has had 3 errors and 24 AB with BA .208, 5 H, 10 SO.  Garcia has 5 errors, 23 AB, BA .522, 12 H, and 0 SO.  I know errors can be poison in close games but with the need to get hits and score runs Garcia seems the right choice currently.    

As far as saying the team can hit better than they have shown that would be nice but we are getting ready to play higher quality pitching in SEC play.  Also, I find predicting the future difficult.

Hard to find a grove when the pitchers don't get innings.  SEC is a different dog.  CMD has said this is his deepest pitching staff he has ever coached but he appears to be riding or dying with just 2.  

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