2021 Softball Schedule & Season Discussion Thread

[AU1947 157]

1 hour ago, swimmama said:

Yes. Some are definitely top contributors 

I have heard this too, and yes there are a couple freshman starters as well that want to compete for Championships... so I heard last weekend at the Kentucky series

[blakem 296]

My next questions are does anyone know when Denver and Makayla will be back and why was Emily Carosone not at the game today?

 

[AU1947 157]

25 minutes ago, blakem said:

My next questions are does anyone know when Denver and Makayla will be back and why was Emily Carosone not at the game today?

 

Isn't she playing for the Italian team? Maybe she had to report for practice...

Edited April 22, 2021 by AU1947

[blakem 296]

1 minute ago, AU1947 said:

Isn't she playing for the Italian team? Maybe she had to report for practice...

That may be it. I just didn’t see her there and didn’t know what was going on.

[blakem 296]

I guess the fact is that these girls saw Auburn compete for championships and just assumed it would carry over or they were sold a distant dream of what we could do by some snake oil salesman. Many on this team are good enough to play for championship contenders. The separation between us and those teams is the lack of development and and bone-head mistakes by the coaching staff. I believe we can return to greatness but it’ll take a special person to do just that.

[tigersrock1980 17]

8 hours ago, blakem said:

I guess the fact is that these girls saw Auburn compete for championships and just assumed it would carry over or they were sold a distant dream of what we could do by some snake oil salesman. Many on this team are good enough to play for championship contenders. The separation between us and those teams is the lack of development and and bone-head mistakes by the coaching staff. I believe we can return to greatness but it’ll take a special person to do just that.

You hit the nail on the head with your post.  CMD makes so many terrible in game adjustments.  He needs to go and go quickly.  I can see many transfers after this season.  

[swimmama 45]

There is a world of difference in the level of play and decision making. These girls don’t seem to know what to do when plays happen. Under Myers they were trained daily on what to do. They reacted in a split second. These girls are not getting any training at all and hitting is totally gone. We lost to Chattanooga last night 1-0. This is terrible. He is a terrible coach. We saw what a championship program could look like. This is not it

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 hour ago, swimmama said:

There is a world of difference in the level of play and decision making. These girls don’t seem to know what to do when plays happen. Under Myers they were trained daily on what to do. They reacted in a split second. These girls are not getting any training at all and hitting is totally gone. We lost to Chattanooga last night 1-0. This is terrible. He is a terrible coach. We saw what a championship program could look like. This is not it

I just wonder what those who do the coaching search, look for in a softball coach? Who was involved in the interview and recommendation process? Was Dean the first choice? Did they review his ingame coaching ability or just look at his record, and ability to coach pitchers?

It's hard to believe that these girls aren't getting the training to be successful hitters and situational aware on the basepaths. Was Lenti considered a top level hitting coach or just a coach that was successful that Dean had a connection to? 

[blakem 296]

4 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I just wonder what those who do the coaching search, look for in a softball coach? Who was involved in the interview and recommendation process? Was Dean the first choice? Did they review his ingame coaching ability or just look at his record, and ability to coach pitchers?

It's hard to believe that these girls aren't getting the training to be successful hitters and situational aware on the basepaths. Was Lenti considered a top level hitting coach or just a coach that was successful that Dean had a connection to? 

I’ve also wondered these things. Who all did we interview or reach out to for the job? Did the AD care enough to deeply look into who he was hiring? My next questions that I feel need to be asked now is why are so many players and coaches leaving our softball program? 

[tigersrock1980 17]

1 hour ago, blakem said:

I’ve also wondered these things. Who all did we interview or reach out to for the job? Did the AD care enough to deeply look into who he was hiring? My next questions that I feel need to be asked now is why are so many players and coaches leaving our softball program? 

CMD that's why so many have left and will continue to leave.  

[steeleagle 2,945]

10 minutes ago, tigersrock1980 said:

CMD that's why so many have left and will continue to leave.  

I can understand those that left in the first couple of years that were 'Meyer' recruits/players. But I don't recall who were top level players that left in the last 2 years or who is 'rumored' to leave after this year bc of unhappiness with either their playing time or direction of the team.

[TD1 227]

10 minutes ago, tigersrock1980 said:

CMD that's why so many have left and will continue to leave.  

I really hope something changes soon so that we can retain some key players on the team. This freshman class that's playing now has alot of potential. 

[Jad0003 405]

I don’t have any connections in the program, so is anyone willing to say who they heard?

Only freshman who have started games are Lowe, Penta, Schmidt, Packer, and Bryant. I imagine most of us want all to stay, but Lowe and Penta are the most integral to our success for the next four years. 

[blakem 296]

4 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

I don’t have any connections in the program, so is anyone willing to say who they heard?

Only freshman who have started games are Lowe, Penta, Schmidt, Packer, and Bryant. I imagine most of us want all to stay, but Lowe and Penta are the most integral to our success for the next four years. 

Or maybe they are also be referring to COVID freshman. I sure hope so.

[Jad0003 405]

4 minutes ago, blakem said:

Or maybe they are also be referring to COVID freshman. I sure hope so.

Very good point.

[TD1 227]

37 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

I don’t have any connections in the program, so is anyone willing to say who they heard?

Only freshman who have started games are Lowe, Penta, Schmidt, Packer, and Bryant. I imagine most of us want all to stay, but Lowe and Penta are the most integral to our success for the next four years. 

Cox as well. 

[Jad0003 405]

6 minutes ago, TD1 said:

Cox as well. 

Yes, she has done really well! Not sure how I could forget her. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by Jad0003

[OlderWhiskey 953]

2 hours ago, blakem said:

I’ve also wondered these things. Who all did we interview or reach out to for the job? Did the AD care enough to deeply look into who he was hiring? My next questions that I feel need to be asked now is why are so many players and coaches leaving our softball program? 

We hired Dean in September 2017 after Myers suddenly resigned, after his son was barred from campus.  Fall practice was scheduled to begin in 2-3 weeks.  The national view of Auburn was a place where the players were getting hit on and messed with by the coaches.  We didn't know if we could get any decent coach to come here at that time, and were pretty much overjoyed when we were able to hire Dean, who had had great success at James Madison, barely missing OKC one year.  I think Jay Jacobs was still the AD at that time.

He made a great start by hiring Gerry Glasco as hitting coach, but Glasco was quickly hired away by Louisiana.  Since then, I have become disenchanted with what I have seen from him and his methods.  The facts are, though, that he has brought in two highly rated recruiting classes in a row.  He will almost certainly be retained at least one more year to work with those classes.  And why not?  We just won a series from the #12 team in the country, and our RPI is 11.  If we go .500 the rest of the year, we'll probably host a regional, which would be an improvement over last year.

Will some players leave the program?  Very likely.  The transfer portal has become a way of life, and players transfer for a variety of reasons, the coach being only one.  

[blakem 296]

18 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

We hired Dean in September 2017 after Myers suddenly resigned, after his son was barred from campus.  Fall practice was scheduled to begin in 2-3 weeks.  The national view of Auburn was a place where the players were getting hit on and messed with by the coaches.  We didn't know if we could get any decent coach to come here at that time, and were pretty much overjoyed when we were able to hire Dean, who had had great success at James Madison, barely missing OKC one year.  I think Jay Jacobs was still the AD at that time.

He made a great start by hiring Gerry Glasco as hitting coach, but Glasco was quickly hired away by Louisiana.  Since then, I have become disenchanted with what I have seen from him and his methods.  The facts are, though, that he has brought in two highly rated recruiting classes in a row.  He will almost certainly be retained at least one more year to work with those classes.  And why not?  We just won a series from the #12 team in the country, and our RPI is 11.  If we go .500 the rest of the year, we'll probably host a regional, which would be an improvement over last year.

Will some players leave the program?  Very likely.  The transfer portal has become a way of life, and players transfer for a variety of reasons, the coach being only one.  

There is absolutely no way I see us hosting a regional unless we win every SEC series from here on out and win the Tournament. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

14 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

We hired Dean in September 2017 after Myers suddenly resigned, after his son was barred from campus.  Fall practice was scheduled to begin in 2-3 weeks.  The national view of Auburn was a place where the players were getting hit on and messed with by the coaches.  We didn't know if we could get any decent coach to come here at that time, and were pretty much overjoyed when we were able to hire Dean, who had had great success at James Madison, barely missing OKC one year.  I think Jay Jacobs was still the AD at that time.

He made a great start by hiring Gerry Glasco as hitting coach, but Glasco was quickly hired away by Louisiana.  Since then, I have become disenchanted with what I have seen from him and his methods.  The facts are, though, that he has brought in two highly rated recruiting classes in a row.  He will almost certainly be retained at least one more year to work with those classes.  And why not?  We just won a series from the #12 team in the country, and our RPI is 11.  If we go .500 the rest of the year, we'll probably host a regional, which would be an improvement over last year.

Will some players leave the program?  Very likely.  The transfer portal has become a way of life, and players transfer for a variety of reasons, the coach being only one.  

I Agree, that his last 2 recruiting classes bringing in top pitchers last year and a host of strong hitters this year are great.

But if some of those leaving are solid contributors and if any of the starting FR pitchers leave, we are back in a bad place.

The problem I have is that our hitting has been avg w no gap or HR power being displayed. And very little hitting streaks or runs to say we are really showing a strong offensive team. 

And others have complained about Dean's in game managing, particulary his situational calls, with steals, etc...

And I agree he will be here next year to manage those 2 strong recruiting classes, but teaching and development is critical too for our hitting, and weaknesses we have shown for the last 2-3 years.

[blakem 296]

2 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I Agree, that his last 2 recruiting classes bringing in top pitchers last year and a host of strong hitters this year are great.

But if some of those leaving are solid contributors and if any of the starting FR pitchers leave, we are back in a bad place.

The problem I have is that our hitting has been avg w no gap or HR power being displayed. And very little hitting streaks or runs to say we are really showing a strong offensive team. 

And others have complained about Dean's in game managing, particulary his situational calls, with steals, etc...

And I agree he will be here next year to manage those 2 strong recruiting classes, but teaching and development is critical too for our hitting, and weaknesses we have shown for the last 2-3 years.

Speaking on the hitting. I went to several games in person during each of Coach Myers and Coach Deans tenure and there is just a big difference. I notice that the hitting now is weak. We do not make hardly any solid contact the hits we do get are usually dink hits over people. When Myers was here we hit the ball very solid and hard. They were gap shots and homers now we just hit singles and the occasional double.

[Jad0003 405]

I think @OlderWhiskey is correct in the assumption Dean gets at least one more year to complete his contract. The team’s progress and success next year will determine what happens next.

We could probably lose every remaining game on the schedule and still make the NCAA tournament. With that being said, the back half of our SEC schedule is probably easier than the first half though. Will we win them all? Probably not but we have shown we can take 1 or 2 games in each series. 

I doubt Dean uses anyone other than Penta and Lowe in the NCAA tournament. If we get a favorable match up in regionals, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us win our regional if we can score more than 2 runs.

But if I were Dean, I would be searching the planet for the best hitting coach I could find after this year because his future at Auburn probably depends on it.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Jad0003

[augolf1716 21,101]

We should never ever lose to Chattanooga in anything and I mean anything. Something is awfully wrong 

[AU1947 157]

As far as the routine plays I have heard all they do is scrimmage. It also troubles me that he touted the best pitching staff he has ever had and the deepest too. We have only seen Penta, Dismukes, and Lowe. Yarborough had accolades from last season and a lot of preseason hype and I looked it up.. She has only seen 10 innings with 2.66 of those coming from the Missouri series and looked like she did last year. Handley is still inconsistent. I had heard that they use Yarborough and Handley for scrimmaging practice.... 

[AUBwins 10,070]

6 hours ago, steeleagle said:

I can understand those that left in the first couple of years that were 'Meyer' recruits/players. But I don't recall who were top level players that left in the last 2 years or who is 'rumored' to leave after this year bc of unhappiness with either their playing time or direction of the team.

Taylon left because she was no longer enjoying softball.  This was stated in an article about Oklahoma softball program.  She was quoted in it that she was not enjoying and that she rediscovered her love for it at Oklahoma. Article makes me sad that she felt that way at Auburn but happy that she is better now.  Gosh I miss her from this team.  Thought she was great.  

Article linked. 

https://www.normantranscript.com/sports/all_ou_sports/ou-softball-taylon-snow-finds-happy-place-with-transfer-to-oklahoma/article_1ebd3946-8364-58e5-8e88-253a68558834.html