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Her and her husband had their second child recently, so she might be stepping away for a bit or taking on a smaller role on the staff. She definitely seems like to be one of the player’s favorites.

I’d say the Leadoff Classic will average out to about the same as the Clearwater tournament in terms of RPI. I also think we will need a few more signature out of conference opponents to increase our strength of schedule though. Typically Dean does not shy away from competition, so I imagine last year an anomaly to get the freshman comfortable with the college game.

Mistake on my part. I got names confused.

Happy for her! Louisville has a young but good hitting coach, so I hope she is able to grow there. She will also be closer to her hometown in Illinois.

I’ve been wondering about a few players based on social media. Social Media is not an exact science, but It is more predictive than we want to think. As of now, Majors, Falisi, Geraghty, and Schmidt are in the portal. All of them have taken “Auburn Softball” out of their handle, except Schmidt. She still claims “Auburn Softball #31” in her Instagram bio as of now. Sydney Cox and Jessie Blaine have taken Auburn Softball out of their Instagram handles. Cox has included “Auburn Hospitality Management” in her handle, while Blaine has since posted about Auburn softball. My takeaway is Geraghty, Majors, and Falisi are gone. Schmidt and Cox may or may not come back. I think Blaine will return and split time at DP and C with Lisenby. If Cox nor Schmidt return, Garcia will start at either RF or 3rd. If Roberts is ready to play then Garcia will play right. If not, Garcia will play 3rd and Smith will play RF. Either way, I am interested to see the roster once the season starts.

The two Duke players and Becker (Purdue) seem to be the only ones who would be an upgrade versus what we currently have on the roster. However, they all will be 5th year seniors next year. Dean will have to make the decision to displace a current starter for a one year player. Widra is a good pick-up, and I imagine we will see a lot of improvement in the circle if Dean wants her to focus solely on pitching. However, I think next year will ultimately come down to how Lowe and Bryant return from injury.

ExtraInning says Schmidt is in the portal as of late May.

Florida loves a sliding glove. They also have a lot of stolen bases this year 🧐

Texas and Florida are definitely hot at the right time. Oklahoma State has the pitching, but their offense looks anemic at times. UCLA did not look good yesterday, but I imagine they’ll turn it around today against Northwestern. Oklahoma looked very good and is the clear favorite for a reason. I see Northwestern and Oregon State as the first two teams out. One aspect I noticed are the guards the Oklahoma hitters wear. They have full arm protection from upper tricep to wrist. It honestly looks like they are going into battle at the plate. It doesn’t give them a hitting advantage to knowledge, but they are definitely able to take shots in the arm. There was a hit by pitch call yesterday when the ball hit a strap dangling down. By the rules, it is a HBP, but it clearly never touched the player. Very odd all around.

I’d agree. They hit a lot of home runs, but they have a higher team batting average than every other team too. Alo is the best hitter in college softball by a long shot right now, but a pitcher can’t walk her because the lineup is so deep. Jennings, Lyons, Brito, Johns, and Elam all have double digit home runs, and Coleman, Boone, and Snow all get on base at a high rate. The weakest part of their lineup right now is Hansen (injury), and she hit 24 home runs last year with a .429 average. Their offense has not performed well at times, but a team will need great pitching, field, and hitting to beat them. I’ll be interested to see how the team is able to adjust without Alo’s presence in the lineup next year. They also lose Snow, Johns, Elam, and Trautwein to graduation, so they will break in a few new starters. However, they have a full bench of highly ranked recruits to fill those spots, plus Gasso has already stated she will look for a power hitter in the portal. Their pitching staff will be a strength with Bahl and May returning then add in two top lefty pitchers in Deal and Geurin.

Mentioned on AU247 that Paige Geraghty has entered the transfer portal. She was used primarily as a pinch runner, but she was a substituted in RF after Bryant went down and got a ABs this year.

I expect Blaine will likely takeover Godwin’s innings behind the plate next year, and I expect Rolfe to get some opportunities against lesser teams in the circle. I don’t see us taking a position player in the portal either. I expect our lineup to be similar to what it was early in the year, assuming Bryant is able to return from injury. As mentioned previously, I do expect Roberts and Schmidt to push for playing time at 3B and RF. I can see us adding a pitcher from the portal. However, I don’t think it makes sense to add an upcoming junior or senior pitcher since our primary pitchers are in these classes. I’d try to find the best upcoming sophomore out of the portal since we do not have a pitcher in this class.

6th Bama player to enter the portal is Megan Bloodworth. I doubt we get any of the six, but if we were able to pick one up, I’d want it to be her or Lexi.

Looks like a mass exodus from Alabama at the moment. Abby Doerr (Oregon) and Jenna Lord (Alabama) entered last night. Both started multiple times throughout the year with varying levels of success. Lexi Kilfoyl (Florida) and Dallis Goodnight (Georgia) entered the portal today. Dallis was an everyday starter in CF. Lexi is an elite dropball pitcher when she is healthy. I imagine all four will get serious interest. Rumors of two more players from Bama’s roster entering the portal. It appears there is a lot of unhappiness over there at the moment. Savana Sikes from UGA also entered the portal today as a graduate transfer. She was previously committed to Auburn during the Myers tenure.

A&M is a sleeping giant in softball. Their new stadium is probably the best in the country as of right now. I’m sure they will try to hire a big name. In other news, two players from Bama entered the portal today. Robocoach says there will be a number of players from LSU and a few more from Bama entering the portal over the next few days. We will not immune to the portal, but I hope we can keep the majority of our contributors.

It’s hard to compete as a freshman in the SEC, which makes it even more impressive how well Ellis, Peralta, Blaine, and Lisenby did this season. Packer was an established starter in centerfield leaving only two spots open. McCondichie and Garcia moved to outfield to make room for freshman in the infield early in the season. I think McCondichie is probably more comfortable in the outfield than Garcia, but we needed their bats in the lineup. It seemed Blaine was used in RF to keep her bat in the lineup as well, but she was substituted for Schmidt, Geraghty, Smith, and at times, Cooper. Cooper will get more opportunities next year, but I doubt she cracks the lineup until McCondichie and Garcia leave. Schmidt made made a lot of progress this year, and I think she could jump Garcia at some point. Garcia could also move to third if Cox struggles at the plate, but I do see Millie Robert’s making an impact as a freshman. She plays 3rd regularly and has a lot of power at the plate.

Yes, the biggest losses from those eligible or still playing this year are Snow (Oklahoma), Greenwood (Louisville), and Handley (tOhio State). Handley would probably have had the largest impact with all the injuries on our pitching staff. Both Snow and Greenwood hit the ball very well this year. All will move on after this season. Swindle would have exhausted her eligibility last year if she played. She had a good job lined up out of school and chose to not extend her softball career. Dowell would have been a step up defensively at SS, but she struggled at the plate compared to prior years (.265 average). Koepke isn’t even on the UGA roster nor did she play this year. I’m not sure her future plans, but I think she left the sport due to nagging injuries. Mosely had 4 ABs at Troy this year and none were hits. Harris pitched 57 innings for Louisville with an ERA over 5.00. Last player from the list with eligibility is Jaylin Calvert at IUPUI. She hit below .150 this year. Her sister who was committed to Auburn before Jaylin transferred hit .308.

Dean clearly set a precedence with the extra year of eligibility by only allowing one group to have that opportunity at Auburn. This team was the first roster full of players who did not play for Myers, and I imagine it is why he finally feels rejuvenated from a coaching standpoint. There weren’t players questioning his every move, reverting to old behaviors, or still wondering if Myers should still be the coach. Side note: the way Clint’s contract was set up, I am pretty sure Cory would be the coach as of now anyway. Many people have said it on this board, but our program was toxic after the scandal, not only from what happened but how Auburn handled it. Myers didn’t leave the cupboard bare, but he left it in a lot worse condition than he found it outside of the pitching circle. Many of the recruits, and even some players, saw the writing on the wall before Myers “retired” and found new homes. Dean maintained as many of the commitments he could, but he mainly focused on building back Auburn’s reputation with parents and travel ball coaches to build his future program. He was able to get a number of top players to commit before the rule changes, and we are only starting to see the effects of those efforts because recruiting in softball was done in 6th - 8th grade. I saw definite growth at the plate this season vs. prior years. Yes, we relied on the long ball, but we scored a lot more runs and were able to be more competitive. We struggled in the field at times, but we improved down the stretch for the most part. I expected pitching to be our strength, but injuries to Lowe, Dismukes, and Yarbrough derailed those plans. If Dean cannot make it to supers or the WCWS next year or the year after, I do think we should look for a new coach when his contract is up. However, I expect this team to make a jump next year. We only graduate Godwin and Yarbrough. I can see a few players who don’t play as much trying their luck in the portal, and on the flip side, I am interested to see if we bring in any other players. We already bring in a four person class, and I expect at least two of them to make immediate impact. Similar to last year, a lot of the best teams will graduate a number of impact super seniors, especially in the SEC. I expect a top 6 finish with everyone we have returning. Here is how I see next year as of today: Pitching: I expect to see continued improvement from Penta, but a healthy Lowe and Dismukes will be very beneficial. Lowe had a sub 1.50 ERA last season… this past season would look a lot different if she alone was healthy. Rolfe will have a few chances early in the season and mid-week games, but I expect her to learn from the veterans. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a transfer into the program with how teams are hitting right now. Catching: Lisenby and Blaine will probably split time behind the plate with the other holding down the DP spot. Newcomer Elkins is a good defensive catcher, but I am not sure how she does in the box. Incoming freshman Roberts can also catch if needed. 1B: Ellis will start here. She’s going to be very good in her career at Auburn. 2B: Hopefully Bryant can return from her injury and slot right back in this spot. Our hitting wasn’t the same once she went down. SS: I don’t see Peralta losing her starting role due to her hitting capabilities. I fully expect her to dedicate time to cleaning up her defense in the off-season. 3B: I see a little competition here. Cox was fine defensively, but she struggled with the bat down the stretch. Incoming freshman Millie Roberts plays a lot of 3B, and she is a very strong power hitter. She will be one to keep an eye on. With the late success from Schmidt, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Garcia move back to 3rd if Roberts isn’t able to adjust to the college game. LF: I imagine McCondichie will slide back here when Bryant returns from injury. CF: Packer will start and Smith will likely be her back up. RF: I see Garcia or Schmidt in this role depending on the outcome of 3B. Schmidt made big strides toward the end of the season with her bat. DP: As stated above, I think Blaine or Lisenby will be the primary DPs with the other handling catching duties.

I hope I’m wrong but this game feels like one we won’t win.

Louisiana started Lamb in the circle, and she had a perfect game going into the 7th before UNCW bunted around the bases. Schorman pitched around 35 pitches, so I imagine we will see her in the next game. Phillip Marshall says Lowe will start in the circle. I’ll be interested to see how each team comes out in game 2.

Penta looks like she is pitching better than she was yesterday. I found it interesting both her and Dean said they were not throwing Louisiana a riseball yesterday, but we’ve seen it a few times already in the first three batters for Clemson.

Would have been nice to get that run.

Glasco tested positive for COVID and did not travel to Clemson with the team today. I am unsure how they handled practice this week or the timeline on the positive test. I assume if he gets a negative test in the next few days Louisiana will fly him up there.

Louisiana is coached by Gerry Glasco, Dean’s original choice for hitting coach at Auburn when he took over. They are a young team with pretty good pitching, lead by Kentucky transfer Megan Schorman, freshman Sam Landry, and Kendra Lamb. They have very solid hitting, which is expected with Glasco as hitting coach. In terms of their schedule, they beat the majority of teams they were supposed to beat, but they lost a few head scratchers mid season (Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and App State). Texas is their best win, but they lost two other games to them. They also lost two games to both LSU and Bama.

We have a tough regional with Clemson and Louisiana. However, I am glad we do not have to go to FSU because that regional is brutal. I do think we have a small chance to make it out of the regional, but we will have to come to play multiple days I. A row.