LV softball recruiting...wow!

#51
#51
larjoranj said:
I completely understand that. Elite travel ball is much more competitive than high school ball. It's more competitive than some levels of college ball. You often see mind boggling high school stats that don't translate to college at all.So being dominant in high school does not mean you will be great (or even good enough to play) in college.

On the other hand, you WOULD expect a player to be dominant against high school players if they are going to be elite college players.

Would you agree it's fair to say if you don't dominate high school players you aren't likely to dominate college players?
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Yes and no. There are a lot of variables when you put elite players in a high school setting. As you probably know from your experience, elite players are working on Softball five or six days a week during their competitive season. A high school player will likely only practice or play three or four times a week.

There are also The variables of how good the high school team is around them, what the officiating is like, what a high school coaches philosophy is, how competent a high school coach is in identifying and correcting minor issues with pitching motion or hitter stance, things like that.

You would expect that a player that will be great in college would be dominant in high school. But I have seen the opposite happen, and there's not a great explanation for it. A pitcher that went to play for a good friend of mine at another D1 school had an ERA of over 5 in her high school season, then it was under 2 beginning a month later in travel ball season.
In her case, her high school coach, those successful overall, did not know how to evaluate her motion and correct her on the fly. Working with her travel ball coach for two weeks straightened out a hitch in her motion that fixed her problems right away.
 
#52
#52
DeerPark12 said:
Yes and no. There are a lot of variables when you put elite players in a high school setting. As you probably know from your experience, elite players are working on Softball five or six days a week during their competitive season. A high school player will likely only practice or play three or four times a week.

There are also The variables of how good the high school team is around them, what the officiating is like, what a high school coaches philosophy is, how competent a high school coach is in identifying and correcting minor issues with pitching motion or hitter stance, things like that.

You would expect that a player that will be great in college would be dominant in high school. But I have seen the opposite happen, and there's not a great explanation for it. A pitcher that went to play for a good friend of mine at another D1 school had an ERA of over 5 in her high school season, then it was under 2 beginning a month later in travel ball season.
In her case, her high school coach, those successful overall, did not know how to evaluate her motion and correct her on the fly. Working with her travel ball coach for two weeks straightened out a hitch in her motion that fixed her problems right away.
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I would agree the vast majority of high school softball coaches don't have a clue about the finer points of pitching mechanics and will admit it, even the ultra successful ones. But in my limited experience most of the pitchers with aspirations to play college ball worked with paid pitching coaches, even during the high school season. I know a lot of the pitchers around here at that time either worked with Sherri Kempf at Club K or with Jill Booth, who pitched at Ezell Harding and then MTSU or Gary Martino, who was a men's fastpitch legend around Nashville. But I see your point. A pitcher without easy access to a good pitching coach to give them a tune up during the season could suffer.
 
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#54
#54
I think Sprang and Caymol both pitch for Georgia Impact, don't they? Not sure if they are on the same team, but assume they'll be playing this summer. If so, they'll be playing good competition and seen by a lot of people who can assess their collegiate potential.
 
#56
#56
armchair said:
I think Sprang and Caymol both pitch for Georgia Impact, don't they? Not sure if they are on the same team, but assume they'll be playing this summer. If so, they'll be playing good competition and seen by a lot of people who can assess their collegiate potential.
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I've been to their website trying to get info. A lot of their team pages are incomplete and it's hard to tell who plays for which Impact team. They have some huge tournaments down there this year. I think one has 320 teams. But with different age groups and dozens of different sites it's impossible to tell who's playing where. If anybody ever hears who Sprang or Caymol is playing for and when they might be playing close please pass it on. An overnite trip to Atlanta for some good elite fastpitch would make for a fun mini vacation.:)
 
#57
#57
vol-un-tear said:
One catcher can't throw the other can't hit. Which mechanic is easier to fix?
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During my HS coaching days of softball and baseball I really think the hitting mechanic is easier to correct. I guarantee Weimer has thrown the ball that way since the first rattler sailed through the air. At this time in her life I do not see it changing. Now for the Lockman dynamics a good hitting instructor and I am sure we have them on staff, should help her at least to hit .290 or so. I just don't know if it is all mechanics with her. Sometimes she does not even watch the ball as it is coming in. She looks pretty good at the plate but just haphazardly swings at any pitch then goes in a trance and watches striks go by. A catcher who has to watch the ball to the mitt would do that. It may be something of the nature she is a big strong girl and has been told to swing hard everytime because you may hit it. Really much the same can be said of Rowland and Bearden before the last several games. JMHO as always:thud:
 
#58
#58
It's been said (by me and others): you can't be a good hitter if you try to pull everything. Every team in the conference has a pitching book on all opposing players. If you can't handle pitches on the outside corner, if you are beating them into the ground as Geer did because you are trying to pull everything, you will get a lot of outside pitches. You have to take outside pitches the opposite way. Our good hitters--top of the lineup--do it; our weak hitters do not. Coincidence? I think not. The coaches need to make this a point of emphasis. Hit the ball where it is pitched.
 
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#59
#59
larjoranj said:
I've been to their website trying to get info. A lot of their team pages are incomplete and it's hard to tell who plays for which Impact team. They have some huge tournaments down there this year. I think one has 320 teams. But with different age groups and dozens of different sites it's impossible to tell who's playing where. If anybody ever hears who Sprang or Caymol is playing for and when they might be playing close please pass it on. An overnite trip to Atlanta for some good elite fastpitch would make for a fun mini vacation.:)
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I plan on going to a few softball tourneys...if I see them play I'll pass it along...i think caymol is on the team below sprang and Morgan though
 
#60
#60
I was just looking through the list of commitments on the Georgia Impact website. They list Sprang and Ashley Morgan for the class of 2017. Nobody from the class of 2018 to UT and Callie Turner from the class of 2019. Caymol is not listed so perhaps she isn't playing for the Impact. I see both Bria Bush and Savannah Huffstetler listed as having played for the Impact.
 
#61
#61
This is a from a December 2015 article about Caymol:

"Logan plays for the East Cobb -- Biele club 16U team which she moved to in the fall after leading the Georgia Impact -- Lewis squad to a runner-up finish at the PGF 14U Nationals."

So maybe she is not playing for Impact. I had seen something online saying that she was but perhaps it was old.
 
#62
#62
Vols4life said:
I've met Ralph and Karen at the WCWS talked softball with them they're tremendous people
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I coached girls softball for 16 years and I think the Weeklys are awesome together. You don't see too many husband/wife co-coaches, however, they appear to be on the same page. They did an awesome, except for a couple of hiccups, job with a young team.

Go Lady Vols SB, the future looks very bright.
 
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#63
#63
teacherdean said:
I coached girls softball for 16 years and I think the Weeklys are awesome together. You don't see too many husband/wife co-coaches, however, they appear to be on the same page. They did an awesome, except for a couple of hiccups, job with a young team.

Go Lady Vols SB, the future looks very bright.
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I agree both are model coaches and model people who represent the LVs softball and university with the utmost class. I like many others are sometime critical of some of the hiccups along the way but never would want them to go anywhere else. There are several coaches around and some in the SEC I would never allow my child to play for. They will get the big prize one day I truly believe!!
:):)
 
#64
#64
A question for coaches: How much of a pitcher's potential can be attributed to size and build? If you have equal mechanics, can a smaller pitcher compete with a taller one? It seems that taller = more leverage (at least having longer arms) and thus faster pitches but I have no real basis for this thought. Just curious.
 
#65
#65
sona said:
A question for coaches: How much of a pitcher's potential can be attributed to size and build? If you have equal mechanics, can a smaller pitcher compete with a taller one? It seems that taller = more leverage (at least having longer arms) and thus faster pitches but I have no real basis for this thought. Just curious.
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I guess smaller is relative. 5'11" is smaller than 6'3". You may mean smaller than the average woman. I just looked it up since you asked this question-the average height of a woman in the US is 5'4".

I'm not a pitching coach but I would guess taller and stronger built generally help with sheer speed. It would probably be tough to come up with many pitchers who were smaller than the average woman who were dominant pitchers.

The hardest thrower ever is 6'3", Monica Abbott. I read recently where she was clocked at 77 in the pro leagues to set the record for fastest pitch by a woman. Back in the day you would hear the hardest thrower ever was Debbie Doom of UCLA in the early 1980's. She was taller than Abbott, about 6'5". People claimed she could throw 75. But you don't have to be an Amazon to throw hard. Lisa Fernandez wasn't very tall - maybe 5'6"? She is the best I've ever seen. She could throw 70+ and could make the ball dance like a puppet. When the US National team was having trouble beating Japan for awhile their pitcher named Ueno was a beast of a flame thrower. She could throw 72+. I don't think she was close to 6' - maybe 5'8"? with an average build.

When you say can a smaller pitcher "compete" with a taller pitcher, absolutely. The first unfortunate example that comes to mind is Taryn Mowatt. How tall was she Volnation? 5'5"? I don't think she ever topped 63 on the gun in the World Series, and the pitch that killed us was the one coming in at about 50. Abbott was hitting 69,70 and 71 a lot. All that matters is - can you get people out. And she shut us out the last 17 innings.

And before you guys get on me - I'm not blaming Abbott. She shut them out for 9 innings in game 2. Our offense stunk up the joint.
 
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#66
#66
Son, why did you bring up that bad memory about that Mowatt girl for us to relive...LOL
I can still see Ralph with his eyes closed afraid to watch the game...LOL

You are so right though...Monica was throwing smoke for us, and our offense was missing everything they swung at....

Looking so forward for some left handed pitching for us to hit the outside corners on the opponent's left handed batters....

Dominant pitching and timely hitting will win most times.....Seems so simple....LOL
 
#67
#67
armchair said:
Haskins, Alexys 2B/OF 2018 Tennessee Birmingham Thunderbolts
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De-committed from Tennessee and committed to Kennesaw St.

She is a nice player, Hit back2back2back HR's in a HS game this past March. Would have been a role player at UT, but could start at Kennesaw.
 
#69
#69
MadWorld said:
De-committed from Tennessee and committed to Kennesaw St.

She is a nice player, Hit back2back2back HR's in a HS game this past March. Would have been a role player at UT, but could start at Kennesaw.
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Former UT LV Cat Hosfield used to be an assistant at Kennesaw St a while back. May or may not have had any impact on her status.:)
 
#70
#70
MadWorld said:
De-committed from Tennessee and committed to Kennesaw St.

She is a nice player, Hit back2back2back HR's in a HS game this past March. Would have been a role player at UT, but could start at Kennesaw.
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I assume the coaches told her that she wasn't likely to play a lot if she came to UT? What other explanation could there be--unless she wasn't offered much in the way of scholarship money and is getting more from Kennesaw St. I know nothing about Kennesaw St. but that seems a major drop-off in program quality. I can see the coaches at a program like ours telling a player that she might not play much because of the quality of other recruits, and I can see the player opting to go elsewhere, but why go from Tennessee to Kennesaw State? Why not, say, an ACC school? If she had a scholarship offer from the Weeklys, she's got to be a pretty good player. I have to believe that this is in part due to our getting commitments from the shortstops who are playing for the CIT championship in California--Norco vs. Los Alamitos, I believe. Two good players, though one will have to switch positions. Just speculation, but they were both /somewhat/ late commits--by today's standards, anyway.
 
#71
#71
I noticed today on the softball stats page that Huffstetler and Poindexter don't have clickable links to their bios. They are the only 2 like that except for Brake who left months ago. Wonder if that means anything or just an oversight?

They are still listed on the roster page
 
#72
#72
Hey guys, would someone list the names of the players we have coming next season in softball....I'll look up the data on them...

I'm aware of Gabby Sprang and looking so forward to a left handed arm in the circle....

This site has some really great fans on it....I really like being a part of you guys.
 
#73
#73
larjoranj said:
I noticed today on the softball stats page that Huffstetler and Poindexter don't have clickable links to their bios. They are the only 2 like that except for Brake who left months ago. Wonder if that means anything or just an oversight?

They are still listed on the roster page
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No idea why!! Both are still on the roster however.

I looked back at Huffstetler for 2016 and it is not clickable either.
Strange! Maybe DeerPark can shed some light on it.:thud:
 
#74
#74
GameTime said:
Hey guys, would someone list the names of the players we have coming next season in softball....I'll look up the data on them...

I'm aware of Gabby Sprang and looking so forward to a left handed arm in the circle....

This site has some really great fans on it....I really like being a part of you guys.
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Add me to the list of liking this site and being a small part of it. I do not always agree with everyone but I respect your opinion!:loco:
 
#75
#75
GameTime said:
Hey guys, would someone list the names of the players we have coming next season in softball....I'll look up the data on them...

I'm aware of Gabby Sprang and looking so forward to a left handed arm in the circle....

This site has some really great fans on it....I really like being a part of you guys.
Click to expand...

Hoboken, N.J.
DePaul Catholic HS | Outfield

Amanda Ayala
Ayala committed to Tennessee as a sophomore at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J. The speedy outfielder was a second-team All-North Jersey selection as a sophomore in 2015 after batting .625. She had a phenomenal freshman season as well, which saw her hit .583 with 31 runs, 14 stolen bases and 14 RBIs. Ayala was named first team all-county during her freshman and sophomore seasons at DePaul Catholic and is ranked No. 37 in FloSoftball's 2017 Hot 100 Rankings. She is primed for a big senior season after having to sit out her junior year with an injury. Ayala has helped lead DePaul Catholic to three straight Passaic County Championships and was also a second team all-county basketball player for the Spartans. She plays her club ball for the New Jersey Intensity and chose Tennessee over offers from Georgia and South Alabama.


Douglasville, Ga.
Chapel Hill HS | Pitcher/Utility

Ashley Morgan
Morgan will join the Volunteers after completing a standout prep career at Georgia powerhouse Chapel Hill High School. Morgan is No. 70 in FloSoftball's 2017 Hot 100 Rankings and has been dominate both in the circle and at the plate at Chapel Hill. Last season as a junior, she became the first player from Chapel Hill to be named Georgia's Gatorade State Player of the Year after going 12-1 in the circle with a 0.81 ERA while also batting .505 with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs. That followed a sensational sophomore season which saw Morgan hit .595 with seven homers and 62 RBIs to go along with a 13-2 record and 133 strikeouts in the circle. Morgan helped lead the Panthers to a 32-3 record and a Class 5A state title in 2016 and was named the Georgia Class 5A State Player of the Year for her efforts. She was named to FloSoftball's All-America team as a junior and is a two-time first team GHSA Class 5A All-State selection and a three-time Douglas County Player of the Year. Morgan was also named the GHSA Dugout Club State Player of the Year as a junior. She plays her club ball for the Georgia Impact and chose Tennessee over fellow SEC powerhouses LSU, Auburn and South Carolina.


Sunrise, Fla.
American Heritage HS | Infield

Brooke Langston
Langston hails from Sunrise, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale and comes in at No. 91 on FloSoftball's Hot 100 Rankings. She has earned FloSoftball All-America recognition during the past two seasons and has helped lead American Heritage High School to a pair of state titles (2014 & 2016) during her three years with the program. Langston has received Miracle Sports Florida All-State first-team recognition for three consecutive years as well as first team All-Broward County honors. The Florida native is a speedster with a home to first base time of 2.6 seconds. She has batted .465 or higher in each of her three seasons at American Heritage with 71 stolen bases. Langston plays club ball for the New Jersey Intensity and chose Tennessee over Oregon, Alabama and Florida State.


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