Tennessee Softball 2023

#1,277
#1,277
No, Rothrock was a kid that peaked early and the top group has caught up to her. Still one of the top pitchers in her class but isn’t the dominant pitcher she was at the younger age. There was a reason why Florida picked up another elite pitcher late in the 2023 class because they saw the same thing everyone was seeing over the years. Without a doubt anyone in the country would’ve pick Rothrock over Pickens over the years. Travel ball teams in Tennessee were able to see both pitchers over the years because they both have pitched in Scenic City tournament every year. But to see what Pickens has done at the college level vs the club level there no way Florida will beat Tennessee with Rothrock on the mound. Pickens is doing things no one saw coming and Rothrocks doesn’t have that type of potential anymore. There’s a big difference in dominating high school ball verse travel ball and Rothrock isn’t dominating travel ball anymore more. Plus in her Gatorade article Rothrock was asked who is the one hitter you don’t want to face with the game on the line. Her response was “Taylor Pannell, we have played together for years and I can’t find a way to get her out” good news is we have Pannell for another 4 years and Pickens for 3 years so Florida won’t be a problem moving forward. Go Lady Vols beat Florida
 
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#1,278
#1,278
Lady Vols Fan said:
No, Rothrock was a kid that peaked early and the top group has caught up to her. Still one of the top pitchers in her class but isn’t the dominant pitcher she was at the younger age. There was a reason why Florida picked up another elite pitcher late in the 2023 class because they saw the same thing everyone was seeing over the years. Without a doubt anyone in the country would’ve pick Rothrock over Pickens over the years. Travel ball teams in Tennessee were able to see both pitchers over the years because they both have pitched in Scenic City tournament every year. But to see what Pickens has done at the college level vs the club level there no way Florida will beat Tennessee with Rothrock on the mound. Pickens is doing things no one saw coming and Rothrocks doesn’t have that type of potential anymore. There’s a big difference in dominating high school ball verse travel ball and Rothrock isn’t dominating travel ball anymore more. Plus in her Gatorade article Rothrock was asked who is the one hitter you don’t want to face with the game on the line. Her response was “Taylor Pannell, we have played together for years and I can’t find a way to get her out” good news is we have Pannell for another 4 years and Pickens for 3 years so Florida won’t be a problem moving forward. Go Lady Vols beat Florida
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We can revisit this in a year once she arrives on campus and gets a few games under her belt. A few things in how you phrased that, Rothrock has dominated in both phases of high school and travel with one more year. Pickens as great as she is, her best moment in high school was state runner up and Top 10 finish at PGF. She has all the potential in the world to get Tennessee to WCWS down the road, no doubt about that. It shows a sign of respect to Taylor Pannell, which is great news for us. Nobody doubts Taylor’s ability to swing the bat, it was said here for a long time she’ll be a day 1 player for us. To say she peaked early is a stretch as well, she was the potentially the best pitcher in 18U last year as a second year 16U player helped leading the Lady Dukes to a Top 5. She was judged on the Top Tier kids, Pickens, Berzon, Deal etc who were 2022 kids.

And no doubt Ava Brown can be instant impact in the circle as well. Oklahoma in the 2022 class singed maybe the two best LHP in the class to go with Bahl.
 
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#1,279
#1,279
Lady Vols Fan said:
No, Rothrock was a kid that peaked early and the top group has caught up to her. Still one of the top pitchers in her class but isn’t the dominant pitcher she was at the younger age. There was a reason why Florida picked up another elite pitcher late in the 2023 class because they saw the same thing everyone was seeing over the years. Without a doubt anyone in the country would’ve pick Rothrock over Pickens over the years. Travel ball teams in Tennessee were able to see both pitchers over the years because they both have pitched in Scenic City tournament every year. But to see what Pickens has done at the college level vs the club level there no way Florida will beat Tennessee with Rothrock on the mound. Pickens is doing things no one saw coming and Rothrocks doesn’t have that type of potential anymore. There’s a big difference in dominating high school ball verse travel ball and Rothrock isn’t dominating travel ball anymore more. Plus in her Gatorade article Rothrock was asked who is the one hitter you don’t want to face with the game on the line. Her response was “Taylor Pannell, we have played together for years and I can’t find a way to get her out” good news is we have Pannell for another 4 years and Pickens for 3 years so Florida won’t be a problem moving forward. Go Lady Vols beat Florida
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Couple of things here. As much as I hate Florida I’ll have to see if we can beat them when it counts (supers) we usually don’t. sounds like you’re pretty pumped up about what your daughter is doing this year. I’ll wait until we get into SEC play. We only have 1 really good win (clemson) so far. Northwestern has taken a nose dive as of late. We should be able to sweep Ole Miss this weekend though.
 
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#1,280
#1,280
Majors said:
We can revisit this in a year once she arrives on campus and gets a few games under her belt. A few things in how you phrased that, Rothrock has dominated in both phases of high school and travel with one more year. Pickens as great as she is, her best moment in high school was state runner up and Top 10 finish at PGF. She has all the potential in the world to get Tennessee to WCWS down the road, no doubt about that. It shows a sign of respect to Taylor Pannell, which is great news for us. Nobody doubts Taylor’s ability to swing the bat, it was said here for a long time she’ll be a day 1 player for us. To say she peaked early is a stretch as well, she was the potentially the best pitcher in 18U last year as a second year 16U player helped leading the Lady Dukes to a Top 5. She was judged on the Top Tier kids, Pickens, Berzon, Deal etc who were 2022 kids.

And no doubt Ava Brown can be instant impact in the circle as well. Oklahoma in the 2022 class singed maybe the two best LHP in the class to go with Bahl.
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Sounds like you are very seasoned with travel ball pitchers but to under sell Pickens because of the travel ball team she played for is double sided. Keep in mind she played for her local team. How would she done and finished if she played for a top level team. So in many eyes to take that team to the national level could be a great accomplishment. If Rothrock and Pickens traded travel teams I think this could’ve been a different conversation. But it will be tough to top the way Pickens have started her college career. No one seen that coming but it shows what a pitcher can do when you have players around them.
 
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#1,281
#1,281
Lady Vols Fan said:
Sounds like you are very seasoned with travel ball pitchers but to under sell Pickens because of the travel ball team she played for is double sided. Keep in mind she played for her local team. How would she done and finished if she played for a top level team. So in many eyes to take that team to the national level could be a great accomplishment. If Rothrock and Pickens traded travel teams I think this could’ve been a different conversation. But it will be tough to top the way Pickens have started her college career. No one seen that coming but it shows what a pitcher can do when you have players around them.
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I’m a big fan of Pickens and no doubt she elevated SC-Elite. Pretty strong team as we have 4 off the squad. She also had some time with Fisher. I’m just putting both players who are dynamic out there. It’ll be a good battle for years to come between two kids coming in with high praise. Can’t discount what Rothrock has accomplished and isn’t done. Can’t discount what Pickens has done so far, she’s looking more and more confident. Need more Clemson as she looks day and night from PGF AS Game.
 
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#1,282
#1,282
Majors said:
Played out of a Chattanooga (travel ball) in middle school-high school. Moved to Baylor for HS, did not play her SR year. Family is from NY and from what I understand had no interest in TN and it came down to LSU and Florida. Same pitching coach as Ashley Rogers as well a Shelby Walters (Duke/UGA) and Pickens started working with him last year.
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Best pitching coach around.
 
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#1,283
#1,283
jp1 said:
Best pitching coach around.
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Has a strong resume for sure. Teams all over the East Coast at all levels have him in their contacts as a resource. Surprised he hasn’t made the jump to coach bigger but something to be said for coaching JUCO (brutal lifestyle) and doing lessons.
 
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