Tennessee Softball 2023

#14,476
#14,476
Rixxx said:
As always, and someone said this before, elite pitching beats elite hitting. Also, how did Canady at Stanford get so good?
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To an extent…pitching has to be on point for 21 outs….hitting just hast to be on once.
 
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#14,477
#14,477
lvocd said:
Do you know for sure that she hadn't? Do you know for sure she even wants it?

As important as that position is, I have to believe that if there's a healthy female Johnny Bench lurking on the roster she'd be catching. It's a difficult position. Lots of wear and tear on the body. The pain-in-the-butt of having to wear the hot protective gear. Pressure-filled. Relatively thankless for all they do.

I seem to be in the minority in thinking Giulia is doing a great job. Sure, she needs to work on framing and throwing, but she's new at the position so I think that'll come. And I'm hopeful her hitting, too, is likely to improve. What I love about Giulia is she is great at not letting too many wild pitches get past her, and her outstanding focus when receiving the ball to make tags at the plate. I did not see a catcher all week who was any better at making amazing defensive plays to keep opponents from scoring.
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I agree with you on G. For a 1st yr catcher at the top level of CSB she did very well. I admit to being a little concerned in the beginning she was a lefty but did not seem to effect the position. Now she will have to hit better to keep the job next season I think but can be a reliable catcher.
 
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#14,478
#14,478
turbovol said:
The championship series fell flat for me--and the Vols--when Weekly made her bizarrely dumb and absurd decision to start Pickens against Oklahoma. Sure, maybe we still lose the game if Rogers or Gottshall had started--but it was the biggest freakin' game of the year--and so you play your best against their best--and Weekly didn't do that. Everybody was looking forward to the matchup--and then Weekly blinked, big time, and iinstead started a pitcher who'd barely pitched in the post season. Crazy. It's easy to rationalize--as many have--and say, "Oh, well, OU was going to win it anyway"--but that doesn't obviate the fact that it was a ridiculous decision and ended any chance we had of winning the Big Taco. We can't look back at that game and say, "Well, credit to OU--they beat our best pitcher(s)." It didn't. I say this as someone who, like everyone, thinks that Pickens is going to be a great pitcher for us--but that was not the time or game to start her and then follow with two pitchers who barely pitched all year.
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It was a bizarre decision for sure (and a bad one), but I don’t think she blinked. I think she went with a hunch and it just didn’t work out well.

Pickens is our most talented pitcher, and I can see why coach thought that she might catch lightning in a bottle. Now the counter argument is that Pickens just wasn’t very good down the stretch and she pitched as was expected.

But, in any event, the team played to its rightful standing in OKC IMO.
 
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#14,479
#14,479
Lady Vols Fan said:
My big question is why hasn’t Rylie ever gotten a chance to win the catching job?
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She did, last season her and Puni were rotating in the fall and then Leach came and secured it. Which says she’s probably not strong behind the plate for this level, even some of her throws from the outfield (mechanically) doesn’t say strong arm.
 
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#14,481
#14,481
Majors said:
She did, last season her and Puni were rotating in the fall and then Leach came and secured it. Which says she’s probably not strong behind the plate for this level, even some of her throws from the outfield (mechanically) doesn’t say strong arm.
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Catcher is a physically and mentally draining position hard to find a good catcher
 
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#14,483
#14,483
I think shortstop will be different player next season. I don't know where Donihoo will play, but can't see it being shortstop. With highly touted number 5 recruit Faw and a healthy Pannell you have to think one of those two will win the job. Also a lot of options at second base. Then you have the Leach twins highly rated players who might take a position away from someone that started this season. The great thing is the return of Milloy, Puni, Gibson, and West all back for another season. I'm really thinking going to be a far better lineup than this season just from what I see returning and the potential for other players to get better. The loss of Rogers is the big blow for the team. I think we'll look in the portal for one pitcher, but I don't know if there will be anybody with the potential of Pickens in there. She will be the biggest factor determining our pitching success next year. If she can figure it out pitching will be fine. Just hard to understand what happened with her from the first part of the season to where she was the last part of it.
 
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#14,485
#14,485
Majors said:
She did, last season her and Puni were rotating in the fall and then Leach came and secured it. Which says she’s probably not strong behind the plate for this level, even some of her throws from the outfield (mechanically) doesn’t say strong arm.
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We haven't had a catcher with a really strong arm since Akamine.
 
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#14,489
#14,489
I don't want to knock Hoo or G they gave it their all. Both at the end of the year were not hitting a lick. Destiny who was hurt most of the year was hitting much better than either at the end. G does a lot good at catching but she has not yet master framing and if she can't hit it won't matter. Hoo for the most part catches the ball but really does not have much range or arm. Watching the Indiana games live their short would go into the hole and easily throw people out. As I said all year she was the best we had but not elite by any stretch. Both their effort and spirit were excellent as was their willingness to play where needed. But we cannot have two dead spots in the order when it matters.
 
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#14,490
#14,490
EZE said:
It was a bizarre decision for sure (and a bad one), but I don’t think she blinked. I think she went with a hunch and it just didn’t work out well.

Pickens is our most talented pitcher, and I can see why coach thought that she might catch lightning in a bottle. Now the counter argument is that Pickens just wasn’t very good down the stretch and she pitched as was expected.

But, in any event, the team played to its rightful standing in OKC IMO.
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I don't want to belabor this--but Ashley Rogers has been one of the best pitchers in the game for four years. To not pitch her against OU is indefensible. You don't go with a hunch in the biggest game of the year--you play your best. She blinked, in a big way. We can say that we played to our level--but in fact we don't know that because Rogers didn't pitch in the OU game. Stanford showed twice that a very good pitcher can hold down OU. Yea, they lost both games, but that's not the point. There are weak, bad decisions--and then there was that game. The coach just gave away the biggest game of the year.
 
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#14,491
#14,491
youcancallmeAl said:
Yes, that's the point. This team made the FINAL FOUR in its sport!! How many times has that happened in a major sport at Tennessee?? That is something to be very proud of.
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Add that to SEC Championship, SEC Tournament Championship, Region Champion, Super Regional Champion and that is a really great season. Oklahoma, Florida State, and UCLA were the top three super talented teams going into the season. I think we were picked in the first part of the SEC but think Bama was supposed to win the title. UCLA got upset didn't even make the World Series. Florida State and Oklahoma will play for the title and certainly you have to say they are two of the most talented teams in softball this season.
 
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#14,493
#14,493
As a sometimes watcher of softball, I was drawn in by the accomplishments and the spirit of this team. They aren't a dynasty, not in Oklahma's class, but they're damn good. They won both SEC championships and made the final four of their sport. That is REAL damn good. We should be celebrating them and their accomplishments today without any negativity.

CONGRATULATIONS LV's FOR A GREAT SEASON!!! IT WAS SO FUN TO BE A FAN! THANKS FOR MAKING US SO PROUD!!
 
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#14,498
#14,498
I don't agree with the folks who sound so sure they want Donihoo replaced at short. She's not perfect, but we'd be hard-pressed to find a player more competitive on the infield than she is. And, yeagh, she is a bit TOO competitive occasionally when she finds it too difficult to concede to the outfielder on a tweener. Yeah, that's an issue, especially if the outfielders are interpreting that as lack of trust in THEIR abilities. I don't know how they feel about it.

BUT, I think she can work on that. Hoo just wants to be sure we secure the out and she is confident in her abilities. I personally love that about her. And I love her focus when she lays out to stop balls from getting through the infield. I am hoping she gets some of that confidence at bat before next season.
 
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#14,499
#14,499
lvocd said:
I don't agree with the folks who sound so sure they want Donihoo replaced at short. She's not perfect, but we'd be hard-pressed to find a player more competitive on the infield than she is. And, yeagh, she is a bit TOO competitive occasionally when she finds it too difficult to concede to the outfielder on a tweener. Yeah, that's an issue, especially if the outfielders are interpreting that as lack of trust in THEIR abilities. I don't know how they feel about it.

BUT, I think she can work on that. Hoo just wants to be sure we secure the out and she is confident in her abilities. I personally love that about her. And I love her focus when she lays out to stop balls from getting through the infield. I am hoping she gets some of that confidence at bat before next season.
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She's a natural outfielder. That's where she would be best playing. If she can hit she should start in RF. We have an incoming shortstop and top ten recruit coming in next season, and Pannell can play shortstop as well. She was only playing SS this season out of necessity.
 
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#14,500
#14,500
lvocd said:
I don't agree with the folks who sound so sure they want Donihoo replaced at short. She's not perfect, but we'd be hard-pressed to find a player more competitive on the infield than she is. And, yeagh, she is a bit TOO competitive occasionally when she finds it too difficult to concede to the outfielder on a tweener. Yeah, that's an issue, especially if the outfielders are interpreting that as lack of trust in THEIR abilities. I don't know how they feel about it.

BUT, I think she can work on that. Hoo just wants to be sure we secure the out and she is confident in her abilities. I personally love that about her. And I love her focus when she lays out to stop balls from getting through the infield. I am hoping she gets some of that confidence at bat before next season.
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Let the best player win. Pannell would have probably been there but Hoo was the best we had in the end.
 
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