Tennessee Softball 2023

[orange beard]

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.

I dont competely disagree but she is a great motivator . I really dont mine her taking anything she can get to since West is slow as she can be. I have said all year she plays a little deep for her weak arm. Again my feeling are if you cant hit you have to sit. Not only her but everyone. She is a senior so she should hit more than her weight. I love her and G but not sure G . goes to the plate to swing the bat. We have too many that watch strikes and swing at junk and that is something many teams of the Weakleys have done in the past regardless of who the hitting coach is.

 

[EZE]

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.

I’m not defending the decision at all. It was a very bad decision.

I missed the pregame and first pitches. And when I finally saw the TV and Pickens in the circle, I was floored.

I was just trying to offer a theory for the decision. And to rebut the statement that coach “blinked” or “threw in the towel.” I do not believe that for a second.

 

[lvocd]

Let the best player win. Pannell would have probably been there but Hoo was the best we had in the end.

I admit to knowing nothing about Pannell, and I respect your knowledge of player ability. Like you, I have a pretty reliable eye test, but I missed seeing Pannell before she was injured. Can't wait to see her next season!

P.S. I would give a LOT to be able to go back in time and become a coach. Not a head coach, but a hands-on teacher of mechanics. I come from a long line of rifle arms, and I regret not having a chance to pass that along. I'm too old to do anything myself now, but GAWD! Some days I want to jump onto the field and fix some things!

 

[Volfan2012]

Pannell will be back next season and elite freshman Faw coming in ranked fifth in the top 100 will be the competition for Donihoo to keep the job. If she can beat them out she deserves the position totally because they are both elite players both with the bat and glove.

 

[lvocd]

I dont competely disagree but she is a great motivator . I really dont mine her taking anything she can get to since West is slow as she can be. I have said all year she plays a little deep for her weak arm. Again my feeling are if you cant hit you have to sit. Not only her but everyone. She is a senior so she should hit more than her weight. I love her and G but not sure G . goes to the plate to swing the bat. We have too many that watch strikes and swing at junk and that is something many teams of the Weakleys have done in the past regardless of who the hitting coach is.

I agree about watching strikes. I'd rather a player swing and miss three times in a row than let one strike go by. ESPECIALLY with two strikes already. Yikes.

I disagree about "if you can't hit you have to sit," though. Even the major leagues has weak hitters in lineups who are there primarily for their glove and/or arms. I'd prefer we have only one, two at max, weak hitters, though.

 

[Volfan2012]

I’m not defending the decision at all. It was a very bad decision.

I missed the pregame and first pitches. And when I finally saw the TV and Pickens in the circle, I was floored.

I was just trying to offer a theory for the decision. And to rebut the statement that coach “blinked” or “threw in the towel.” I do not believe that for a second.

I don't think many of us think it wasn't a bad decision. I would be going with Rogers regardless of the next game as I want my best going against the best. My thought is that it worked out ok for us in the end cause we didn't score a run in that game and I am sure even with Rogers they would've scored at least a run.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Not if that one goes 220 feet

One did not do it last night…

 

[lvocd]

So, when is freaking Oklahoma crashing our SEC party again? Ugh.

 

[kregman]

It was a great and fun season in the stands and on TV. I will be pulling for FSU with everything I have but I suspect OU will run through them too. I would have loved to beat OU but I don't understand the magically thinking we were beating them Saturday especially with the way Payton and even Ashley pitched the later games. Ashley with the upmost respect had one bullet in the chamber. Maybe another if we could have given her an extra couple days. The worst look of the weekend was pulling Pickens and then putting Charli in (even though I love her). This team gave it all they had. I truly believe that. And Karen I believe tried to take us as far we can go.

 

[Majors]

One did not do it last night…

That’s correct….did we see “elite” pitching? By the time Sandercock got in the game was all but over.

 

[papatomany]

That was a joke right? Tennessee had the toughest schedule in 2022 and were #1 - #3 in the RPI throughout last year and this years non conference was laughable. In 2022 Ashley DID pitch against Oklahoma and took them to 9 innings and we had them beat twice in that game and had UCLA on the ropes in back to back games. FYI the lack of quality pitchers they didn’t see this year, their averages and runs scored should’ve been much higher. Just saying….
2022
K. Milloy,
L. Beautae,
Z. Puni
M. Gibson
A. Ayala
K. Leach
I. Davis
A. Morgan
R. West

2023
K. Milloy
Z. Puni
M. Gibson
R. West
M. Donihoo
J. Brockenbrough
L. Beautae
G. Koutsoyanopulos
K. Taylor

None of which has anything at all to do with what I was responding to. Your comment was: "Last year's team was WAY BETTER offensively..."
The actual numbers say otherwise.

 

[Volfan2012]

They need a rule to throw a player out of the game that commits more than two illegal pitches. They called four and she probably went for more than 10. She wasn't quite as bad as the Florida girl from a few years ago who was illegal all the time. I was surprised to see the Ump even call it see a lot of it these days from a lot of different pitchers.

 

[lvocd]

The worst look of the weekend was pulling Pickens and then putting Charli in (even though I love her).

This.

As I've said a few times, I was under no illusion we were going to beat OU, regardless of who was pitching. But that move made me, in hindsight, the most upset because it took us out of being at least competitive. I suspect confidence in hitting even dropped as a result of the team thinking they weren't really in it to win it.

That was my only problem. Maybe start Pickens, whom I think started out great, but maybe not throw in the towel by sending in Charli. If Ash couldn't go, Payton surely could have. That woman was rearin' to go.

 

[Memvol44]

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.

We scored 0 runs,doesn't matter who pitched

 

[Volfan2012]

It was a great and fun season in the stands and on TV. I will be pulling for FSU with everything I have but I suspect OU will run through them too. I would have loved to beat OU but I don't understand the magically thinking we were beating them Saturday especially with the way Payton and even Ashley pitched the later games. Ashley with the upmost respect had one bullet in the chamber. Maybe another if we could have given her an extra couple days. The worst look of the weekend was pulling Pickens and then putting Charli in (even though I love her). This team gave it all they had. I truly believe that. And Karen I believe tried to take us as far we can go.

Such an advantage for Oklahoma to get to play in front of a crowd that will be 80 percent or more pulling for them. It is no different than a home game, but I hope Florida State can find a way to win.

 

[anecwnrjcns12]

Such an advantage for Oklahoma to get to play in front of a crowd that will be 80 percent or more pulling for them. It is no different than a home game, but I hope Florida State can find a way to win.

Yes that is, but I believe there will be a time where OU won’t be this good and a time where people will face them in OKC and have a chance at winning

 

[TN_gal]

Update on Lady Vols return:

 

[lvocd]

One more thing. While it most certainly gives Oklahoma (and Oklahoma State, even) a huge fans-in-the-stands advantage to have the series played in Oklahoma every year, the players themselves would probably say there really is no better place to play it than there.

So, everyone might as well just get over it and hope their teams' coaches set about doing whatever it takes to overcome that annual advantage. The better team usually wins.

Besides, I have nothing against throwing Oklahomans that bone. Afterall, they have to live in flat-as-hell, hot-as-TWO-hells, OKLAHOMA. We who live in lush, gorgeous, temperate Tennessee can afford to show some grace here.

 

[Rixxx]

Catcher is a physically and mentally draining position hard to find a good catcher

Hansen, OU

 

[youcancallmeAl]

I agree about watching strikes. I'd rather a player swing and miss three times in a row than let one strike go by. ESPECIALLY with two strikes already. Yikes.

I disagree about "if you can't hit you have to sit," though. Even the major leagues has weak hitters in lineups who are there primarily for their glove and/or arms. I'd prefer we have only one, two at max, weak hitters, though.

I agree. Typically, catcher and SS are the positions teams will allow a weak bat IF their glove is a uber superior to the average player at those positions. CF also to a certain extent. In the case of Tennessee, Milloy at CF is like having Mickey Mantle, so you don't have to have a terrific hitter at every position, IF SS or catcher are terrific defensively. But that's a big IF. I notice we don't get much power production from RF, and to a lesser extent LF, which is unusual. Kiki can make up for some of that, but not the lack of offense by all of the positions that now don't contribute very much. It puts too much pressure on her.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

One more thing. While it most certainly gives Oklahoma (and Oklahoma State, even) a huge fans-in-the-stands advantage to have the series played in Oklahoma every year, the players themselves would probably say there really is no better place to play it than there.

So, everyone might as well just get over it and hope their teams' coaches set about doing whatever it takes to overcome that annual advantage. The better team usually wins.

Besides, I have nothing against throwing Oklahomans that bone. Afterall, they have to live in flat-as-hell, hot-as-TWO-hells, OKLAHOMA. We who live in lush, gorgeous, temperate Tennessee can afford to show some grace here.

I've always laughed at the old country song "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma." In that song, they mean it as a complement! Yes, toss Oklahoma a bone in this WCWS thing.

 

[volman128]

So, when is freaking Oklahoma crashing our SEC party again? Ugh.

Two seasons from now for spring sports

 

[Rixxx]

I don't understand why the players do not obviously adjust to the pitcher they are facing. For instance, Brock was getting a steady diet of drop balls throughout. Solution, move up in the box and hit it before the ball breaks severely. Or, against a rise ball pitcher, look for that pitch to be the strike out pitch. Again, move up in the box and hit it before it is up at your eyes. Also, swing at the first strike you see so you do not have to deal with the rise ball. I may be wrong, but by moving up in the box, these two pitches will look like fastballs. Conversely, a fast ball will look faster if you move up in the batter's box. I just don't like looking at strikes or hoping for a walk.

 

[SEC FAN 1111]

I don't think many of us think it wasn't a bad decision. I would be going with Rogers regardless of the next game as I want my best going against the best. My thought is that it worked out ok for us in the end cause we didn't score a run in that game and I am sure even with Rogers they would've scored at least a run.

My take is that if you pitched Rogers against Ou and lost we still would have beaten okie st. As they are offensively challenged.

 

[W.TN.Orange Blood]