Softball is right around the corner!

Well with Christmas over my mind has totally shifted to softball season! As soon as Christmas break is over it will only be a couple of weeks before the spring season starts! I am excited! I think it’s going to be a great season! I thought I would give my opinions on some of the division 1 college teams! I hope to learn more about some of the division 2 and 3 teams this season but right now I don’t know much about them. So this will be exclusively division 1! I see an amazing amount talent in several teams and I can’t wait to see what this season will bring! I love seeing how much this sport is growing even if does seem kind of slow to those of us who love it so much! I think this is obvious by the new Reese Witherspoon movie “How Do You Know?”! Although it’s not about softball, softball does play a part in the movie as Reese Witherspoon’s character is a professional softball player who is cut from the 2011 National Team and some of the best known and favorite real softball players helped with this movie! I am so excited to see it but honestly don’t know when that will happen lol! As a poor college student movies don’t happen often! But I just wanted to remind you guys to go out and see it! I see this as another great opportunity to support this amazing sport! So back to college softball and my opinions!

1. University of Washington- As you all know I might be a little biased when it comes to this team! I think this is going to be a very difficult season for my Huskies though! I love these girls on this team so much and there is so much talent on this team but I’m smart enough to know the loss of their leader, ace pitcher, and number one hitter will be huge! I’m not saying they can’t do it because I fully believe they can! But it’s going to take a tremendous amount of work! I see them winning a lot of games, growing together as a team and deepening the bonds they’ve already formed! Honestly I see this team surprising a lot of people with how hard they work and how well they bounce back! I look for them to have a pretty good showing but more importantly I see them doing a lot of work towards building another team that will make a run at another National Championship! No sir this team, these girls, and their amazing coaching staff aren’t going anywhere!

2.         UCLA- This is another team that I am very fond of! They too are a team full of talent!  They too have lost a big part of their team in a leader and great pitcher with the graduation of Megan Langenfeld! But I see this team going far and making a good run at another National Championship!

          

     

3. University of Arizona- I think it looks to be another great season for this team! If you are a softball enthusiast like me you know Arizona has long been the dominate team in college softball, kind of like New England in football! I don’t think this year is going to be any different! They have a great pitcher in Kenzie Fowler! As long as she has indeed fixed the IP issues and can stay healthy she will dominate this year! They’ve also got from what I have a heard a pretty good freshman pitcher! I look for another dominating season for this team!

      4. OU- I love love love this team! They have an amazing coach in Patty Gasso! They have an amazing pitcher in Keilani Ricketts and just a whole bunch of talent! I can not wait to see what they do this year and fully expect them to easily make it OKC in June!

      5. University of Alabama- The Tide is another team that I adore! They have great coaching and one of my favorite pitchers Kelsi Dunne! I think this is going to be a huge year for them and Kelsi Dunne! This is her senior year and I see her going out on a huge note! This team is my bet for the first SEC national championship!

       6. University of Tennessee- This is another team I am expecting big things from this season! Ivy Renfroe blew me away last June in OKC and I expect her to do the same this season except now she has a year of experience and her little sister with her! Those two are going to be hard to beat!

       7. University of Georgia- I have a love hate relationship with this team! They have some great talent especially on the offensive side of the ball! They are scary good when they get rolling! But there are a lot of things about this team that I simply do not like or agree with. First off their pitching staff in my opinion is not as strong as most of the teams they will be facing. You can hit as many homeruns as you want but if the other team is matching you homerun for homerun it’s not going to really matter. Second I don’t like their coach and her methods. I don’t like the style they play with. If you’ve watched this team you know exactly what I am talking about. They call timeouts after every pitch when they are hitting and gather at the pitching circle after almost every pitch when on defense. Their games have no rhythm to them and last 3x longer than most other games. In my opinion it’s a legal way to play dirty. In some ways I enjoy watching this team and the great hitting they do but as long as they very little pitching and rhythm they’ll have a hard time winning a national championship. Their frequent stopping does what they hope and throws off teams but there are times it throws them off as well! I fully believe no other team or coach has really followed suit in using this method for a reason!

    8. University of Hawaii- This little known team came roaring into the picture after knocking off Alabama last year. They have a great and experienced pitcher in Stephanie Ricketts (older sister of Keilani Ricketts at OU) and some amazing bats of their own. This team set many records last year in homeruns! These girls are well coached and I believe they will be back in OKC in June!

 There are teams that I like and have opinions on but these are the main ones. I might tackle the others in another blog! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a wonderful Happy 2011! Get ready guys softball season is just around the corner! Let’s go Huskies! We believe!!! 1 month and 14 days!

P.S I think my next blog will be about individual players. I am going to decorate a bulletin board with autographed pictures and other softball related things. It looks pretty cool in my head LOL! Maybe I’ll include a picture of it in my next blog if it’s done! If you have anything you want me to write about let me know and I'll see what I can do!