OT: Softball

[WT_TKW]

WT defeated OPSU in a double header to become 10-0. Tomorrow they take on their first real competition, UCO, which is also undefeated, in Canyon. Former WT freshman slugger Mel Huggins will be on the field for UCO.

After that the schedule looks really scary. The LSC really has some amazing teams. I think we have the right coach to do very well, but maybe not the pitching yet. It will be interesting.

Coach Mook's recent interview:

https://gobuffsgo.com/news/2021/2/27...eNPJAHX7-w6ZzM

[WT_TKW]

WT took 2 from OCU this afternoon. The first one took 8 innings because our catcher dropped an excellent throw, which allowed the tying run to score. However, she won the game with a clutch hit to left field. WT lead in the second game 7-0 before brining in a freshman pitcher for the final inning. UCO raked her over the coals for 3 runs, but WT held on to win 7-3. Coach Mook kept her in, which was risky, but evidently he sees something in her. He is different from our previous coaches, as he lets pretty much everyone on the team play. So far that's working out. We have some quality players on the bench now, something we haven't had in a few years. Some are last year's starters, and some may be starting soon.

WT is now 12-0 but is entering a very tough part of their schedule. Next up: #4 UT Tyler, #7 Commerce, #24 LCU, and #19 Angelo State (all rankings from the WT website). I will be thrilled if we win half of these games!

[BuffaloChip]

I was pretty impressed with the two games today against Central Oklahoma. UCO came into the series with a 7-2 record. WT has a good balance of speed and power at the plate. Our CF, Ruby Salzman, is definitely a candidate for 1st team AA accolades. She hit her 7th HR of the season today into a 21 mph breeze in her face. It was a line drive shot that was stopped by the upper portion of the scoreboard past the 220 ft mark.

Our fielding is improved this year. We steal bases. We're hitting .411 after 12 games and with 22 HRs. Our pitching has been good not great. As mentioned by WT_TKW, the next couple weeks will give us an idea about how good this team is.

I'm hearing that the two high school pitchers signed for next year may hold a "real deal" stopper between them. The Parrish girl from Illinois has videos online that show her consistently throwing at the 62-63 mph level. The Vorntherms girl recently had a game against the 5th ranked SD team where she won in a shutout striking out 12 in a 6 inning game. She's a spinner of the ball.

I like what I see so far.

[JakeTAMUC]

Somehow Commerce jumped up 2 spots to #5 in the coaches poll despite losing 3 of 4 games last weekend and having an overall 4-4 record - though 1 of the wins was against #3 Augustana. They are starting to show signs of putting it together, after winning 2 from #16 Rogers state yesterday. Looking forward to the games this weekend against ENMU and WT.

[WT_TKW]

Somehow Commerce jumped up 2 spots to #5 in the coaches poll despite losing 3 of 4 games last weekend and having an overall 4-4 record - though 1 of the wins was against #3 Augustana. They are starting to show signs of putting it together, after winning 2 from #16 Rogers state yesterday. Looking forward to the games this weekend against ENMU and WT.

We are now at 17.

https://gobuffsgo.com/news/2021/3/3/...oRIo4jTEFsORJE

[WT_TKW]

If you plan to purchase the video for the Commerce game today, be sure and do it from the Commerce website. The WT site has a bad link that actually points to a UT Tyler baseball game!

The quality of the broadcast is first rate, with 2 cameras. It's so much better than WT's single camera.

[WT_TKW]

I was pretty impressed with the two games today against Central Oklahoma. UCO came into the series with a 7-2 record. WT has a good balance of speed and power at the plate. Our CF, Ruby Salzman, is definitely a candidate for 1st team AA accolades. She hit her 7th HR of the season today into a 21 mph breeze in her face. It was a line drive shot that was stopped by the upper portion of the scoreboard past the 220 ft mark.

Our fielding is improved this year. We steal bases. We're hitting .411 after 12 games and with 22 HRs. Our pitching has been good not great. As mentioned by WT_TKW, the next couple weeks will give us an idea about how good this team is.

I'm hearing that the two high school pitchers signed for next year may hold a "real deal" stopper between them. The Parrish girl from Illinois has videos online that show her consistently throwing at the 62-63 mph level. The Vorntherms girl recently had a game against the 5th ranked SD team where she won in a shutout striking out 12 in a 6 inning game. She's a spinner of the ball.

I like what I see so far.

Do these girls have first names?

[WT&TTECHfan]

If you plan to purchase the video for the Commerce game today, be sure and do it from the Commerce website. The WT site has a bad link that actually points to a UT Tyler baseball game!

The quality of the broadcast is first rate, with 2 cameras. It's so much better than WT's single camera.

Yeah that single camera gets old...

[JakeTAMUC]

If you plan to purchase the video for the Commerce game today, be sure and do it from the Commerce website. The WT site has a bad link that actually points to a UT Tyler baseball game!

The quality of the broadcast is first rate, with 2 cameras. It's so much better than WT's single camera.

[WT_TKW]

Yeah that single camera gets old...

Especially since you can't see the foul lines in the outfield.

[WT_TKW]

WT was blown out in both games against UT Tyler on Friday. The scores are too embarrassing to post.

WT played much better against Commerce, but lost both games by a total of 3 runs. Commerce has a much better defense than the Lady Buffs. Our infield, other than the pitchers and short stop, played poorly today. I thought both of out pitchers performed very well against excellent hitters. Our left fielder is a pretty good hitter but is under 5' tall, which results in some balls getting by her. Our attempts to score today were poorly thought out and were basically acts of desperation. Commerce scored their lone run in the second game on a squeeze bunt, which was mishandled by our catcher. We are also playing a couple of players who are very poor hitters against good pitching. Still, it wasn't all bad to play a great team like Commerce as closely as we did. WT's team is very young, so I am hoping they will improve with experience.

[BuffaloChip]

Do these girls have first names?

Emma Parrish and Heidi V. Go to the softball tab on gobuffsgo and check out the news archives for their story last fall.

[BuffaloChip]

WT was blown out in both games against UT Tyler on Friday. The scores are too embarrassing to post.

WT played much better against Commerce, but lost both games by a total of 3 runs. Commerce has a much better defense than the Lady Buffs. Our infield, other than the pitchers and short stop, played poorly today. I thought both of out pitchers performed very well against excellent hitters. Our left fielder is a pretty good hitter but is under 5' tall, which results in some balls getting by her. Our attempts to score today were poorly thought out and were basically acts of desperation. Commerce scored their lone run in the second game on a squeeze bunt, which was mishandled by our catcher. We are also playing a couple of players who are very poor hitters against good pitching. Still, it wasn't all bad to play a great team like Commerce as closely as we did. WT's team is very young, so I am hoping they will improve with experience.

I watched today's games. Not a very good TAMC production with the 1 cam.

I'd agree with all you say. I'd put an emphasis on "young" for the Lady Buffs. Still, young's not an excuse for the disappointing road trip.

Mook's on a better track. Is it a regional finalist track? Not yet. Far from it. He's got to step up his recruiting. Especially in Texas. Three or four bigger, stronger All-American types like Blaskowski routinely recruited wouldn't hurt. Like a Rita or Renee. Ha!

We're better than Blas's last year and both of Adam's years. At least the girls look like they're having some fun. And that's been missing for quite some time.

[WT_TKW]

I watched today's games. Not a very good TAMC production with the 1 cam.

I'd agree with all you say. I'd put an emphasis on "young" for the Lady Buffs. Still, young's not an excuse for the disappointing road trip.

Mook's on a better track. Is it a regional finalist track? Not yet. Far from it. He's got to step up his recruiting. Especially in Texas. Three or four bigger, stronger All-American types like Blaskowski routinely recruited wouldn't hurt. Like a Rita or Renee. Ha!

We're better than Blas's last year and both of Adam's years. At least the girls look like they're having some fun. And that's been missing for quite some time.

They were using 2 cams earlier, but later often just one. I prefer the shots from the outfield, I can see the ball and the catcher very well. When the camera is behind the umpire and the catcher, which is all WT does with a cheap webcam, you lose sight of the ball early on. You also cannot see the outfield lines on WT's production. For $10 per double header I expect more.

I'm a big fan of Mook, but he does have a long way to go, in some cases still using players he recruited to his NAIA school that followed him to WT. B credited assistant coach Christina May with a good job recruiting. She was an indirect loss of the Carthel firing, as she married former WT assistant coach Jared May. She followed him to Commerce where she helped the softball team improve quickly as Associate Head Coach. Jared May is on the SFA staff now and Christina is a head softball coach for Garrison ISD.

Yes, the players are having fun, but I wonder if there is too much of that. They seemed overly relaxed for the games yesterday. It's hard to walk the coaching line between the screaming maniac and the nice guy, but it can be done.

Thanks for the recruits' names, I will check them out.

[BuffaloChip]

They were using 2 cams earlier, but later often just one. I prefer the shots from the outfield, I can see the ball and the catcher very well. When the camera is behind the umpire and the catcher, which is all WT does with a cheap webcam, you lose sight of the ball early on. You also cannot see the outfield lines on WT's production. For $10 per double header I expect more.

I'm a big fan of Mook, but he does have a long way to go, in some cases still using players he recruited to his NAIA school that followed him to WT. B credited assistant coach Christina May with a good job recruiting. She was an indirect loss of the Carthel firing, as she married former WT assistant coach Jared May. She followed him to Commerce where she helped the softball team improve quickly as Associate Head Coach. Jared May is on the SFA staff now and Christina is a head softball coach for Garrison ISD.

Yes, the players are having fun, but I wonder if there is too much of that. They seemed overly relaxed for the games yesterday. It's hard to walk the coaching line between the screaming maniac and the nice guy, but it can be done.

Thanks for the recruits' names, I will check them out.

What did you think of the Parrish girl?