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2023 Texas Softball - Back to WCWS

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Js1

Js1 85,310

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Texas opens the season ranked #14 in D1 Softball's Preseason Top 25, chasing #1 OU (as always) 

2023 D1Softball Preseason Top 25: Everyone Chasing No. 1 Oklahoma Again • D1Softball

Season opens February 10 in Clearwater, FL (again, gulp)

Ranked teams on our schedule:

  • #1 OU
  • #3 Ok State
  • #6 Alabama
  • #7 Northwestern
  • #12 Tennessee
  • #13 Virginia Tech
  • #16 Kentucky
  • #20 Louisiana
  • #24 UNT

Texas is returning some key players from last year, including: OF Bella Dayton, 3B Mia Scott, SS Alyssa Washington, DP Courtney Day, LHP Estelle Czech, C Katie Cimusz and RHP Sophia Simpson, DP Jordyn Whitaker

Texas also welcomes some key transfers in RHP Mac Morgan from ASU and 1B Baylea Brandon from LSU

Texas also brought in a great class, including: UTL Maddie Pomykalski, C/1B Reese Atwood, IF Viviana Martinez, IF Leighann Goode and RHP Citlaly Gutierrez

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TexasMan
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Js1
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Texas wins!!! Atwood had the first hit and the game winning single 

Scholz
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Suck it, aggys. Douchebags always. Go cry a little.

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Js1

Js1 85,310

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Just like the rankings, Texas is picked 3rd in the Big 12

OU unanimously picked first with 6 first place votes and 36 points

OSU picked second with 1 first place vote (Gasso) and 29 points

Texas third with 28 points

Baylor fourth with 20 points

ISU fifth with 16 points

Tech sixth with 12 points

ISU seventh with 6 points

 

I repeat that I absolutely am ready for UCF, BYU, UH and Cincinnati to be in the Big 12 next year so we don't only have 7 teams. 

 

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TexasIsBetter

TexasIsBetter 275

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Couple thoughts...

I still have a crush on Bella...

I really hope we make a return trip to OKC because my daughter's softball team will be playing in the select tournament that takes place up there at the same time and I'd love so much to see them there with our team.

My oldest has already made it a point that she wants to make it to more Texas softball games this season. I can't wait to see these ladies ball out

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LTtxfan

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13 hours ago, TexasIsBetter said:

Couple thoughts...

I still have a crush on Bella...

I really hope we make a return trip to OKC because my daughter's softball team will be playing in the select tournament that takes place up there at the same time and I'd love so much to see them there with our team.

My oldest has already made it a point that she wants to make it to more Texas softball games this season. I can't wait to see these ladies ball out

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Js1

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15 hours ago, HollidayHorn said:

They're young but very talented. Hopefully a true #1 will take over the circle. Probably won't have as much power but they'll have speed in spades. Excited for the season and hopefully get to see them in OKC in June. 🤘

I hope/think Sophia makes the leap after her postseason performances, otherwise her and Mac will be very good co-aces. 

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torre

torre 1,285

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   No longer on roster.   Her experience and contributions will be missed.  Had a few key moments within that high ERA.  Staff will now be Czech, Morgan,  Simpson, and Gutierrez.   Gutierrez looked good in the Fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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perfectchaos007

perfectchaos007 6,633

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I get the sense we’ll be leaning on our pitching staff this year even more so than last year if we’re to have success. With Jefferson gone, there’s no one on the roster to replace her production, so I imagine runs scored will be down some this year. If our pitching staff slightly improves their ERA across the board, we’ll be fine with even with less runs scored per game this season. Who knows though, I look forward to seeing how the season ends up playing out and finding out which players really step up.

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Js1

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5 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

I get the sense we’ll be leaning on our pitching staff this year even more so than last year if we’re to have success. With Jefferson gone, there’s no one on the roster to replace her production, so I imagine runs scored will be down some this year. If our pitching staff slightly improves their ERA across the board, we’ll be fine with even with less runs scored per game this season. Who knows though, I look forward to seeing how the season ends up playing out and finding out which players really step up.

We should have a lot of team speed. Definitely need Mia Scott to step up in her sophomore year. Brandon will supply the power 

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torre

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2 hours ago, Js1 said:

We should have a lot of team speed. Definitely need Mia Scott to step up in her sophomore year. Brandon will supply the power 

When time permits,   pls give us a projected starting lineup. (BestBuy Coupons and Rep).

 

Martinez and Goode are two highly rated infielders.  Any idea where Brandon will play (listed as Utility) ?

Does everyone want to discuss the "elephant in the room" - Defense

9 days.   At this time,  can't find a TV listing for Clearwater on ESPN or FloSports.

 

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Js1

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14 minutes ago, torre said:

When time permits,   pls give us a projected starting lineup. (BestBuy Coupons and Rep).

Oh boy. Uh…

C - Cimusz (KC for short because I’m not typing that awkward double consonant all year), as she has the most experience, but Atwood was highly highly ranked 

1B - Brandon

2B - Martinez

SS - Washington

3B - Scott

OF - oh god idk. Bella is a starter but she is allegedly in a cast on her throwing arm right now. Popelka at center, Whitaker in right and Pomykalski (MP bc I’m not typing that name all season) in left is my guess for now.   I could see any of Holmes/Maloney/MP in left field. 
 

Bella will probably kick Popelka out of the rotation when she’s back. Mike will keep Whitaker for her offense and I have seen nothing but good things about Maddie. Popelka would go back to being a PR with Corona 

DP - Day

I could see Whitaker and Day flip flopping at times but Mike will want both of their offenses in the lineup 

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Js1

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22 hours ago, torre said:

9 days.   At this time,  can't find a TV listing for Clearwater on ESPN or FloSports.

 

The NFCA classic is not the St. Pete/Clearwater Invitational we went to last year. Those were on the ESPN networks. 

We will be streaming though

2023 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic Tourney Central

CAN'T MAKE THE GAMES IN FLORIDA? FOLLOW AND WATCH YOUR TEAM LIVE FOR FREE ON GAMECHANGER

What is GameChanger? GameChanger is the #1 youth baseball and softball app that offers live streaming, scoring, teamm communication and more! 

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FloridaHorn

FloridaHorn 4,754

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On 2/2/2023 at 2:38 PM, Js1 said:

The NFCA classic is not the St. Pete/Clearwater Invitational we went to last year. Those were on the ESPN networks. 

We will be streaming though

2023 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic Tourney Central

CAN'T MAKE THE GAMES IN FLORIDA? FOLLOW AND WATCH YOUR TEAM LIVE FOR FREE ON GAMECHANGER

What is GameChanger? GameChanger is the #1 youth baseball and softball app that offers live streaming, scoring, teamm communication and more! 

Correct. We are essentially playing in the USF tournament this year. USF has a tremendous stadium for those making the trek out here. Some games will be played there, while others will spread out across the many other nearby fields, including Eddie C Moore Complex.

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FloridaHorn

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I am excited to see what the ladies bring to the field this year. I hope for more consistency at the plate, and on the base paths. I agree that speed will be our best asset this year, but I don't know how you speed your way to the 8-10 runs a game that the Sooners will put up. Time will tell, but from the outside looking in, it appears to be OU and then everyone else.

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Js1

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Besides all our home games on LHN (almost 40 games), we will also be on ESPN2 for 3 of our conference matchups: 

@ OU, Saturday, April 1 (ESPN2)

@ OU, Sunday, April 2 (ESPN2)

Hosting OSU, Thursday, April 20 (ESPN2)

 

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someguy

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5 hours ago, FloridaHorn said:

Much like last year, I will ride over to Clearwater to watch the girls open the season. I hope to see a much more focused, close knit team, as opposed to the shit show I witnessed in 2022 to start the season.

Having Burke move on will hopefully help on that front.  Last year was crazy and I hope White learned from the experience and will have a better handle on the locker room this year.

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torre

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1 hour ago, someguy said:

Having Burke move on will hopefully help on that front.  Last year was crazy and I hope White learned from the experience and will have a better handle on the locker room this year.

Any insight on how new asst Kristen Zaleski is meshing with the team ?   Can be so valuable.

From a truly outsider perspective only watching on TV and attending games,  never felt Bartlett excelled in that role.   Chelsea Spencer set a high standard including player relations.

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Excited Season 2 GIF by The Office

Happy Opening Day for the 2023 Softball season!

Friday (Coaches Poll rankings)
3pm - RV (#26) Mizzou
5:30pm - #8 Northwestern

Saturday
3pm - Illinois
5:30pm - #13 Tennessee

Sunday
11:30am - #20 Kentucky

Linky for video:

NFCA DI Leadoff Classic | Tournament Central

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closetojumping

closetojumping 62,604

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On 2/8/2023 at 8:16 AM, Js1 said:

That is known. 

You probably know this, but for readers who don't but would like to vomit while reading, OU's NIL efforts are focused almost solely on Football, M's & W's Gymnastics, and Softball. Not saying other sports don't have benefactors, but they're trying to create elite level NIL work in Gymnastics and Softball in order to protect their position at the top of those sports. As we're learning at Texas, getting NIL covered for Football is quite a bit more challenging thing. 

For non-FB and MBB, there are three schools of thought around NIL:

-Get all of them funded, in as big of a way as possible (Texas, one of the few examples, also Arkansas, Oregon)

-Hyperfocus where you believe you have a competitive advantage and make it cost prohibitive for most other schools to compete at the top (OU, LSU)

-Ignore that shit because no one seems to care (ATM, among others)

OU is building an impenetrable fortress around Softball, at least while Gasso is there. But, hey, I'll watch and cheer for Texas and hope to see the ladies make it back to the WS. 

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Js1

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29 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

You probably know this, but for readers who don't but would like to vomit while reading, OU's NIL efforts are focused almost solely on Football, M's & W's Gymnastics, and Softball. Not saying other sports don't have benefactors, but they're trying to create elite level NIL work in Gymnastics and Softball in order to protect their position at the top of those sports. As we're learning at Texas, getting NIL covered for Football is quite a bit more challenging thing. 

For non-FB and MBB, there are three schools of thought around NIL:

-Get all of them funded, in as big of a way as possible (Texas, one of the few examples, also Arkansas, Oregon)

-Hyperfocus where you believe you have a competitive advantage and make it cost prohibitive for most other schools to compete at the top (OU, LSU)

-Ignore that shit because no one seems to care (ATM, among others)

OU is building an impenetrable fortress around Softball, at least while Gasso is there. But, hey, I'll watch and cheer for Texas and hope to see the ladies make it back to the WS. 

Yep. Texas wants to be top 10 across the board, which requires funding all non-revenue sports with NIL opportunities.  OU wants to be the most elite in what they excelled at pre-NIL (softball, gymnastics).  

I like Texas' approach more, because it's nice to be able to be an all-around sports program, where we might make the Elite 8 in WBB, win a title in women's tennis and golf and make the champ series in softball, finish top 5 in T&F, win titles in S&D, etc.  Whereas for OU, it's football season, gymnastics season and softball season and hope they get lucky somewhere else (decent WBB team, baseball made the champ series last year, made the WTEN finals but lost to Texas)

Every program at Texas, save soccer and football, are championship-level contenders right now.  OU has 3-5 programs that can say the same, so that's where the $$ goes.

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