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Looking ahead to Fall Softball....
Posted on: August 15, 2016 at 15:54:42 CT
bluetiger_ MU
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and the 2017 season. Gadbois, Fagan, and Crane leave a huge hole to fill at the start of the lineup, they are arguably 3 of the best 10 offensive players in Mizzou softball history. Still we have a chance to be a very good hitting team again, though probably not up to the standard set by the 2016 team. Here is what the lineup should look like:
The following positions are locked down:
Catcher - Mack
1B - Pierce
3B - Sanchez
DH - Rathburn
OF - Nash
You can pencil in Braxton Burnside at SS for the next 4 years, she is one of the studs in this recruiting class.
And 2B is probably ok with Fleming and Romaine. Natalie is a good hitter and just needs to get consistent at bats, and Kolby came on late in the season and showed some good pop in her bat. I think either is capable of holding down 2B, but they could be pushed by a freshman. Someone needs to step up and own 2B and we will have an excellent infield.
That leaves only 2 starting spots in the offense, the 2 outfield positions vacated by Gadbois and Crane.
The other studs from the incoming freshman class besides Burnside are Bradi Kooyman and Cayla Kessinger from talent rich California, and Taylor Kirby from Illinois. Not sure if they are all good fits in the outfield, but they all need to step in and contribute immediately if Mizzou is going to have any chance of staying in the top 15-20 in the country.
Gabrielle Garrison from Texas and Lexi Rampetsreiter from MO are the other two freshmen offensive players who could contribute, both have great speed and could factor in somewhere. But I think the biggest offensive production from the freshmen will be from some combination of Burnside, Kooyman, Kessinger, and Kirby. We could be very, very good offensively with these returning players and incoming freshmen. Bange and Duffner provide additional depth and could see more playing time.
Pitching is much more of an unknown, need to think about that a little more before making predictions, and probably see how both the highly touted freshman Conrad and the sophomore redshirt transfer Norman look in the fall exhibition season.
It's going to be a very young team, even with 5 seniors. I count 15/22 players on the roster now being freshmen and sophomores, with only 2 players remaining in the junior class after the recent transfers. And actually there are only 2 original players from the senior class remaining for the same reason, with 3 of the 5 seniors being transfers (Rathburn, Baxter, Reed).
Edited by bluetiger_ at 16:05:31 on 08/15/16
The following positions are locked down:
Catcher - Mack
1B - Pierce
3B - Sanchez
DH - Rathburn
OF - Nash
You can pencil in Braxton Burnside at SS for the next 4 years, she is one of the studs in this recruiting class.
And 2B is probably ok with Fleming and Romaine. Natalie is a good hitter and just needs to get consistent at bats, and Kolby came on late in the season and showed some good pop in her bat. I think either is capable of holding down 2B, but they could be pushed by a freshman. Someone needs to step up and own 2B and we will have an excellent infield.
That leaves only 2 starting spots in the offense, the 2 outfield positions vacated by Gadbois and Crane.
The other studs from the incoming freshman class besides Burnside are Bradi Kooyman and Cayla Kessinger from talent rich California, and Taylor Kirby from Illinois. Not sure if they are all good fits in the outfield, but they all need to step in and contribute immediately if Mizzou is going to have any chance of staying in the top 15-20 in the country.
Gabrielle Garrison from Texas and Lexi Rampetsreiter from MO are the other two freshmen offensive players who could contribute, both have great speed and could factor in somewhere. But I think the biggest offensive production from the freshmen will be from some combination of Burnside, Kooyman, Kessinger, and Kirby. We could be very, very good offensively with these returning players and incoming freshmen. Bange and Duffner provide additional depth and could see more playing time.
Pitching is much more of an unknown, need to think about that a little more before making predictions, and probably see how both the highly touted freshman Conrad and the sophomore redshirt transfer Norman look in the fall exhibition season.
It's going to be a very young team, even with 5 seniors. I count 15/22 players on the roster now being freshmen and sophomores, with only 2 players remaining in the junior class after the recent transfers. And actually there are only 2 original players from the senior class remaining for the same reason, with 3 of the 5 seniors being transfers (Rathburn, Baxter, Reed).
Edited by bluetiger_ at 16:05:31 on 08/15/16
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Looking ahead to Fall Softball.... - bluetiger_ MU - 8/15 15:54:42