Final thoughts about the Sooner SB 2024 Class before Fall Ball

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooner Softball Class of 2024 is an eight (8) player class that hopefully will produce like the Class of 2015 that produced the 4 everyday players of Romero, Clifton, Knighten and Aviu and perhaps produce three players like the Class of 2020 which produced Jennings, Coleman and May. If either scenario happens, the class will be another great class for the Sooners.

After watching most of the players for the last time in the Norman area in June and most all of them via game video this last week, I have compiled my final thoughts about the players in the class and how they might fill open spots in the lineup in the Spring of 2026.

Pitching:
I have been able to see freshman LHP Audrey Lowry several times in game videos for the Tennessee Mojo. I am impressed with her pitches as she has a strong rise ball and a strong sweeping curve ball that is tough on a LH hitter. I have not seen an “out” pitch against a RH pitcher other than the rise ball though. That is a concern. Lowry tries to spot her fast ball/drop ball on the outside corner against the RH hitters, but I have not seen that consistently done well. She does spot her fast ball/drop ball on the outside corner against a LH hitter better. I think she can be very good for the Sooners as a freshman. I do not think we are talking “Jordy Bahl good”, but I think Lowry could be the #1/#2 pitcher for the Sooners by mid-season. With the good that Lowry’s rise ball brings for Ks, there is also the bad when it is left in the zone over the center of the plate, especially to RH hitters. Right now I think that Lowry is subject to that good and bad until there are better pitches away or inside and down in the zone against RH hitters.

I also think she melds into the Sooner pitching staff pretty well. From what I have seen, I think Lowry is essentially a different type than Kiersten Deal, a returning junior. I have always thought that Deal is very good down in the zone and uses the rise ball as a “decoy” pitch more than anything else while getting some swings that miss. But it has to be out of the zone, especially to RH. I think last year, they were trying to use Deal to pitch up in the zone because Maxwell was more of a down-ball pitcher. So, Deal was asked to pitch more in the top half of the zone. I think that could flip next season and Deal could flourish pitching more down in the zone. I think that both Lowry and Deal are pitchers capable of having better than 1.75 ERA in 2025. If they can do that, the Sooners have the start of a strong staff.

Outfield:
The outfield group for the Sooners will grow by two freshman players with Chaney Helton and Tia Milloy. I think that Kasidi Pickering, returning sophomore, and Abby Dayton, transfer junior, will very likely be two of the three starters for the Sooners in the outfield. But Dayton needs to hit well (+.375 with EBHs) to ensure she keeps her job in the outfield. I look for Pickering to build upon her debut season of 2024 as a sophomore and just grow as a player to lead the Sooners. That leaves one spot for a quad of players competing for that position. Hannah Coor, if healthy, Maya Bland, a returning sophomore, will be the other two competing for the lone open outfield spot. Helton is an excellent outfielder who can play CF everyday if needed. She also has a strong bat that is capable of hitting 350+ with enough power that she is a complete hitter. Her speed on defense and on the basepaths will be impressive. Milloy will also be impressive and will have more power than Helton and maybe not quite as fast and not quite as good of an arm. I think both of them, Helton and Milloy, have a strong chance to compete successfully for the open spot in the outfield along with Bland or Coor. Bland has all the tools needed to be a starter. Coor is a plus defensive player and showed a strong bat in the fall of 2023. But it will be a wide-open competition for the final spot. There is an outside chance that Ella Parker could move to the outfield (LF or RF) if needed. Parker is not a defensive liability in the outfield if that occurs and could allow an extra power bat to be in the lineup.

Something unusual about the 6 Sooner outfielders is that five of them hit left-handed. Only Coor is a right-handed hitter. But outside of Coor, the Sooners will probably start three left-handed hitters in the outfield in the spring of 2025. Fall ball will be very important for the quad of outfielders looking for a starting spot.

Middle Infield:
I would be very surprised if Ailana Agbayani, transfer from BYU, does not start at shortstop for the Sooners in 2025. The experience that Agbayani has as a starting shortstop is very valuable, and I think that is why the Sooners chose Agbayani out of the portal. That leaves the two, maybe three freshmen vying for the starting 2B job and the backup SS job. Sydney Barker, Gabriella Garcia and maybe Kady McKay will be in that competition. I think Sydney Barker is the more athletic MIF of the group and perhaps has the highest potential of the three. But in watching Garcia play many games, it will be hard for Barker or McKay to rise above Garcia’s overall game. I do believe that all three of the players can transition to 2B from playing SS. But that is something that is not a given. Covering the 1B bag and being there on time is a big part of playing 2B. The one that does covers 1B well quickly, has an advantage. My thoughts have changed here a bit. I think it is likely that Garcia will win the job at 2B. Garcia is not flashy, but she just gets the job done on defense and with her bat. She will probably hit for a higher average than the other two. She will have enough power (maybe 6-9 HRs over 55 games) to keep her in the lineup also. Barker will likely end up as the backup SS and 2B for the 2025 season. I think McKay will play both SS and 2B in the fall but will likely settle in as a 3B or 1B by the spring of 2025. Again, in a trend for the Sooners in 2025, three of the four MIF are LH hitters. Only Barker hits RH. That could give her a bit of an advantage and may keep her playing as a platoon player against LH pitchers.

Tia Milloy also can play MIF and will likely see some time playing 2B or maybe 3B in the fall. It is possible that she could play the infield as Sooner. The play in the fall will help Milloy determine where she plays for 2025. But she is a versatile player.

Corner Infielder:
There are really nine, not eight, freshmen starting their career for the Sooners starting this fall. Nellian McEnroe-Marinas suffered two injuries (knee and shoulder) that prevented her playing as a true freshman in 2024 is back as a red-shirt freshman this season. I think she will be given every opportunity to win the 3B job for the Sooners. The reason is her power potential. Outside of Sanders and Parker, McEnroe-Marinas may have as much power of any Sooner and she may surpass both of them. I think she will settle in as the starting 3B for the Sooners quickly in the fall. The key for her is to simply be healthy.

Over at 1B, Cydney Sanders, a returning Senior, will also be given every chance to remain the starting 1B, once again due to her power potential and probably her defense. But I will say that in 2025, Sanders needs to have her best season as a Sooner if the Sooners are to be a factor in the SEC. Sanders will probably be in the 4th or 5th slot in the batting order in 2025. Her job there will be to drive in runs by hitting the ball hard. Walks help, but OU needs Sanders to drive in runs in a big way in 2025.

The bats of McEnroe-Marinas and Sanders are a huge key for the Sooners. Their power from the right side of the batters box has to be there to keep opposing teams from loading up with left handed pitchers in the circle against the 5 or 6 LH hitters in the Sooners lineup. Their two RH bats need to be 2 of the three or maybe four RH hitters in the lineup.

So, who are the potential backups for the corner positions. Ella Parker, a returning sophomore, is in line to be the backup at 1B as she also tries to build upon her very good freshman season. I think 20 HRs are in her future in 2025 but it will likely be at the DP position unless Sanders falters. Freshman Kady McKay is likely to be a backup at both positions. She should be able to play both positions well defensively and the difference for her is her LH power bat. For me, the only question about McKay is what she hits for an average. She has to hit at least .333 to really be in the position to challenge for a starting job while delivering some effective power. As noted above, Milloy might see action at 3B also. Another player to consider at the corner infield positions is Isabela Emerling, who transferred from North Carolina. Emerling is by trade a catcher but has played both 3B and 1B. I think Emerling was picked up as insurance and as a leader out of the portal. I think in a perfect world, Emerling is a backup at all three positions. But if needed she can step up and start at all three when needed.

Catcher:
Emerling, as noted above could be the starter at catcher for the Sooners early in the season. But for me she needs to hit and deliver some power while doing so. Depending on how good Emerling's defense is, she probably needs to be above .325 for a BA and provide some power at the plate to remain the starter. If she ends up more of a backup, there are two freshmen, Corrin Hicks and Riley Zache, who are catchers.

Corri Hicks could win the starting job with a strong fall and a strong start to the spring season. From what I have seen, she can catch and throw. She needs to be a little more vocal behind the plate and step up and lead more though. I think working with “Coach Hansen” will be like an angel on her shoulder during the fall helping her to grow in her confidence and control of the pitchers for the Sooners. Hicks can also deliver power as an RH hitter, and she hit 15 HRs in 119 at bats for the Batbusters this season.

Riley Zache is a bit of an unknown player to me. She plays catcher as she catches her “little” but much taller sister, Berkley Zache, who is a 2025 recruit for the Sooners. But Zache also plays SS and 2B that I have seen. She may be more of a utility player than a one-position player which has value. But she will be the 3rd catcher at least for the Sooners. I have a feeling that Riley Zache could surprise us all as the last freshman recruit for the Sooners in this class. If she hits well, she could play anywhere except maybe 1B and SS. She could contribute to the Sooners in many ways in 2025.

If you have kept track, there could be six (6) lefties with probably at least five (5) lefties hitting for the Sooners in 2025. It will be different. There could also be six (6) sophomores and freshman starting. The Sooners will be young and very eager to play for the Sooners.

RH Pitchers:
I have covered everything else so I will address the three RH Pitchers for the Sooners for next season. The returning RH is Paytn Monticelli as a junior. When she was given the ball in 2024, she generally pitched well. But there were not enough innings to get a true feel for what Monticelli could do. I think that if she can develop an off-speed pitch that can be thrown for a strike, she could really take a step up in her pitching effectiveness. She did have better control in 2024 than as a freshman at Wisconsin but she still needs to limit the free bases. There is still hope that Monticelli can be the late inning pitcher for the Sooners if Monticelli can put it all together as a Sooner.

The two new RH pitcher in the circle for the Sooners are Isabella Smith, transfer from the Campbell Camels, and Sam Landry, transfer from the Louisiana Rajin’ Cajuns. By the numbers, Smith is the better pitcher of the two in almost every way. Hee is how they compare: These are career numbers.

Smith – 1.84 ERA, 593.1 IP, 4.94 H/7/IP, 0.193 BAA, 2.46 W&HB/7IP, 7.53 K/7IP, 1.28 EBH/7IP - 9.70 Bases Allowed / 7 IP.
Landry – 2.12 ERA, 460.0 IP, 5.08 H/7IP, 0.202 BAA, 3.48 W&HB/7IP, 7.00 K/7IP, 1.21 EBH/7 IP - 10.79 Bases Allowed / 7 IP.

It is valid to say or feel that the competition level for Landry was higher than the competition for Smith and that both will play against better competition in 2025. How to calculate how they transition to the SEC and the Sooner schedule is tough to predict. I am happy that both have reached 7 Ks/7 IP for their career. That never hurts a pitcher. I like Smith’s control, but I have seen that she may not throw much harder than 60 mph. But if she has good movement, movement is more important than speed until you get beyond 70 mph. Landry is a solid pitcher who has pitched in big games for Louisiana in her career.

If Coach Rocha can “coach-up” either or both of these two transfers, the Sooners should have a solid staff with 4 choices to start a game and another choice to bring in perhaps to finish games with Monticelli.

I am looking forward to the Sooner playing in Fall Ball to see the first examples of how this large, talented class will help the Sooners in 2025.

Boomer Sooner!

[TropicalSooner]

Really nice write up Believer.
I like that we have two All-Conference field players imported in who are veterans in that they will certainly help the new freshmen get settled in even though they themselves will be learning the "Coach Gasso way of doing things."
Still, they will have much knowledge and experience of two years playing high-level D1 softball that the youngsters can feed off of without the pressure of being thrown into the fire right from the start. It will be interesting to see if any of the freshmen can or will overtake them by the second week of March (I guess?) when we start conference play.

That was interesting information about Cori Hicks needing to become more vocal and be more of a leader. I thought she already had that....but I'm probably thinking of Kendall Wells instead.

I too have always wanted Monticelli to be that fireman closer. She has had a whole year working with Coach Rocha to try to get that change up nailed down, and I'm disappointed that she still seems to be working at it. Perhaps this year she will get it perfected.

After reading about how Lowry pitched very well against a lot of very good players during this last summer's travel ball season--who a lot of are going to highly ranked P4 schools.....I am feeling a lot better about our starting rotations now...whether she becomes a weekend starter or not. It sounds like she is coming in with a lot of good pitches already in her arsenal, and I can't wait to see what Coach Rocha can do for her. I'm not expecting Jordy Bahl 2.0, but if she can come in and frustrate hitters like Parker, Pickering, Sanders, and Coor, then I will feel pretty good about our pitching staff. Smith and Landry already have proven track records, even if they haven't had a lot of exposure to WCWS level type teams (although Smith did shut down Duke last year).

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and notes about the new freshmen coming in. Great read.

[inconnu]

FWIW, I still think Monticelli can up her game, to include some junk pitches and an effective change-up. She already has the gift of speed, which is the building block for excellence.

[1KCSoonerFan]

Thank you, '56! You are the man!

My view of the team has a futures focus, yet I think the Sooners can put a very good team on the field in 2025 as the stats demonstrate. We are gonna be very good and only getting better as time goes by. My timeframe for seeing the Sooners back at the super elite level is in 2027 - when both elite classes (this year's and next) are on the field, both with a year of experience behind them. (Of course, the portal will play its wildcard - most likely to the benefit side of things for OU.)

I'm glad to see '56 give so much detail about all aspects of the game - because they are all going to matter a great deal if OU is going to seriously challenge for another title this coming year, IMO. I'm hoping the aggregate of talent across all position groups will prove elite in its own way when compared against the rest of the field. The team may not be setting new NCAA records in 2025, or even have Top Ten all-time numbers in all categories. However, I don't see that they need to do that to win a whole bunch of games....and make the WCWS with a shot to win it. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Many, including myself, seemed to get antsy last year to watch Coach shuffling the batting order and some position players so far into the 2024 season. In a way, she never stopped tinkering (as in pitching five different players in the Champ Finals Game 2). I can only imagine with the young talent the GOAT has this year in depth, we can expect the same or more.

I really need to check my seatbelts going into 2025!