Thoughts on the First Night of Fall Ball-OU looks Very Strong

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OUBeliever56A
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Thoughts on the First Night of Fall Ball-OU looks Very Strong

Post by OUBeliever56A »

First Night of Fall Ball – OU vs Seminole State

Well one thing is still true. The Oklahoma Sooner Fan Base is ready for any game, anywhere. There is a picture on OU Softball social media sites of the line outside the park at about 4:50 before they opened the gates. The line was out to the road in front of the stadium and the all the way to Jenkins towards the east and almost to the end of the parking lot to the west.

Pre-Game Warmup. Initial Warmup:

- The Sooners had four, yes 4, players working in the outfield with Coach JT: Coleman, Boone, Coor and Green.
- The Sooners had 9/10 players working in the infield with Coach Gasso: Jennings, Brito, Lilio, Hodge, Torres, Sanders, Erickson, Nugent and Lee. Lyons appeared late after the drills on the field took place during the short-hop drill on the side. I am guessing that Lyons had a class that was late on Monday.
- The Sooners had 5 pitchers working with Coach Hope Trautwein: May, Bahl, Deal, Geurin and Storako.
- Kinzie Hansen was ‘strolling’ the sidelines waiting for a pitcher to warm up. When the pitcher arrived, Jordy Bahl, they went to the bullpen to get ready for the game.

Pre-Game Drills on the field:
Same arrangements with the infield players. Working out at 3B/1B: Brito, Torres, Lee, Erickson, Sanders, Nugent. Working out at SS/2B: Lyons, Jennings, Lilio and Hodge.

I did not expect some of this. I thought Brito and Lilio would be working out in the outfield before the game. I also expected to see Green in the infield and not the outfield. This among other things will be watched as we move through the fall.

The pitchers warming up before the game was Bahl to Hansen and Deal to a bullpen catcher.

Starting Lineup – Game 1:
Coleman CF, Jennings 2B, Sanders 1B, Hansen C, Lyons SS, Lee DP, Brito 3B, Coor LF, Boone, RF Bahl, P/EH.

(When you have a .410-ish hitter with 20 HRs for an average the last two seasons hitting 6th in the lineup you know your offense is pretty good.)

I thought the start by Brito and Coor was interesting. No conclusions, but interesting. Hansen’s bat must be showing up in practice to be in the clean-up spot in the lineup.

Let’s talk about the pitching in Game 1.
Jordy Bahl pitched 3 innings and gave up no hits, no walks and no runs. She had 4 Ks and only one ball hit out of the outfield. She threw the drop, the rise, the ball that cuts in on a RH batter and the off-speed pitches. She looked good. Maybe not quite the Freshman Player of the Year good just yet, but very good and Bahl looks to be 100% healthy.

Kiersten Deal pitched 1.2 innings. The top prospect freshman from North Carolina, a left-handed pitcher, threw a ball on her first pitch as a Sooner. She then hit her spot for a strike on her second pitch. Her third pitch was a hard rise that handcuffed the batter who swung late. The fourth pitch, the same speed as the first three pitches, was left over the plate either not inside enough or not high enough and the Seminole batter managed to make the barrel of the bat run into the ball. She hit it well to left field on a liner. Coor made a nice play to get to the ball at the warning track and above the fence. Coor almost made a highlight play as she got her glove on the ball, but it did not stay in the pocket as Coor’s arm might have hit the wall. The ball ended up over the wall for a HR. Okay, deep breath time for Deal.

Deal walked the next hitter on a 3-1 count as her arm seemed to contact her hip a couple times on her delivery. During the at bat, Coach Rocha visited with Deal to provide some confidence, I think. Deal got a first pitch ground ball out from the next hitter on a 6-4 play. On a 2-strike count, Deal got another ground ball out 5-4. The 3rd out was a on a looping liner to RC that Coleman ran down easily.

In her next inning, Deal got her first K against the first hitter on a 1-2 count. On another 1-2 count the second batter hit a slow roller towards second base that Deal made a nice play on to field the ball and throw the runner out at first base. That was Deal’s night as she went 1.2 innings, gave up one hit, one walk and one run on the HR.

I think when Deal is at her best, she is changing speeds more and moving the ball in and out and a mix of rise balls thrown in. The pitches to the first hitter were all the same speed. Her arm hitting her hip hurt against the second hitter. After that she mixed speeds and location well. She improved as she went along through the 6 hitters he faced. No concerns at all on my part, she will help this team in 2023.

May entered the game and recorded the final out of the top of the 5th inning. May tallied a strikeout on a 2-2 pitch. May looked very tall in the circle with a stronger base from the hips down underneath her. She threw well. May is the secret of the Sooner staff. She just gets things done quietly.

Defense for the Sooners:
Well, something happened in the first inning that does not happen very often. After two outs, a ground ball was hit up the middle to the right of Bahl. One that we so often see Lyons move over to field and get the out so often that we take it for granted. Well, the ball run up Lyons’ glove and arm and went to her left a step or two. By the time she retrieved the ball and threw to first the runner was safe. It was ruled a hit at the game, but it was an error all the way. Not normal, and we may not see it happened again this season through June.

Other than that, nothing happened much in the game defensively. Brito and Sanders looked good at third and first respectively. I will say this though, fly balls go to CF to die against the Sooners. Anything in the air is likely to be caught no matter how hard it is hit, and it has to clear the fence easily before you can write down as a hit. Coleman is just fluid. It is about the same way in RF with Boone. Coor almost made a highlight catch in LF also. I am sure Deal would have liked her to have made the catch. But it would have been a big time play if she would have made it.

In the top of the 4th inning, Lee replaced Hansen behind the plate. Lee looked as expected behind the plate. She did make a snap-throw to first that was crisp and on target.

Offense for the Sooners:
  • Coleman – 3 for 4 with a ground ball triple that got past two fielders it was hit so hard, A solo-HR to LC and another single. It looks like Coleman is stronger through her shoulders this fall. She scored 2 runs and had 2 RBIs.
  • Jennings – 1 for 4 with a HR, 1 run scored and 1 RBI. She reached to hit a ball that was outside and hit a weak ground ball to first base in the first inning. She grounded out 6-4 in the 3rd. Her HR was a back-to-back HR following Coleman that cleared the fence in RF and hit on the patio area out there. Her last at bat was a fly out to CF.
  • Sanders – 1 for 3 with a single in the first inning in her first at bat as a Sooner. She hit three ground balls on the night and reached base twice. She reached first on a SS error in her last at bat. She looks to be a good athlete and is not as tall as I thought she might be. She looks a lot like a freshman named Shay Knighten did as a freshman for OU to me.
  • Hansen – 1 for 2 with a walk and a 2-run HR, a run scored and 2 RBIs. The best thing I saw last night was Hansen’s HR to LC where she hit a ball down and in very well. I think that is a very good sign for Hansen. That pitch was a ground out often last year. Hansen being able to get down to that pitch was nice to see. She also looked good behind the plate moving easily.
  • Lyons – 1 for 3 with a single and a run scored. She hit the ball hard twice as she hit a scorching line drive right at the 3B in her second at bat. Her single to RF in the 5th inning looked to be a double but the Seminole RF made a nice play on a short hop to hold Lyons to a single.
  • Lee – 2 for 3 with a single and double and a run scored. She showed very good bat control in the game. In the 2nd inning, on a 2-2 count she hit a pitch on the outside of the plate with a simple flip of her wrist. The ball traveled to the warning track in RF. She must be strong. She did much the same thing in her next at bat, but the soft liner fell in for a hit in RC. In her last at bat, Lee hit a ball sharply to LC that got to the wall for a double. The hit sounded ‘thin’ off the bat so she did not catch it all or hit it on the end of the bat but it was still hit well.
  • Brito – 2 for 3 with a single, a double and 2 RBIs. She hit two balls that were hard line drives over the 3B in her first and last at bat. Her other at bat was a ground ball out to third. She is seeing the ball inside very well.
  • Coor – 2 for 3 with a RS and an RBI. She had a sharp single in the SS-3B hole and a looper into short RF for her hits. She displayed her speed in the 5th inning as she went from first to third on a ground ball/bunt back to the pitcher. She scored on the play as the throw to 3B was off trying to get her. Coor has a big upside if she can hit enough to play for the Sooners.
  • Boone – 1 for 3 on the night. In her third at bat, she either hit a soft ground ball or a hard bunt back to the pitcher that was bobbled as Boone beat the ball to 1B. The play could have been called an error or a single. At the park it was a single. This was the play that Coor went 1st-to-3rd. Boone advanced on the throw to 3rd and rounded the bases to score as the ball was retrieved own the LF line.
  • Bahl - 1 for 3 with a RS and a SB. In her first at bat, she hit a ball back up the middle. She wasted no time stealing second base either. She had two ground ball outs in her last two at bats
.

Pinch Runners – Hodge – She entered twice in the game. In her first PR she was barely thrown out trying to steal second. In the second PR, she was forced out on a 5-4 play. Lilio – She pinch-ran for Brito after a double. She smartly and aggressively moved to 3B on a pitch in the dirt before scoring on a Coor single.
The Sooners were 15 for 30 with 3 HRs and 2 doubles in the game. The final score of Game #1 was 11-1. That is a nice start for the Sooners in their first fall ball game in five full innings of play.
- - - - -
Game 2:
The starting lineup was:
Hodge SS, Lilio 2B, Erickson 1B, Nugent C, Torres 3B, Green RF, Bahl LF, `Sanders DP, Lee EH, Boone CF, May SP

I did not expect Bahl to start in LF in the game, but it was something that seemed possible. I did not expect of think I would see Green start in RF. I thought that experiment from 2020 was a thing of the past. But she seemed to do the job on the one ball hit her way.

Pitching:
May pitched 1.2 innings with no hits, no walks and 2 Ks. One batter reached first base on a ‘dropped’ third strike on a ball in the dirt that got by Nugent. May looked strong tonight. She had her good rise, her good off-speed and her pretty good drop ball. She also spotted a couple of good fast balls on the inside corner low in the strike zone. May pitched well.

Geurin entered the game with 2 outs in the top of the second. She got her first hitter on a popup to Lilio at 2B in foul territory to end the inning. Geurin pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one single on a flare to LF and no runs. She recorded outs on a ground ball to SS and two other fly balls to LF and CF in addition to the first out. Geurin works with a lot of spin pitches. She counts on a pitch up and into RH hitters where the ball is located just above the hands and on the inside corner. If she is executing that pitch well, she is very good. She has good control when she is balanced on her delivery. Sometimes she falls to her left and the pitching is often up high.

Storako entered to pitch the final 2 innings and she announced herself very well. I knew she was good, or at least she was supposed to be. Well, she is very, very good. She threw a variety of pitches that were impressive. She has power, movement and location. She is confident in the circle and seems to be there for a reason. I was very impressed by Storako. The Sooners definitely have a 1A and 1B ace in the circle for 2023. I will let others discuss who is A and who is B. Oh BTW, Storako recorded 6 strikeouts in her two innings. By my book, she threw 5 balls to 7 hitters. She did give up a flare single to RF to the 3rd batter she faced. I know it is against a very good JUCO softball team. But she was just good last night.

Defense:
The whole new infield playing for the Sooners in the second game was something different. The only two players that had to make a play was Hodge and Torres. Both made their plays look easy. Hodge did a nice job reading one chopper and charging the ball to make the play. A SS must do that. In the outfield Boone ran down a liner to CF and made it look easy. Bahl made catch in LF, and Green played a ball to her right well and held the hit to a single. Nugent looked good behind the plate for three innings. Erickson caught Storako and looked good as well. Erickson and Nugent both looked good at 1B also. The pitchers really took control of the game for the defense in Game 2.

In innings 4 and 5, Coleman entered to play CF and Brito played in LF.

Offense:
  • Hodge – 0 for 2. She walked in the first innings and promptly stole second before a single by Lilio where she scored from second. Hodge scored twice and had 1 RBI. Hodge’s worth is a hitter that will get on base and use her speed to score runs. She is a pure slapper for now which will cause some problems for the defense. She may be more of a 9-hole hitter in the future for the Sooners than a lead-off hitter though.
  • Lilio – 2 for 2 with a walk, 2 seeing-eye-singles, 2 runs scored and an RBI. Both of her hits were between first and second. Over her career Lilio has been a player that just gets the job done. She just has that look on the field. You may not know why, but she will play big when it is needed.
  • Erickson – 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Erickson has a very quick bat through the hitting zone. She looks confident in the batter’s box. I am excited to watch her hit and play this year.
  • Nugent – 1 for 3 with an RBI. Nugent works very hard. She looks ready in most every way. She just needs an opening to play a lot for the Sooners.
  • Torres – 2 for 3 with two hits in the gaps in the outfield. She looks the part of being a possible starting player for the Sooners. I look forward to seeing her and the other new players in the Battle Series.
  • Green – 0 for 2 with a walk.
  • Bahl – 1 for 2 with a single with a run scored. Her single was a scorching line drive hit right at the 3B which handcuffed the 3B for a hit as the ball caromed into foul territory. Bahl plays the game hard. Her head-first slide to score a run is something I may have to get used to seeing. I am not sure I can do that.
  • Sanders – 0 for 1. She reached on an error and later scored.
  • Hansen – 1 for 1 as a sub for Sanders. Hansen hit a towering fly ball deep to CF. The ball started out hit to the LF side of the CF. The ball spun its way back toward RC and fell out of the reach of the CF and struck the bottom foot of the wall and bounded back towards the infield. A running Hansen ‘flew’ around the bases for a triple. She scored a ground ball out by Hodge.
  • Lee – She walked in her only at bat on a 3-2 pitch.
  • Coleman – She also walked as a sub for Lee.
  • Boone – 0 for 1 with a fly ball hit well to RF.
The Sooners were 8 for 20 with a triple. The final score was 5-0 in Game #2 in 4 ½ innings of play.

Closing
That produced a total to a 23 for 50 stat-line at the plate for the Sooners with 6 EBH on the night. Those are very good numbers regardless of who you play. It is funny that I did not feel they were hitting the ball that well last night. I felt the offense was a little off but the stats say something else.

I thought that the three Seminole State pitchers did a pretty good job of job of pitching well against the Sooners. Except for the bottom of the 5th inning in the first game, they did very well.

It was a strong first game of the fall. I saw nothing that concerned me and an awful lot of things to impressed me. I think we will see some position swapping in the Battle Series Game #1 on Wednesday night which will start to define some things for the Sooners. Every player got several at bats and every pitcher got to pitch in the first game action of the fall. I think that was the first goal in the game.

I think we have to be careful to not draw too many conclusions from the lineups for the two games. It was mostly a way to spilt of the squad for the two games. There are still probably 5 spots wide open for the Sooners to be determined. That competition will be ongoing until the first part of February and even beyond that.

I am looking forward to a step-up in intensity on Wednesday night. It should be a very good first look at the Battle Series.

Boomer Sooner!
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Post by ousbfan »

Thanks 56 for that in depth explanation of the game. I'm sure being at the game in person make for a much better read on the team and the action on the field. From the streaming side and the camera work it was hard for me tell sometimes what was happening. One couldn't always tell what actually happened on a play till it was over and the announcers gave their take on the play. Also without a lineup being posted I couldn't really tell who was who at this point because of all the new jersey #s. The streaming was sorta like some of the early Flosoftball's games I've seen in the past. The pitcher for Seminole I thought was very good at keeping the girls off balance I think for 4 innings in the first game. The freshman pitchers seem to be pretty good considering 1st game nervousness and wanting to live up to the standards that's expected. Bahl appeared to be back in full health form, May was May as always, just cool and get the job done. Storako was very impressive I thought, this being the first time I've seen her pitch. I don't think pitching is going to any concern this season with those 3 prob the first 3 starters I would guess.
As far a a set lineup, with all the talent throughout the team, and looking back over the years that set lineup might just not show up till March of April. I think one of the years I looked back on PG didn't have a set lineup till the last part of April.
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Post by The Far Journey »

Thanks, 56. I think your summary and assessment were spot on. The one thing I can say for sure concerning Wed. Battle Series is that we're going to win the game. One point on the almost catch by Coor. I remember in Coleman's freshman year, early on in the season, she did the exact same thing. Went over the wall, made the catch and when her arm hit the wall, the ball went over for a home run. It never happened again. She learned from it, which I'm sure Coor will as well. So many top players. Probably more line up surprises to come.

The announcer last night on the streaming made a mistake with Storako's name, then realized he'd created a good nickname for her. Striko.
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

The Far Journey wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:25 pm
The announcer last night on the streaming made a mistake with Storako's name, then realized he'd created a good nickname for her. Striko.
I heard that this morning when I watched the ESPN+ telecast. I liked the Sto"rike'ko mistake. It might stick.
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Post by TropicalSooner »

Thank you so much for your comments and observations '56.
I too have a fear that our free radio broadcasts might be going away with the addition of espn+. At least, I hope they'll maintain the "live stats" during regular season.
Is there any kind of a box score anywhere? or is that hoping for too much for fall ball?
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

There was no box score I could find. This is why I am keeping score.
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Post by TropicalSooner »

ok...thank you
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Post by OU_Tom »

Thank you @OUBeliever56A for your amazing thought/reports
::rice2:: :dude:
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Post by AllSooner »

OUBeliever56A wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 7:41 pm There was no box score I could find. This is why I am keeping score.
While you are keeping score.....chalk one up for you! Another great "blow by blow" report. With you on the scene, I know an excellent report/write up will keep a lot of us "forgetful" fans stay in the game.

You ARE appreciated!
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