Now that we are roughly about 1/4 the way through the season, How Do You Feel About Our Team? And Why?

[TropicalSooner]

Looking back, we have some nice signature wins against teams like UCLA, Washington, Stanford, Duke, Fullerton, and Kentucky. And we've had some nail biting moments against Liberty, Washington, and of course, Baylor.
So how do you feel about where we are so far this season? Are there things that worry you? Is there something that you feel was unexpected and has had a big impact on the team? Either good or bad?
How do you feel about where we go from here? We have some more tough opponents coming up--have we grown as a team to meet these coming challenges? What do you all think?

[BixSooner]

In my opinion, this team is ridiculously stacked.

Patti is has a lot to play with as far as the batting lineup, and this pitching staff is scary good.

The four we have pitching are solid. Storako is an absolute star. May is better than she was last year. Bahl is still getting to where she was last year, and Deal is effective.

Whenever our returning hitters, come up, Coleman, Brito, Jennings, Boone, Lyons, etc, I'm like "here we go". They are so good, batting and base running.

How in the world does a freshman come in and lead this team hitting? Erickson is a budding superstar.

The players that transferred in are all solid players that can mash.

This team is great. Assuming they continue to mesh, they have a chance to 3 peat.

[oufanforever]

The biggest concern for me is injuries. Losing Coor means we only have 2 natural Outfielders. We rotates a lot converted infielders in RF, but I am worried that no one can truly lock down that position defensively in the critical moments.

[EMan]

Echoing BixSooner, for me, "so far" the pitching staff is a huge plus! May has stepped up her game big time as of this point in the season, and Storako is at least as good as advertised, and probably better! With Bahl starting to kick the rust off her injury the staff looks beyond stellar! So much so that it's starting to look like last year in that a team might be able to beat the Sooners once (that any given day stuff) but any team will be very hard-pressed to win a series against OU. I know the playoffs aren't a Best-Of series until the finals, but the thought process still holds. It's starting to look like this team losing two games in a short period of time is becoming less and less likely. But as you mentioned, there's still a lot of softball to be played, and who knows what's in the future. Maybe the Sooners will peak too early. Maybe injuries take their toll. But all things being equal, a three-peat is looking like a distinct possiblity.

[1KCSoonerFan]

First, if our pitching remains solid to dominant, we are in every game at the least. (If Storako and May keep this up, we don't even need outfielders. Ha!) Pitching excellence is where winning starts.

Second, our Defense has looked very good so far. Defense wins games and travels well.

Third, Team Focus. It seems that if a team catches the Sooner's attention and focus, they are in for a butt-whipping. Keeping the focus and passion every game is key for this team - and HARD to do over so many games. Honestly, I worry about the lower/un-ranked ranked teams the most for this reason. However, If we "Follow the Process" as PG says, we should get the win against most teams most of the time with this level of talent and experience even if we come out Ho-Hum.

Lastly, it comes down to winning 2-out-of-3 once the WCWS race develops. Stats and Averages put their thumbs on the scale the longer the time frame. The Sooners have very big thumbs. My only worry is that in some odd, single game elimination scenario (rather than 2-out-of 3), anything can happen: A decent pitcher gets volcanic hot; A lucky HR; A controversial play at the plate....it happens and has happened before. This is why I cringe when we have bases loaded with no outs and don't score. Nevertheless, I'd bet on the Sooners to win any games where time is on our side.

1.) I want Erickson to win National Freshman of the Year.
2.) I want Jennings to win National Player of the Year.
3.) I want OU to win a Three-peat Championship.

I'm greedy like that.

[Bixby_Sooner]

I've been impressed with the depth of this team. The hitting is not at it's best yet, but it is solid throughout the entire line up. There's not just one person that everyone is looking to for "the hit to get us started".

The pitching has been very good and not just 1 or 2 pitchers. The beauty of that is that Patty hasn't had to name an "Ace" yet.

The quality of this team is such that almost everyone is a plug and play player. I think that comes from PG's strong recommendation that everyone learn at least 2 positions to increase their potential for playing time.

I know our schedule will only get tougher from here until the end of the WCWS, but I think Patty has accounted for that in how she is coaching these games. Everything from batting order to positional placements and substitutions gives her more knowledge and confidence in her lineups andI think will pay big dividends in the bigger games as the season continues.

I like where we are. I know we will get better. I think things (positions & batting order) will solidify by the time we reach Conference play.

[The Far Journey]

I agree with every post so far, so won't rehash them. I'll just touch on three players. Jordy looks like she's working herself into form. I expect her to be at about 100% mid-season. Right now she's still one of the best pitchers in the land. What a pitching staff!

Avery Hodge. Just a personal take. I'm a fan, but, boy, do I hate slapping. It's not where softball is today, especially OU. I don't see her slapping her way into the starting lineup in the future. She's got outstanding bat to ball skills. Swing at it. Jayda went through a slapping spell for a time last year or her first year that dropped her average till she got out of it. Let it be in your arsenal but not all that you do.

Hannah Coor. I think Patty was going to use her in that defensive outfielder in the final innings role. If we're up by a run or two, having an outfield of Coor, Coleman, and Boone is very reassuring. Hope her surgery went well and she's able to come back next year stronger than ever.

[White River]

We are really spoiled as Sooner Softball fans, and we have incredibly high expectations for this team. At this point in the season, I'm pleased with where this team is. We all expected a loss or 2 by this point in the season but we also expected to be #1, so from that standpoint we are on track. There are certainly opportunities for improvement, but the potential for this team leaves plenty to be excited about.

Pitching:
May has been outstanding! She always been a steady performer and I came into the season assuming she would continue to perform on par with last season. The results she's accomplished so far have been a step change improvement. To have a zero ERA with 5 wins in 7 appearances is impressive, no matter who you are playing against. Considering she has thrown against teams like Liberty, Washington, Texas A&M and Utah makes her results incredibly impressive. When you look at 9 walks vs 55 strikeouts, you realize she is not the same pitcher we saw in previous years. I'm not expert enough to know what's changed but even a novice like me can see something is different. I'd appreciate one or more of you softball gurus to break it down for me.

Storako has also been as advertised. Early in the fall I was wowed by her. Then her teammates started hitting her hard and I wondered if she would be a pitcher that gave up a lot of home runs. After 7 appearances, she's only given up 1 HR this season. She's given up 3 walks to 31 strikeouts. She has the ability to dominate, and she has the potential to be a dominate pitcher for a stretch run.

Jordy has looked like a good sophomore pitcher who is recovering from an injury. The 6 walks and 4 earned runs she gave up against Washington along with 4 earned runs against Baylor spooked everyone. Since the Baylor game she’s pitched 14.1 innings and only given up 3 walks and 4 runs. We know what she can be and we know that she’s not back to where she was pre-injury but I think she’s making progress. I don’t know if the difference is physical or mental but either way, I would never bet against her return to dominance! She is no doubt one of the fiercest competitors to ever step between the lines. The fact is, she doesn’t have to be dominate for the Sooners to win it all. Her current performances combined with the other two pitchers is good enough, but I expect her to continue to improve throughout the season.

The Sooner offense has shown what it can be when it gets focused. For starters, I heard several folks talking about Jocelyn Erickson before the season started and the tremendous potential she had. You folks give yourself a pat on the back. She has been spectacular for a senior, much less a freshman! Her .568 batting average, .600 on base percentage and 1.108 slugging percentage rivals the best this program has produced and that’s saying A LOT! Her 5 home runs tie her with Coleman for the team lead so far this season. I keep expecting her to come back to earth but game after game she keeps producing. I’m starting to think this isn’t a hot streak. She may just be that good. To start the season many said Jayda would be a slugging force this season. Another good call on that one! She’s been smashing the ball of late and her .455 batting average, .607 on base percentage and .909 slugging percentage show her improved power. Her 15 walks and team high 21 runs scored are a testimony to her offensive contribution. Nugent has a .412 batting average and a 1.059 slugging percentage. She’s been awesome as well. I said it would take a few weeks for Hansen to get back in the swing offensively. That shows what I know. She has 4 homers and a .870 slugging percentage in an abbreviated season. Don’t overlook Quincee Lilio, (insert short joke here) she’s hitting at a .417 pace and has a .917 slugging percentage. If one of you predicted that you should be playing the lottery!
With all that said there is offensive opportunity. Jennings is only batting .438 with a slugging percentage of .708. That’s certainly not a slump but I think she’s hitting the ball better recently and you expect her to be at or near the top of all the offensive numbers for this team. Sanders came out of the fall swinging the bat like a superstar. I don’t know if there were changes made to her swing over the winter, but she is certainly not herself so far. I believe she will work through this and be the hitter we know she is. If so, our offense will improve.

Defensively, I think we’re very good. I do think the scoring has been generous to say we’ve only made 3 errors. There were concerns about the athleticism of our right fielders and I agree that Coor would have been nice, but I actually think we’re good with what we have. If we need a defensive fielder and Bahl is not pitching, I think she fits that role perfectly.
If the Sooners have an Achilles Heal, it will be a pitcher that can mix speeds and consistently hit the corners combined with an umpire that will give that pitcher the strike just off the plate.
Barring injuries, I really, really like this team’s chances but there are some really good teams we have to beat.

[VNSooner]

An interesting stat
MacKenzie Donihoo (Tenn.) leads NCAA in doubles per game with 12 doubles in 17 games or .71 doubles per game. Her 12 doubles is also most hit by any player in D1 softball.

[OUBeliever56A]

An interesting stat
MacKenzie Donihoo (Tenn.) leads NCAA in doubles per game with 12 doubles in 17 games or .71 doubles per game. Her 12 doubles is also most hit by any player in D1 softball.

It is good to see that Donihoo has found success this year at Tennessee. Sometimes, things just do not work out. Hitting is a very mentally demanding skill and if you get down mentally it can be tough to rebuild that confidence and rebound with good hitting. Ms. Donihoo looks to have turned things around at Tennessee. To me the surprise is that she is playing SS. I fully thought she was capable of playing 2B or maybe 3B but SS seemed to be a bit of a stretch for her. The question I had is about throwing out runners from the 3B-SS deep gap. But if a SS makes all the other plays, she still can be very good. We, at OU, are just spoiled by G3.

Her stats are impressive. .462 BA, .556 OB%, .750 Slug% with 12 doubles and 1 HR and 15 RBIs. Her fielding % is .958 with only 2 errors at SS also.

Continued good luck to Ms. Donihoo.

[Brisket]

Echoing a lot of the same comments from others...

Pitching: A. If Bahl continues to improve, this will trend to an A+. Storako has been as advertised. She's got to be loving life now that she has a stellar defense behind her, gets great run support, and she doesn't have to throw 7 innings every game. May is the star of the show for me. She has improved every season & is an absolute ACE. Hard to do better than a 0.00 ERA thru 7 games, & her secondary stats are all great too. Bahl has clearly been rusty, but does seem to be improving & getting closer to her dominating form from last season. Having 3 top-shelf starters will help keep each other fresh & the competition will push each of them to stay sharp. Deal has been really strong as a true freshman. Love to have the opportunities to bring her in for mop-up duty to get experience & not have to rely on her to pitch in high-pressure situations. The only concern is the walks. 31 through 18 games. Not great. This is mostly on Bahl. I'm confident this will improve as she continues to get back into her groove.

Defense: A+. 3 errors in 18 games; leading the country in fielding percentage. Can't do much better than that. Crisp fielding, solid decision-making & execution. A combination of stellar pitchers & outstanding glovework behind them is a hard combination to beat. 2nd in the country in shutouts is credit both to the pitching and the defense.

Offense: A-. This may be overly critical with a team that leads the country in scoring; in batting average; in slugging percentage; in OPS; second in on-base-percentage; third in HR's per game. Let me explain though. 2/3 of the lineup would get an A+ from me. No complaints when 10 of the 14 players w/ double-digit ABs (not counting Green or Coor) have posted OPS numbers above 1.000. I don't expect it to continue, but Erickson being 4th in the country in SLG% is amazing. Her future is incredibly bright. Nice to have a healthy Kinzie Hansen back! Here's what would push my "grade" up to an A or A+: need to see Lyons, Sanders, & Torres improve. To have a truly "elite" lineup, you need all 9 batters to contribute & be threats. So far this season, that has been the case for 1-6, but 7-9 have struggled. Lyons' power has vanished (SLG below 0.500 vs. 0.864 in 2022) - wonder if this is related to her injury? Sanders & Torres just haven't been very good - both with BAs at .250 & below & OPS sub-.700. That has to get better, or they may lose out on playing time to Hodge, Lillio, Nugent, & even Bahl, who have each put up much better numbers.

Coaching: A+. PG & the coaching staff have done an outstanding job of managing innings for the pitchers; getting Deal some experience. They've also done a fine job of playing & getting ABs for most of the roster. The Baylor game really seems to have "awakened the beast," and it's not like they were bad when they were "asleep." Through the Baylor game they averaged 8 runs scored/game & 1 run allowed/game. Since the Baylor game, they've averaged 9 runs scored/game & 0.56 runs allowed/game. Something has just "felt" or "looked" different since that game - call it energy, confidence, swagger, but they have been firing on almost all cylinders. I trust PG can manage & coach the team to maintain this level of focus & effort b/c the schedule doesn't get any easier from here w/ games against #5 FSU, #21 Auburn, & #22 Northwestern in the next 2 weeks.

[OUBeliever56A]

Where are the Sooners 18 games into the season? That is the question to be answered. In this post I will address the the Schedule and the Offensive side of the game for the Sooners.

Schedule: Strong A
Let's start with the record. 17-1 to open the season while playing at least 7 ranked teams, perhaps 10, and only losing once is a credit to the team. With as many spots that were needed to fill for the Sooners that has to be a positive for the team. The tough schedule does have a bonus as the RPI for the Sooners is sky-high at this point in the season as they have the #2 RPI.

Catcher: Strong A
The loss of Kinzie Hansen to start the season due to an appendectomy, caused a bit of a concern, but that quickly subsided. Sophia Nugent has really played well in 'relief' of Hansen. Nugent has played well defensively and offensively. Nugent hitting .412 BA/.544 OB%/1.059 Slug% is a huge plus. Haley Lee also filled in some for Hansen at catcher while being the DP as well. Lee's numbers are .419 BA/.510 OB%/.698 Slug%. Hansen played for the first time during Weekend #3 and has started well after missing two weeks. Hansen is hitting .304 BA/.333 OB%/.870 slug%. Hansen leads with 4 HRs, with Nugent and Lee each have 3 HRs. Hansen leads in RBIs with 16, while Lee has 15 and Nugent has 11. The only reason that Catcher is not an A+, is that Hansen missed the first two weeks and her BA is down a bit through 2 weekends of play.

1st Base: Strong A
We all thought that Cydney Sanders was going to hit the ground running and repeat her outstanding freshman season at Arizona State. But that has not been the case. While Sanders has rebounded a bit her numbers are still down. Sanders is hitting .250 BA/.297 OB%/.375 Slug%. The strangest number for me is Sanders' 9 strikeouts. Hopefully she finds her swing soon. But, fortunately, Oklahoma has a very good freshman that is on the team. Jocelyn Erickson has filled in for Sanders and posted outstanding numbers. Erickson is hitting .568 BA/.600 OB%/1.108% Slug%. Erickson is tied for the team lead in HRs with 5 and she leads the team with 25 RBIs. Sanders has 1 HR and 7 RBIs. The reason for the 'Strong A' is the slow start by Sanders. Erickson has certainly been very good and it might be the case that Erickson remains as the starting 1B.

Second Base: Strong A
Tiare (TRA) Jennings has been very good defensively and is starting to hit well also. She has started a bit slow but she should heat up and have a strong season. Her offense of .438 BA/.500 OB%/.708 Slug% are certainly strong numbers but her HRs are down with just 3. Quincee Lilio has played some second base as well and has played well also. Lilio is hitting .417 BA/.533 OB%/.917 Slug% slows her promise as a player. Jennings has 3 HRs and 16 RBIs while Lilio has 1 HR and 4 RBIs. Again, the Strong A is only because the power for 'TRA 'is down.

Third Base: Strong A
Alyssa Brito won the 3rd Base job and it can be seen why. Her defense has been strong and her offense is improved. Brito is hitting .386 BA/.451 OB%/.773 Slug%. Brito, Erickson and Coleman led the team in EBH with 10. Brito has 3 HRs with 16 RBIs. Alynah Torres has played a little 3B during the early season and has played well defensively. I will address her offense in the RF notes below. To be a given an 'A+' the position has to be hitting .400. I guess I am tough on that issue.

Shortstop: Just an A, maybe B+
Grace Lyons and her play is a bit down for her to start the season. It started with two errors the first weekend. It recently showed in her hitting dropping off the last weekend. Lyon seven got the day off on Saturday of the most recent weekend. She was likely under-the-weather as she was not even at the field. Having the time off from late in the fall until she showed up for practice in January has to have some effect. Lyons is hitting .341 BA/.438 OB%/.488 slug%. The most dramatic drop is the lack of a HR. Lyons has driven in 10 RBIs though. When used, Avery Hodge has played well at SS in limited play as did Jennings last Saturday for one game. Hodge is hitting .429 with 2 walks in limited play. G3 is still the leader of the infield and still the Captain. But an important part of her game is the power she provides. Until that re-appears, the rating in not a Strong A.

Left Field: Easy A+
Rylie Boone has switched outfield positions and played very well except for one play with an E, when she rushed the play before making a throw to the infield. Her offense has been very good. Boone is hitting .455 BA/.591 OB%/.758 Slug%. Boone has also added 2 HRs and 7 RBIs and 4 SB out of 5 offensively. Her next HR will be a career high. Jordy Bahl has played a bit in LF also. Bahl is hitting .353 BA/.421 OB%/.412 Slug%. Bahl has contributed with 5 RBIs as well. I can not find a reason to not give an 'A+'.

Center Field: Easy A+
Jayda Coleman has started very well both offensively and defensively for the Sooners in 2023. Coleman's .455 BA/.607 OB%/.909 Slug% are very strong offensive numbers. Her defense has been very good also with at least one very good catch already on the season. Coleman's 5 HRs is tied for the team lead and she has added 9 RBIs. When Coleman has not played, Boone has been the primary sub in CF. Again she is a very good outfielder as well. I can not find a reason to not give an 'A+'.

Right Field: Average C-
I think the primary starter in RF is Alynah Torres. Torres has started slowly in 2023. Torres is hitting .235 BA/.316 OB%/.353 Slug%. Torres has 3 EBH with 0 HRs and has 5 RBIs, Erickson and Nugent have also played in RF. They may earn more playing time in RF as the season moves forward. Hodge has also been used a defensive sub in RF late in games several times. At this point in the season, the RF job is still wide open to me. This is a surprise. Until someone becomes the starter with good play, the grade is average at best.

Designated Player/Hitter: Strong A
Haley Lee has been the primary DP in 2023. At times, the position has been used for a designated defensive player with Nugent at C or Lilio at 2B. Bahl has hit for herself when she pitched a couple of times also. Lee's numbers (shown above under C) are very strong for a DP. But like most Sooners this year, I thought there would be a bit more power provided. Lee, who will likley fill the DP along with Hansen, will have to provide more EBH to earn an 'A+'.

Offense in General: Strong B+
It is hard to complain about the Team BA of .392 or the Team OB% of .483, so I won't. But for a couple of Sooners walking more could help. The Team Slug% of .709 is also very good and it does lead the country. BUT, it is not what the team should be putting up for EBH. The regular season has 52 games in 2023. So the 18 games played is a little more than a third of the regular season. the EBH are 35 doubles, 6 triples and 31 HRs currently. If you pro-rate the EBH, they become 101 doubles, 17 triples and 90 HRs. I would have expected about 85 doubles, 7 triples and 125 HRs through the regular season. Maybe the Sooners are replacing HRs with doubles this season. But even with that, the HRs are down for the Sooners. The Stolen Bases are 18 for 21 so far which is a little down from the last two seasons. But the CS are down. I will say the steals are even due to that. The ability to hit HRs is what sets Oklahoma apart from other teams. For now the offense is no better than a 'B+' But the hitting and OB% are strong A's.

I will post about the Defensive Play and the Pitching in my next post here.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

I will post about the Defensive Play and the Pitching in this post.

Team Defense: Strong A
Let's begin with defense. The team defense has been strong this season. We have seen good play at almost every position this season. The team has credited with ONLY 3 errors on the season. If I think back, I can think of 3 more plays where it is likely that 3 more errors could have been charged against the Sooners. If that was the case, the Sooners the fielding % would be .985 instead of .992 that it is currently. The .985 would still be very good, the .992 is excellent. The bigger thing is that the defense takes away from the opposing offenses. I can think of at least two plays that turned hits into outs and a couple of high level double plays that get lost in the stats. The only concern I have is that the Sooner catchers have not thrown out any base stealers. It is true that there have only been 3 bases stolen against the Sooners, I wish we had thrown one or two out. Hopefully, as Hansen plays more this will work itself out. With an A, only the SB are a concern.

Nicole May: Strong A+
It looks like in 2023 that Nicole May has made a significant step-up in her pitching. Her 0.00 ERA in 32.0 innings is impressive enough, but virtually every number for May has improved as well. Her H/IP is a wickedly low 0.42. Her W-HB is also very low at 0.35. Combined May is allowing 0.77 baserunners per inning. WOW! The most impressive number may be he improved K's/IP. May have struck out 1.77 batters each inning in 2023. All of these numbers are improvements, large improvements over 2022 for May. May has only given up 2 EBH, both doubles in 2023. May has been excellent in 2023. The only thing she needs to do is pitch against a top team or two with the same success, which when she does, I expect her to be successful. With an A+, no comments are needed.

Alex Storako: Strong A+
Alex Storako has stepped into the Oklahoma Sooner pitching circle and has said, "I am here, I am ready!" Storako is exactly right so far. She has pitched very well with impressive wins over Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, UCLA and Kentucky. The game Storako pitched against UCLA could be a signature win for Storako this season, maybe for her career. Storako's H/IP is a wicked 0.43. Storako's W-HB/IP is another wicked number at 0.19 and her K/IP is 1.21 which is also strong. Storako has a 0.27 ERA for the season due to one solo HR she gave up to Stanford in her first puting of the season. Storako has only given up two EBH, the HR and one double. Storako is meeting every expectations, no she has exceeded the expectations so far. With an A+, no comments are needed.

Jordy Bahl: Strong B
Jordy Bahl is working her way back into the form she displayed in April and May in 2022 before her forearm injury. That form from 2022 is a lofty goal to reach. So far in 2023, we see a Jordy Bahl that is giving up more hits, more HRs and more walks than in 2022. Bahl's H/IP is 0.75. Bahl has allowed 4 HR so far in 2023 compared to 4 she gave up in all of 2023. Bahl has also allowed W-HB/IP of 0.44. Bahl's baserunners per inning of 1.14 compares to 0.807 for 2022. With Bahl's time off during the summer of 2022 for the first time in many years, Bahl is allowed some rust in her return to the circle. Bahl is getting better as she showed against Kentucky this weekend. Bahl's current ERA is a low 2.33, but it is high for Ms. Bahl compared to last year. I truly believe that she will continue her improvement as the season moves along. The 'Strong B' is a tough grade I think. I believe that Bahl will be pitching at an 'A' level soon.

Kiersten Deal: Strong B+
Kiersten Deal has done exactly what she has been asked to do so far in 2023. As a freshman, she has been used somewhat sparingly. I was surprised Deal did not start on Saturday against UI-Chicago. But in the times Deal has pitched, she has pitched well. She has a 0.62 ERA as she has only allowed one earned run in 11.1 innings of pitching. Deal is allowing 1 base runner per inning and has only allowed 1 EBH (a double). I expect to see Deal fill a more useful role as the season moves forward. As a lefty, she can be a valuable reliever in some situations for the Sooners. Maybe Deal can get a couple more starts before the Big 12 schedule starts. The only reason for the 'B+' grade is that she has not pitched a 'critical inning' yet against an elite team. I think Deal is going to be a good one for the Sooners.

[waddy's ghost]

I am very excited and encouraged thus far this season. I'm excited because of jow we rebounded from a slow (by Gasso standards during OUr decade of titie runs ) start .I'm encouraged because there is much room to improve in that Sanders and Torres are far from what was expected upon transferring and I think PG will get them untracked .

Pitching wise the only thing lacking is a return to form by Super Bahl . She currently has a era double that of last season. I think this is a confidence issue stemming from the injury and again I trust PG to help her through this .Fielding is outstanding .

Theonly thing keeping us from a threepeat is injury or complacency . The former is out of OUr contrql and the latter is unlikely with Gasso finding ways to push her team forward .

[TN Sooner]

Best of this team so far, relative to my expectations:

Brito at 3rd - I had questions (as did many others) about the logic of moving her to the IF. Consider those questions answered at this point.

May/Storocco - I didn’t so much have questions here, but I also didn’t consider them in consideration for “Ace” on a championship squad. I was wrong. They are both top 10-15 in the Ace category. Jordy has been a notch below my expectations, but in hindsight, I should have expected a slower start - injury rehab and taking months off. Best news is her free passes were very limited this past weekend - believe she is getting close to form.

Jocy - I certainly didn’t think any of the freshmen had any chance to become an everyday player, but Jocy has grabbed the reins and is now a mainstay in the rotation. She has played some RF - not sure that is a strength, but if Cyd gets back to form, RF might be in her future just to get AB’s.

Jayda - slow power start for her (even tho she was still acting as a normal lead off) - certainly seems that power has returned and I love seeing it.

Grace - I’m worried about her health. Feel there is more going on. I suspect she’ll take some days off and May also lose and AB to PH. I’m fine with her being an “average” bat to keep her glove and leadership on the field.

I thought we’d lose 2-3 during first 4 weekends. Would not have expected it to be bailor. But - all in all, a lot to be happy about.