RahOKU wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 7:49 am
When you compare Kern's numbers vs. top 25 opponents and then measure her against OU's team and individual batting stats, are the OU stats also limited to performance against top 25 opponents? Just checking.
No, I didn't do that drill down, because this was arguably the toughtest season schedule that PG has put together since arriving in Norman. I also felt that getting her stats for 13 games was more of an advantage for her than batting for the whole season - especially since full hitting details were not available on their website. If anyone fees that skews the numbers, then so be it.
There were a few common opponents, i.e Mississippi State, Tennessee and Louisville to name 3. I'll go back and measure her numbers and our averages against common opponents and see what it looks like.
A commitment is NOT a reservation - Brent Venables 3/21/22
I went back and checked Taryn's performance against common opponents with OU. There were 5 - Mississippi State, Louisville, Auburn, Northwestern, and Tennessee. We did not play an equal number of games against each opponent, but I included stats for all games played.
OU played 8 games against common opponents with Indiana. Indiana played 7. We played 1 against Tennessee, they played 2. We played 2 against Auburn, they played 1.
In those games,
OU 67-161 = .416 average
Kern 3-15 = .200 average - 6 BB
If I drop game stats for OU's best game of the 8 and compare the remaining7 games vs. Kern's 7 games, it looks like this:
OU 56-140 = .400 average
Kern 3-15 = .200 average - 6 BB
A commitment is NOT a reservation - Brent Venables 3/21/22
If Patty wants Kern, she should get her. However, I don’t see her as much help for the Sooners, certainly not in 2024. Her skills are our strongest area right now. I’d frankly rather let Patty use the players already on hand or committed than to take Kern.
Lock down the pitcher and give Torres a ton of catcher work this fall. Hodge, Lilio, Coor (maybe missing someone?) and the new freshmen get lots of fall ball looks.
And, I’m trying to remember that what the Sooners have done the last 3 years is very unusual. We can still win championships even if we suffer a few more losses in the regular season. Won’t be the end of the world to lose 6-8 games.
And I still hope that a fall 2024 freshman reclassifies to be eligible for spring 2024…
TN Sooner wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 10:42 am
If Patty wants Kern, she should get her. However, I don’t see her as much help for the Sooners, certainly not in 2024. Her skills are our strongest area right now. I’d frankly rather let Patty use the players already on hand or committed than to take Kern.
Lock down the pitcher and give Torres a ton of catcher work this fall. Hodge, Lilio, Coor (maybe missing someone?) and the new freshmen get lots of fall ball looks.
And, I’m trying to remember that what the Sooners have done the last 3 years is very unusual. We can still win championships even if we suffer a few more losses in the regular season. Won’t be the end of the world to lose 6-8 games.
And I still hope that a fall 2024 freshman reclassifies to be eligible for spring 2024…
I'm curious whether Kern struggles with fielding or throwing or both? If we get her I think she will be productive as a hitter, maybe a DH? She still hit opponents when Indiana was in the playoffs. 1 HR vs. Tennessee. And she will only be a sophomore coming in and we need talent for 2025 forward.
TN Sooner wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 10:42 am
If Patty wants Kern, she should get her. However, I don’t see her as much help for the Sooners, certainly not in 2024. Her skills are our strongest area right now. I’d frankly rather let Patty use the players already on hand or committed than to take Kern.
Lock down the pitcher and give Torres a ton of catcher work this fall. Hodge, Lilio, Coor (maybe missing someone?) and the new freshmen get lots of fall ball looks.
And, I’m trying to remember that what the Sooners have done the last 3 years is very unusual. We can still win championships even if we suffer a few more losses in the regular season. Won’t be the end of the world to lose 6-8 games.
And I still hope that a fall 2024 freshman reclassifies to be eligible for spring 2024…
Do you have someone in mind here?
This is a very interesting thought that I had not considered at all.
The Sooners need a backup catcher. Corri Hicks is a talented catcher and with a powerful baat that will arrive in August of 2024. Is it possible that Coach Gasso could want Hicks to arrive instead in January and learn from Hansen for a season before Hansen moves on and Hicks assumes the starting catcher role. The catching position for the sooners has always been extremely important for the Sooners since the early 2010s with Jessica Shultz at catcher.
The Sooners need pitching depth. Audrey Lowry is a talented LHP joining the Sooners in August of 2024. Would the Sooner coaches want her to arrive in January to get her ready a year earlier for when the Sooners jump into the SEC in 2025? With Monticelli being added to the Sooners roster, I doubt the Sooners would use a year of Lowry eligibility to provide 'depth' in 2024.
The Sooners need a SS or an infielder to replace either Brito or Jennings or even can just move Torres to the SS position for 2024. The Sooners do have Hodge who learned for a year from Lyons in 2023. The Sooners do have a freshman arriving this August in McEnroe-Marianas. But the Sooners do have Sydney Barker as a 2024 recruit that seems to have great reviews and could be a 'generational' player with size, and arm, soft hands and a powerful bat. I think the SS position or whatever is opened up, can be filled without asking Barker to graduate early.
That seems like the possibilities to me....interesting thought though!
I don’t have the knowledge to address who, but I just thought there is a void that might be interesting for a young lady to consider. Pitcher or catcher is the most needed and might be worth giving up a final high school season and all the “senior” non-softball stuff.
I'm pretty cool to this idea. Not that it hasn't happened with success, Kenleigh Cahalan at Bama this season is a good example: started and played in all 66 games for them.
But it seems to me that it's a lot to ask someone to give up the only Senior year in high school they'll ever have and all that goes with that to start college a year early. And physically, they are still growing and I'd rather have the 22 yr old senior version of that player rather than the 17 yr old freshman version.
I'm probably way old fashioned in this kind of thinking....but that's just me, I guess.
I've read various posters saying we don't need Kern for 24 and I wouldn't argue. If Vawter is Sooner inbound, which seems likely, you could say the same about Monticelli. Now look ahead to 25, the Sooners first season in the SEC SEC! With the amount of talent OU will loose after 24, I'm sorry but the next 2 recruiting class by themselves aren't gonna make up the difference in talent let alone experience. So if Patty can get Taryn Kern, good because we will need her in Spring of 2025 for sure.
We do lose a lot after next season. But so do most schools. I thought that we had another year or two of the transfer portal being crazy, but it's calmed down this year for some reason.
