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Softball 2021 season preview

alabamagrizzly

Well-known member
Editors note: I almost didn’t start writing the preview this year. I really had to talk myself into getting going on this after the way the last nearly a year has gone. There was big hopes for last years team, maybe the best Griz team ever, and the championship banner was ripped out from under them, so to speak. Once I finally started though, I quickly got that hyped feeling again. This program is really starting to become something special I think. The caliber of athletes that Coach Meuchel is bringing in and the attitude and gritty style that these girls represent is something that’s hard to come by. I’m really excited for this team this year and years down the road. Go Griz!

Is it softball season already? Maybe? Hopefully? What a loooong strange year it’s been. Seems like forever ago these girls were in the midst of finishing up their best non con schedule in program history and then the bottom fell out. Here we are now, less then a year later, and I’d think the Griz are ready to get back on the field. Last years team had made vast pitching and fielding improvements from the previous seasons disappointing results, jumping back into the usual con leading numbers after finishing 2nd(1.5 runs behind 1st; that’s a lot) and 5th in pitching and fielding in ‘19. With tons of experience returning and a few fresh faces that are poised to make an immediate impact, if this season plays out, expect a championship.

2020 season recap
🤮🤮🤮
Last year had all the hopes of a championship run only to be dashed to bits on the rocks far below. Then it was washed out sea. Then the sharks ate the remains. Before all that destruction though, Montana had the makings of a sensational season, setting W-L standards for the school during the non con schedule while leading the league in ERA and fielding percentage. Maybe one of the most devastating stories from last years fall out was the fizzling loss of Michael Hood’s rejuvenation and opportunity to rewrite the Big Sky pitching record books. Offensively wasn’t great bringing up the rear in team BA but we were also leading the league in homers. Chalking up our first and second wins in program history vs a power five school including #23 Arkansas in Fayetteville was also a huge step in the schools positive trajectory. It’s only a matter of time where not only will we consistently compete for con titles(essentially we already do😊), but also start making a splash in the NCAA’s instead of just being a “two and done”.

Normally I include a link to last years review here but we’re not looking back anymore...well atleast after this next section. Plus, I never wrote one.

Here’s a link to last years stats https://stats.gogriz.com/custompages/sports/w-softbl/2019-2020/teamcume.htm

Player departures
This section is usually my least favorite but this years group ended their Griz careers with too many unanswered questions and goals that they were never given the opportunity to reach for.

Morgan Johnson/DP
Morgan Johnson will always be one of my sentimental favorites, being a Missoula native. It’s rare a hometown kid gets to play for their school, let alone shine. Although she started slowly in her career, she matured into one of the most feared power hitters in the con her Jr year and was carrying it over to her Sr season before the cancellation. She finished tied for 6th on Montana’s career homer list. Like all of her fellow seniors though, she’s chosen pass on her extra Sr season move on with her professional life.

Anne Marie Patrino/LF
Anne Marie had been a mainstay in LF since her Fr year. The bat hasn’t always been there but her speed and defensive abilities have been under appreciated while here. Finishing her career tied for 3rd in stolen bases with 12, she also finished with a .966fl% only committing 6 errors in four years. I for one, was in favor of replacing her for her bat but her defensive skills and base path speed proved that she was a vital cog to this team year in and year out.

Kylie Hayton/CF
Kylie stepped into the starting CF role as a Jr and played pretty well. A back up to Makenna McGill her first two years, she ended up losing the starting position to sensational OFer Brooklyn Weisgram. A solid roll player, she finished her career 5th in stolen bases with 10.

Katie Pippel/RF
Pippel was one of the big “feel food” stories of ‘19. She not only won the starting RF position as a last second tryout, but excelled hitting .337 and slugged .528 while only committing one error in 38 games. She then RS last year, I believe while recovering from as injury. Unfortunately this year she is no longer on the Griz roster and appears to be living back home in Washington. Whatever her journeys lead her too, her efforts were appreciated and will be missed.

Michaela Hood/P
Here’s saving the best, and the most missed, for last with absolutely zero disrespect meant for the others. Michaela set the pitching standard here at Montana and, if not for an unfortunate injury and Sr season cancellation, she would have certainly rewrote the Big Sky pitching record books. Finishing her career 1st in almost all of Montana’s rankings, she finished 3rd in the Big Sky in career ERA with 2.93(1st is 2.71), 4th in opp BA at .262(1st is .229), 7th in CG with 35(1st is 65), 6th in shutouts with 8(1st is 17), and 5th in K’s with 388(1st is 567), despite missing over a season due to injury and the covid, plus a whole other season where she was, at best, 75% most of the season. Her Phoenix like rejuvenation her Sr season was, to me, the biggest loss out side the possible con championship. Her 2.13 era and her 71k/75.2ip(all numbers good for 2nd in con) through the amazing non con sched were sure indicators that she was having a career year. Oh well, it is what it is. Infamous last words. Regardless, Auchenbach will likely pass her since it was she who Michaela was 2nd to in K’s, but thanks to Michaela, these numbers are now the standard here at Montana.

Projected starters for 2021
This year’s defensive line up will look very similar to last years, and the year before that. First, Second, Third, and Short will all be filled for the 3rd year in a row by the same girls. Catcher will have a seasoned Jr and So battling and likely only one of our starting OFers will have no college experience. One interesting note about our roster. This is the most balanced it’s been from Sr to Fr. Obviously our first four years were heavily unbalanced, having 15 Fr in our first recruiting class and graduating 11 after the ‘18 season. Coach Pinkerton had stated that ideally you want five seniors graduating and five freshman coming in and I believe Coach Mel follows that same thought. With our incoming Fr class named this last Nov/Dec, we stand at 4Sr/4Jr/4So/5Fr/5signing class. On to who’s where, but nothing about what, I don’t know, and I don’t give a damn. Sorry😁.

First Base
Sr Cami Sellers will most likely be the most feared offensive first baseman in the con and should contend for league MVP. Her blistering .484 BA vs league opponents as a So in ‘19 and her .297 clip vs our usually tuff non con opposition last year are sure signs that we should expect big things from her. Her 40 career extra base hits(13 homers) will be a major asset.

Second Base
Sr Lexi Knauss started all of ‘19 as a So performing admirably as a 1st year starter with zero experience. She hit .284 and fielded at a .940% committing 13 errors. Her speed and power were limited though. Last year she split time with So Kendall Curtis at about a 70/30 rate. Her BA dropped considerably to .192 while Curtis hit .220 as a Fr after having a big Fr fall filling in for an injured Knauss. The big knock on Knauss is her K rate. She strikes out 27% of her at bats. Curtis on the other hand is 12%. But as Coach has shown before, who ever the better player at the time is, that’s who will play. A side note on Knauss, her next triple, which will be her 6th career, breaks a five-way tie for the club record.

Third Base
Jr Kylie Becker took over 3rd as a Fr in ‘19 and has never looked back. After a bit of a slow start, she vastly improved through the con schedule hitting .306 in league play, earning Honorable Mention despite hitting .232 on the season. Last year she was hitting a respectable .257 through the non con games until the cancellation, well under way to solidifying her way to one of the best 3B in the league. After shining in fall ball this last year in the new unique format(I’ll explain later), I’d expect two more solid to star level years out of her.

Shortstop
Maygen McGrath, like Kylie, is only a Jr and well on her way to claiming the best in the league at her position, much like her predecessor did. A .311 career hitter and 12 career homers, which is already 5th best in school history. She should be 2nd sometime this year, being seven short of Sydney Stites. Her fielding improved dramatically, improving from an .899fl% as a Fr to a .938 last year. More experience will only improve that. After an amazing fall, she should be primed and ready to go, and will most likely be Sellers competition for league MVP.

Left Field
Jr Brooklyn Weisgram broke out right away her Fr year hitting .305 with 3 homers in the non con sched but has been on a gradual decline since then. She finished the 2nd half of her Fr year hitting .250 with 1 extra base hit and carried into last years shortened season going .200 at the plate, albeit with four extra base hits, two of which went yard. A sign she may be trending upward though came this last fall where she was the top point scorer on day one(you’ll see what I mean later). Another upside to her is the improvement of her fielding. Her Fr year started with an .795fl% committing 8 errors through the non con, most of which was played in RF. For the con sched, she flipped over to LF and finished the season perfect on 13 attempts. Last year she took over CF and committed 2 errors for a .946%. Not amazing but not bad. With Fr Elise Ontiveros’s speed in Center, moving Weisgram to left should be a good move.

Center Field
Now on to Fr Elise Ontiveros. If she’s not starting in Center on day 1, it shouldn’t take long for her to end up there. One of two Fr who are poised to make a big impact this year. She has lightning speed which was on display in high school during her 53 career stolen bases on 53 attempts. She was a .410 career hitter with a .461 average if you take away her Fr .288 average. She’s adding power to her long frame also, hitting 17 extra base hits(4 homers) her last 33 career games(Jr and Sr season) vs 5 extra base hits her first 39 games(Fr and So). Her one question mark might be her glove. She has a .900 career fielding percentage, committing 5 errors in 50 opportunities. Her play improved over her Jr and Sr years fielding at a .944 rate. She also showed good signs playing well this last fall, registering an OF assist and recording an RBI single of Tristan Achenbach. We’ll have to see how well she transitions from high school to college ball this spring.

Right Field
So Julie Phelps should start here since she started 22 of 24 games last year as a Fr in right. Offensively she’s still on the learning curve hitting .214 with one extra base hit but she’s proving to be a decent enough fielder, committing only one error on her 13 chances. Expect to see some of our back up infielders see some time out here too though.

Catcher
Jr MaKenna Tjaden took over catcher duties last year after splitting time with Sr Jessica McAlister as a Fr. Offensively she’s caught up pretty quickly, hitting .135 as a frosh and .255 last year, adding on to that, a real strong fall which really means something this year(once again, I’ll explain later). Defensively is where she shines though, committing only one error in 196 chances for a .995 fielding percentage which is just ridiculous. McAlister’s been no slouch either, starting at 3rd as a Fr and earning Honorable Mention at C as a So. Offensively she does have a little more pop then Tjaden but her BA dipped drastically from .320 as a soph to .158. Granted, a lot of that was just hitting good shots right at the defense but still, numbers don’t lie. Defensively she’s real good, but Tjaden’s real great. When McAlister’s not catching though, she may pop up in many other positions.

Designated Player
So Ashley Ward may be the front runner for this slot but expect many faces to show up here. It’s very rarely that Coach settles on one bat here. Ward has shown moments of what her bat has the potential to produce, as in her 3 run shot vs Michigan St last year that broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth. Hitting .235 in 17 at bats as a Fr isn’t exactly spectacular but zero strikeouts is a good indicator of her eye for the ball. After all, it was her hitting ability more then her pitching that dominated in high school, albeit she wasn’t too shabby of a pitcher either, winning Nevada’s pitcher of the year as a Sr after winning the states offensive POY as a Jr.

The Reserves
Infield
So Jaxie Klucewich is name Griz football fans should recognize. Niece to two former Griz and cousin of a future Griz star, she’s got maroon in her blood, well mixed with a little copper and gold. As a middle infielder, she seen little playing time her Fr year, collecting three hits in nine plate appearances and successfully fielding all six of her opportunities. In fall ball she seen some OF time which should get her more time in the lineup.
Fr Kelly Sewyer comes in with a lot of potential and some pretty high comparisons. A 3B by trade, Coach Mel has compared her to Delene Colburn, quite easily considered the greatest Griz of all time(six short seasons😊). I’m hoping thats a comparison Coach won’t make lightly and judging by her high school numbers and her performance this last fall, Coach knows what she’s talking about. An All State 3B her Jr year out of Woodland Wa(ranked 40th in the country by MaxPreps), she hits with average and power and has a great glove. Hitting a 3 run homer in fall ball showed that she’s gonna be able to continue her plate awareness into college.

Outfield
No Backup OFers specifically but, because of the girls the Coach Mel try’s to recruit, most of them are plug and play and will fill in most anywhere.

Catcher
Fr Riley Stockton will be the third string catcher this year but she’s gonna have moments to shine still. A good defensive mind and a decent bat, the latter at the very least will get her some DP time in. Showing it this fall, she had a 3 hit day on day 1 including 2 doubles.

Utility
Fr Anna Toon, much like Ashley Ward last year, brings not only a big arm, but a strong bat too. A two time Montana Gatorade POtY winner, the RH Pitcher/Shortstop dominated batters at the plate and feasted on pitchers when she was up to bat. In 28 appearances in high school, she struck out 165 batters in 135 innings while recording a 2.18 era. In 169 at bats, the LHed batter smacked 16 homers while batting .448 and slugging .902. She only struck out seven times and notched 15 stolen bases. Obviously we have to see if she can translate that success to the next level but our last Gatorade POtY(Achenbach) has done all right so far.

The Pitchers
Tristin Achenbach Sr
Now with Michaela gone, Tristin is the clear ace, not that she probably already wasn’t the ace already last year. While most of Michaela’s school records will be unattainable for Tristan, she is currently the school record holder in strikeouts/7 innings at 6.2. Another amazing stat, in 1054 batters faced, she’s committed 4 wild pitches. Michaela owns the school record for most at 36. Achenbach was dialed in again this fall and with a very seasoned defense behind her and most likely seeing most of the innings, she should be poised to have a big Sr year.
Allie Brock Fr
Allie Brock is a name you will quickly learn when watching Griz games. Most likely the #2 pitcher in the rotation despite yet to throw an official pitch for Montana. Voted
Oregon’s 4A Pitcher otY as So and a Jr while winning back to back state titles. Her numbers are pure domination. In three years(Sr season was never started) she totaled a 49-6 record with a 0.90 era. In 311 innings she struck out 556 batters, almost two per inning. Her 18 and 19 year old travel team numbers were just as impressive going 36-1 with a sub 1.00 era while striking out 254 batters. A very good skill set with a high maturity level, she showed in fall that she’ll start to elevate that domination to the college level. On day one of fall ball, like every pitcher not named Tristan, she struggled some. She found her grove on day 2 though allowing one hit in six innings. She also smacked a homer. With Achenbach graduating this year, giving Allie a year to settle in to college play, she should be poised to dominate the Big Sky for for the following years after that.
Ashley Ward So
Ward’s bat has already etched itself in Griz history with the game winning rbi over Mich St with her 3 run shot in the 6th, the 2nd win ever in program history over a power 5. Her arm still has yet to make a statement. The Nevada Gatorade PotY and Pitcher otY as a Sr only pitched 7.1 innings last year. Numbers weren’t great either recording a 7.64 era and 3 k’s vs 13 hits. Obviously experience will improve her results but two new solid pitchers in the rotation won’t help her number of outings.
Anna Toon Fr
Anna Toon gives us Montana’s four of the last five Gatorade PotY award winners coupled with Achenbach. Coming in as a Pitcher/Shortstop, she should get some opportunities to produce this year. I’m guessing she’ll be 3rd/4th in the rotation depending on if Ward can raise her own level of play and how well Anna transitions to D1 ball.

Incoming Fr/Transfers
Allie Brock Fr P
La Grande High, La Grande Or

As I mentioned earlier, Allie will be one of the gems from this group. A highly decorated and established pitcher at a pretty high level of high school ball. Adding to her two state championships are three Triple Crown Valley Invite Div II championships from her travel team. She’s a proven winner with nearly 90 combined victories and over 800 strikeouts in her high school age career. Coach says she has great control and poise in the circle. She’s a big, dominant pitcher that will overpower the batters. I’m sure, by the time she’s done, she’ll be adding some Big Sky Championships to her resume.
Elise Ontiveros Fr OF
Independence High, Bakersfield Ca

Elise is another champion caliber athlete that will own much more then her third of the outfield. A tall lanky gazelle in center, she’s going to terrorize gap hitters around the league while also terrorizing pitchers and defenses on the base paths. She was an All Region selection as a Jr and as a So her high school won its first ever CIF Central Section Div III championship. Coach says that Elise has a great mind for the game and is always one step ahead of the play.
Kelly Sewyer Fr IF
Woodland High, Woodland Wa

More championships and more versatility. Like most of the girls on this roster Kelly can play many positions. A 1st team All State selection at 3B as a Jr, her Woodland Wa team was also a 2x 2A state champion. A possible prelude to the amazing comparison Coach had given her(Colburn), Kelly once entered a home run contest, hitting 19 in the final round, including 11 consecutive at one point. She should be a power hitting force down the road for us.
Anna Toon Fr P/UT
Great Falls High, Great Falls Mt

Anna’s the 2nd big name pitcher from Montana to join the Griz after Achenbach. She’s definitely not quite the pitcher Tristan was in high school but she’s certainly a more powerful hitter. Two more state championships come with Toon, staying to a trend that the Griz like to recruit winners. Or maybe it’s just real good players that help their teams win championships. Along with pitching, she can play anywhere in the infield and was getting reps in the OF in fall. I’d expect she’ll get plenty of opportunities to show what she can do.
Riley Stockton Fr C
Spanaway High, Spanaway Wa

You can never have too many catchers, well maybe no more then three or four. As many coaches will tell you, you’re one foul tip away from being down a catcher. Stockton comes in after being named All South Puget Sound as a So and a Jr. Coach loves her command presence and her offense has bee steadily improving.

Here’s a link to the roster https://gogriz.com/sports/softball/roster

Fall Season Recap
The fall season was very interesting this year and actually may prove more beneficial then the previous fall seasons. Due to the covid, no teams came to town this year. The Griz instead played a unique system involving splitting the team into 3 teams and playing an individualized scoring system. Two of the teams would take the field while the 3rd batted and they rotated through the teams splitting the innings into thirds instead of half’s. The upside to this is usually we’re playing teams of a much lower caliber and completely dominate them. Here, the girls are facing D1 competition which challenges them a lot more. The downside is the girls are facing the exact same faces they see in practice every single day. They played two scrimmages under this format with Day 1 going to the offense and day 2 going to the pitchers and defense. As I had mentioned earlier Achenbach, McGrath, and Weisgram had the best outings but several girls had big moments and good days. A third game would have been nice but that’s the perspective of a selfish fan.

Here’s the links to this years fall write ups
Day 1 https://gogriz.com/news/2020/10/3/softball-fall-ball-with-a-hint-of-spring.aspx
Day 2 https://gogriz.com/news/2020/10/10/softball-griz-wrap-up-fall-scrimmages.aspx

2021 Schedule
At this point, just over a week from our first “scheduled” game, there are many unknowns about the non con schedule. On GoGriz the only scheduled games are the first weekend at Grand Canyon and the con schedule. I’ve also managed to scrounge up a couple other scheduled games by searching some other teams schedules and found some very intriguing match ups. Obviously the two games against #10 ranked Oregon the opening weekend in Arizona are huge games. They were one swing of the bat from being our first power 5 victory back in ‘17 when facing a #5 ranked Oregon in Hawaii. Colleen Driscoll pitched a jem in a 0-1 loss on a cold windy day. Picking up one of these wins this year would be a huge boost for us out of the gate. Host’s Grand Canyon normally has a strong team and have been a frequent foe of the Griz. Last year was a rare sub .500 year for them where we played twice and won both to even the series at 6-6. The next weekend we possibly may play #2 ranked Washington. I’ve confirmed BYU who finished last season with a #42 RPI ranking, #90 ranked Utah Valley, #149 Utah St, and 1st year D1 member Dixie St. Utah Valley might as well be in our con for how many times we’ve played, scheduling a 3 game series with each other each year since 18. The Griz own the record at 6-3 after winning the first six games but UV has won the last 3 including both games last year at neutral sites. The 3 game series at UV was part of the cancellation. Along with this matchup at St George Ut hosted by Dixie St, the Griz will host UV for three games the weekend before the con schedule starts. As I mentioned we may also possibly play Wash or Nevada because they are also at St George that weekend but non of our three schedules are complete so I can’t know for sure. The next two weekends I can’t find anything on but I only checked about 15-20 teams schedules and over half of them are not up yet despite being so close to the season. The following weekend we play three games vs SEC opponent Texas A&M who finished last years RPI ranking at #49. They are currently unranked in the USA/Today poll(38 teams receiving votes) but are 31st in the ESPN poll. We also play Louisiana Tech after the 3rd game with A&M. When the con schedule starts is when this season gets very interesting for us. In our preseason poll we finished 3rd behind Weber St who received five 1st place votes and Sac St who received two votes. We didn’t get any. Those two are the perennial con champs and always our toughest opponents to get by. This year though we host both of them in Missoula, with Weber St coming as usual the last weekend of conference play. Now remember regardless of this season’s standings, this years tourney will be played in Ogden due to WSU winning the con regular season title in ‘19. Thanks to the cons, and in my personal opinion, dumb decision to change the rule of how the con tourney host is determined, we’re playing for the chance to host next year’s tourney. Ok, whatever. Anyways, I do give the con credit in granting this schedule one more season because it was our con schedule last year. Due to covid the con just extended the sched one year which continues the chance for us to have this perfect set up.

Here’s a link to the schedule https://gogriz.com/sports/softball/schedule/2021

Sneak peak at next years recruits
Dana Butterfield is a P/1B out of Glencoe High from Hillsboro, Ore. She was a second-team all-state selection in Oregon as a sophomore, when she went 20-3 with a 1.43 ERA and 254 strikeouts in 151.2 innings pitched. She also was named the Pacific Conference Pitcher of the Year as the Crimson Tide won the league title. At the plate she offers a .365 BA while hitting seven homers in 167 at bats. Butterfield also plays for the Northwest Bullets. Her age-group club team won a Premier Girls Fastpitch national championship in Irvine, Calif., in August 2018. Coach Mel says she is a power pitcher with great movement who really loves to compete. Here’s a link to her MaxPreps profile page with complete stats https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/dana-butterfield/keazfx5SEeiT-Oz0u-e-FA/softball/stats.htm

Grace Hardy is a 3B/SS from Missoula Sentinel. She also has some pitching experience but I’m pretty sure she won’t be called on to pitch at Montana baring, GOD forbid, an emergency need. She was last seen batting .510 as a sophomore, a season cut short by injury prior to the state tournament and then of course missing all of last year like most spring athletes. She should bring some power also, smacking 11 of her 25 hits for extra bases including 6 homers. Not sure on her defensive numbers since Sentinel’s coach didn’t provide them to MaxPreps. Coach says she’s someone who loves to practice and get better. Here’s her MaxPreps link https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/grace-hardy/AJiJMyk3EeiT-Oz0u-e-FA/softball/stats.htm

Presley Jantzi is an outfielder from West Albany High in Albany, Ore. Jantzi has been a standout in Oregon, earning first-team all-state honors as a sophomore after being named honorable mention all-state as a freshman. She also plays for the Northwest Bullets, the same travel team that fellow recruit Butterfield plays for. She made The Oregonian's list of the state's best hitters at the end of her sophomore year, when she was hitting .592, with three home runs and an on-base percentage of .683. She will hopefully become the Tekesha Saltern(Weber St) type player that we’ve never had here. Coach Mel sounds real excited about her. "She will be a triple threat offensively for us out of the left side. We have seen the power of her game grow each time we watch her play. She can drag bunt, slap and drive the ball for some power. She can hit but do the other parts of the game. She really roams the outfield well and has a great arm. And she is spunky. She'll add a great personality. She is also a good student with high academic honors." Here’s her MaxPreps link but unfortunately her Coach reports very little of their games to MaxPreps so her stats are extremely limited. There’s only 4 of the teams 32 games from her So year. https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/presley-jantzi/8awTrRAUEeiT-Oz0u-e-FA/softball/stats.htm

Kynzie Mohl is a big catcher from Glacier High from Kalispell, Mt. At 5’10”, as a Fr and a So, she has batted .425, with 57 hits and 43 RBIs. Twenty-one of her hits have gone for extra bases, 11 of which were home runs. With all these girls Jr years being negated, it’ll be interesting to see how much these girls developed in two years. Of course, I’m sure they all still had travel ball seasons. Coach loves her hitting ability. She says Kynzie can drive the ball with a lot of power. Here’s her MaxPreps link https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/kynzie-mohl/6nuz9DKrEeiT-Oz0u-e-FA/softball/stats.htm

Hannah Jablonski is a middle infielder/utility player from Kamiakin High in Kennewick, Wash. She was a bit of a late addition, being announced almost a month later. She was named 2nd Team All-Mid-Columbia Athletic Conference as a sophomore while playing on a fairly poor team, maybe being a bit of a “diamond in the ruff” type of player. Amazingly enough, like every other recruit this year, she has more then just a little pitching experience. Like most the others outside of Butterfield though, I doubt she’ll be called on to pitch here. Here’s her MaxPreps link but her Coach has supplied zero stats to them https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/hannah-jablonski/nZEFIiyJEeiT-Oz0u-e-FA/default.htm

Here’s the links to signing day https://gogriz.com/news/2020/11/11/griz-softball-program-adds-four.aspx
and a later addition https://gogriz.com/news/2020/12/11/griz-softball-adds-another-to-21-class.aspx

Once again, huge hopes and expectations. Every year this team seems to have a lot of talent but only once have they been able to get over the Weber St/Sac St hump. With this year’s schedule and the experience this team has and the high level of the new Fr, this definitely should be the 2nd of many more Big Sky con championships. Championship caliber athletes win championships. That’s what they strive to do and that’s what we’re building here. I really got a good feeling this is the “beginning” of our domination of the Big Sky. Go Griz!
 
Love love love your write ups, enthusiasm, stats, and passion for Griz softball! Just bought my auction items and softball swag from their auction recently. Looking forward to hopefully catching some games.

Really hoping for improvement on game management and strategy from the coaching side though. It’s okay to bunt with runners at 1 and 2 and 0 outs....in fact it should be automatic!
 
I really enjoy reading the “Origin” stories on the new Lady Griz softball and basketball players. They are in the Archived Stories tab in each sport. They really dive into the players’ backgrounds and recruitment by UM.
 
More of the schedule is official now. Confirmed 3 game series @ SEC Texas A&M the weekend of Mar 12th-14th along with 2 games vs La Tech. Also confirmed we will be playing Nevada @ Dixie St’s invite on Feb 21st along with the other four previously mentioned games(Dixie St, BYU, Utah Va, and Utah St). Unfortunately that means no match up vs #2 ranked Washington who will also be at St George that weekend. There is a nice surprise though of a neutral site game vs #15/16 ranked Arizona St at UTEP’s invite the weekend of Mar 5th-7th @ El Paso, Tx. The Griz will open Fri morning with the Sun Devils and play the hosts later in the day. On Sat they open with Incarnate Word and the another afternoon matchup with UTEP. There’s still nothing officially scheduled for the weekend of Feb 25th-28th and the 3 game series vs Utah Valley on the weekend of Mar 19th-20th has yet to be confirmed on GoGriz’s schedule albeit it being confirmed on Utah Va’s schedule.
 
HookedonGriz said:
Love love love your write ups, enthusiasm, stats, and passion for Griz softball! Just bought my auction items and softball swag from their auction recently. Looking forward to hopefully catching some games.

Really hoping for improvement on game management and strategy from the coaching side though. It’s okay to bunt with runners at 1 and 2 and 0 outs....in fact it should be automatic!

😄Hooked, I almost mentioned you by name in the preview when I started talking about what Coach is building. You know I’ve been frustrated right there with you by many of coaches calls but Ive hoped I’ve seen an improvement over the last year or so. Either that or just less of her bad calls are back fireing😄. Either way though, overall the type of program she’s building and the caliber of athletes she’s been bringing in, I think all in all, she’s done a pretty good job. Game management is a big deal though and can cost W’s which ultimately comes ahead of all the other tangibles when considering success. Here’s to experience building improvement, hopefully.
 
mtgriz said:
I really enjoy reading the “Origin” stories on the new Lady Griz softball and basketball players. They are in the Archived Stories tab in each sport. They really dive into the players’ backgrounds and recruitment by UM.

Great stories with amazing insight into the kids desires to become Grizzlies. Extremely well written despite being just a bit long winded. The soccer team has the Craig Hall Chronicles which are the same thing.
 
alabamagrizzly said:
HookedonGriz said:
Love love love your write ups, enthusiasm, stats, and passion for Griz softball! Just bought my auction items and softball swag from their auction recently. Looking forward to hopefully catching some games.

Really hoping for improvement on game management and strategy from the coaching side though. It’s okay to bunt with runners at 1 and 2 and 0 outs....in fact it should be automatic!

😄Hooked, I almost mentioned you by name in the preview when I started talking about what Coach is building. You know I’ve been frustrated right there with you by many of coaches calls but Ive hoped I’ve seen an improvement over the last year or so. Either that or just less of her bad calls are back fireing😄. Either way though, overall the type of program she’s building and the caliber of athletes she’s been bringing in, I think all in all, she’s done a pretty good job. Game management is a big deal though and can cost W’s which ultimately comes ahead of all the other tangibles when considering success. Here’s to experience building improvement, hopefully.

I’m with you on that! Excited to watch them play.
 
Schedule update: 3 game series with Utah Va in Missoula the weekend before conference play starts is now confirmed. A 3 game series with Seattle in Missoula is also on the schedule now, right before the UV series. The Griz will host Seattle for a double header on Thur Mar 18th and then a single game on Fri. Sat UV comes to town for a DH and then a single game on sun. That’s six games in four days, all in Missoula the weekend before the con schedule. The weekend of Feb 26th-28th is still open on the schedule. If it’s filled, it will most likely be another 3 game series somewhere else. I’m sure all the weekend invites are filled up all ready.
 
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