Fall Schedule

[maroonandsilver]

The Fall Schedule is out:

9/24 North Idaho
10/8 Carroll
10/14 MSU Billings
10/15 Providence (Mt)

All are double-headers and start at 1:00

 

[Grizfan-24]

I'll be interested to see how the fall rolls out in regards to pitching. In what is probably the most-important off-season in program history, it is the area that needs the most improvement. Dana Butterfield has left the program along with little used Freshman pitcher Evelyn O'Brien.

Brock returns as a SR, Haegele as a sophomore along with transfer Emmayln Brinka (New Mexico) as the only pitchers on staff with innings at the college level. UM brought in two HS pitchers (Rehbein, Herndon) as well and it remains to be seen how much they'll be able to contribute. Brock is a known quality, but had an uneven 2023 campaign battling over exposure and injury, and looks to rebound. Haegele who showed the most promise of the Freshman in 23, needs to be in the zone more and reduce the walks that plagued many of her starts.

Brinka had a rough 23 season at New Mexico, but should bring the ability to throw innings and is only a sophomore.

The rumor was that Herndon was a bit dinged up at the end of the Montana HS season so I wonder how many innings she'll see this fall. Rehbein had a great HS career in Washington, but as with most true freshmen unless they are truly elite, making that jump to D1 softball on the mound is a pretty big leap.

I'd guess we won't see much of Brock as she is the most proven element, but as much as I have heard is that they expect Haegele to make a big leap, and feel like Brinka can make an immediate impact.

 

[DoubleNicks]

Dana Butterfield has left the program along with little used Freshman pitcher Evelyn O'Brien.

I also noticed Delene Colburn isn't listed on the coaches' roster, either. Too bad as I always liked her as a player and I was hopeful she would bring some offensive help to the team.

Are either Butterfield or O'Brien in the transfer portal or just hanging it up? Obviously, Butterfield has more experience despite fighting injuries but thought O'Brien brought some different stuff in her reliever role.

I'm glad they are at least keeping quantity for the pitching staff, after 2 seasons ago where it was basically just Brock and Butterfield as the only options because of injuries. Hopefully, Brock can be more dominant/stronger and Haegele can be more consistent this year (as I thought she had the highest ceiling, even last year).

 

[DoubleNicks]

Another random thought: does Missoula host any travel ball tournaments (like AAU-esque, for out-of-state teams) in late summer or early fall? We often say early spring MT weather is a disadvantage for softball but this time of year is probably more enjoyable weather-wise compared to attending CA tournaments in 100+ degrees. I see there are Playfair Park fields and Big Sky Park fields on Google maps. Would they be adequate sized softball fields? Obviously have as many games as possible at South Campus. UM could include campus tours to all the teams and maybe get some students besides targeted recruits enrolled, too.

 

[westsider]

Now those are opponents they might be able to beat.

 

[grizzlyjournal]

There's a brief story up at GoGriz with a roundup of returning players and a list of new players. The story has a photo header that shows two of the new pitchers. I'm assuming pitcher in the foreground is Nyeala Herndon. I don't know if the pitcher in the background is transfer Emmalyn Brinka or freshman Rylee Rehbein (Battle Ground, Wash.).
https://gogriz.com/news/2023/9/19/softball-griz-open-fall-exhibition-schedule-on-sunday

I'm going to try to get to the games Sunday.