I don't disagree.
Yet when it comes down to it when you don't have pitching, softball or otherwise, it is hard to remain competitive. I know that it is been mentioned multiple times, but I'll restate it again:
1. You aren't going to win softball games when your ace is in a walking boot all spring, your #2 has had to manage an injury herself and your #3 hasn't come all the way back from an injury that cost her season last year.
2. Your promising incoming freshman who are generally served to pitch in situations that limit over exposure are asked to throw more innings than they rightly should. Haegele is going to be a good BSC pitcher eventually but she's been undermined by control issues and O'Brien just hasn't missed enough bats this year as well.
3. You want to be wild in the zone, and regardless the staff has nibbled around the edges and they've been killed by walks and hit batters. Too much traffic, too many pitches and that'll hurt any pitcher if you are throwing 80% of your pitches in a game under stress.
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But what is troubling that for all the pitching issues, it is that the offense aside from Ontiveros, the offense has been inconsistent at best. Hardy and Klucewich who were both expected to have big years, are hitting sub .200, and you can see game in and game out they are pressing at the plate. The season started off terribly offensively and few of the players have been able to right the ship offensively. They have four players with 30 or more at-bats hitting under .200 and haven't had for the most part more than a couple players hitting above .260 all year. Not enough walks, not enough base runners, and not enough heft to do any damage.
A team that was positioned offensively to be high OBP with high average top to bottom has been essentially four hitters all year and none of them (Sweyer, Ontiveros, Curtis and Jablonksi) on at the same time.
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As I noted early in the year, the softball program had to take a lot of lumps in the covid years. Some of them thrust upon them and others not so much. They were tasked with things that made a lot of things (recruiting, scheduling, etc) that bogged the program down, and were given the benefit of the doubt to some degree within the program and athletic department. I don't know how much that good will is left, or whether the injury issues gives them any grace (I don't think it does), but as much as I want Mel and company to succeed they are going to have to see a rapid turn around in the last weeks to stave off what is likely to be a rough off-season.
They compete hard and give full effort. I watched last weekends games and I don't think they've quit, stopped making adjustments. The girls are listening to coaches and the staff continually trying to tweak things to get the most out of their pitching staff. Lots of effort, too little in the results area.
Do I think the staff and the program deserve a better shake than what they've got this year with injuries? Absolutely. The staff knew this was an important year, and essential year and it has completely gone sideways. In the end I would hope some deference is made for why and how the season went way off-track, but it may not matter.
