Griz2k said:I don't know what heck happened in the last few years, but his teams are on a downward spiral. When (according to a Lucas Semb tweet) you spend more on recruiting than the entire football team, you'd think you'd be getting a great group of players. Griz don't have a point guard, no reliable shooters, ZERO inside game, and struggle defensively. It's almost like TD has just given up the last few years. It's high time Haslam takes a long hard look at that program and make some tough decisions.
alabamagrizzly said:Who’s ready for some Grizzly Softball?
maroonandsilver said:alabamagrizzly said:Who’s ready for some Grizzly Softball?
We attended the annual "Meet the Team" dinner and fundraiser on Friday. Always a fun event. And amazing how much money gets raised by the silent and live auctions. The huckleberry pie, always the first item in the live auction, brought in $6275.00 after it was bid on, won, donated back for auction 10 times.
First games in less than 2 weeks!
Are they gonna be better than middle of the pack this year AZ?alabamagrizzly said:maroonandsilver said:We attended the annual "Meet the Team" dinner and fundraiser on Friday. Always a fun event. And amazing how much money gets raised by the silent and live auctions. The huckleberry pie, always the first item in the live auction, brought in $6275.00 after it was bid on, won, donated back for auction 10 times.
First games in less than 2 weeks!
That’s very cool. What a greedy bastard who finally kept the pie for themselves.
Griz til I die said:Are they gonna be better than middle of the pack this year AZ?alabamagrizzly said:That’s very cool. What a greedy bastard who finally kept the pie for themselves.
I agree. Jamie Pinkerton was an absolute home run hire and it was too bad we only had him for 3 years before he got snatched away by Iowa State. If I remember correctly, he got hired by ISU in late July or early August and with the fall Softball season approaching, there really wasn’t any time to conduct a national search. I really like her, and I think the players really like her and that may be why she never gets canned, but I agree Hooked that she probably needs to go.HookedonGriz said:Griz til I die said:Are they gonna be better than middle of the pack this year AZ?
Nope not with Coach Meuchel at the helm. They need a new coach, one who understands that the latest trend in softball is small ball, aggressiveness, and putting pressure on the defense. Our coach doesn’t have that philosophy and we struggle.
It was night and day how Pinkerton coached this team vs Meuchel and it shows. Nice gal, good culture, players coach but not winning.
Griz til I die said:I agree. Jamie Pinkerton was an absolute home run hire and it was too bad we only had him for 3 years before he got snatched away by Iowa State. If I remember correctly, he got hired by ISU in late July or early August and with the fall Softball season approaching, there really wasn’t any time to conduct a national search. I really like her, and I think the players really like her and that may be why she never gets canned, but I agree Hooked that she probably needs to go.HookedonGriz said:Nope not with Coach Meuchel at the helm. They need a new coach, one who understands that the latest trend in softball is small ball, aggressiveness, and putting pressure on the defense. Our coach doesn’t have that philosophy and we struggle.
It was night and day how Pinkerton coached this team vs Meuchel and it shows. Nice gal, good culture, players coach but not winning.
This will be a big season for her in terms of where the programs at. She’s got a much older pitching staff and more veteran roster this year. I’ll be interested to see the preseason poll and where they’re picked. I think a reasonable goal this season is reaching the conference championship, not winning it, but playing for it. With this roster, that realistically should be achievable.
Meuchel is a Missoula girl and likely will never be let go unless she leaves on her terms, but there’s no doubt that the Softball team has been stuck in neutral the last 5 years, and that’s a shame cause they got best stadium and indoor facility in the conference. Now maybe she has a breakout year this season like Allison Lawrence and Volleyball did (I was ready for her to go but she did great this year), but if she doesn’t I hope Haslam starts to put a little bit of pressure on her.
Griz til I die said:I agree. Jamie Pinkerton was an absolute home run hire and it was too bad we only had him for 3 years before he got snatched away by Iowa State. If I remember correctly, he got hired by ISU in late July or early August and with the fall Softball season approaching, there really wasn’t any time to conduct a national search. I really like her, and I think the players really like her and that may be why she never gets canned, but I agree Hooked that she probably needs to go.HookedonGriz said:Nope not with Coach Meuchel at the helm. They need a new coach, one who understands that the latest trend in softball is small ball, aggressiveness, and putting pressure on the defense. Our coach doesn’t have that philosophy and we struggle.
It was night and day how Pinkerton coached this team vs Meuchel and it shows. Nice gal, good culture, players coach but not winning.
This will be a big season for her in terms of where the programs at. She’s got a much older pitching staff and more veteran roster this year. I’ll be interested to see the preseason poll and where they’re picked. I think a reasonable goal this season is reaching the conference championship, not winning it, but playing for it. With this roster, that realistically should be achievable.
Meuchel is a Missoula girl and likely will never be let go unless she leaves on her terms, but there’s no doubt that the Softball team has been stuck in neutral the last 5 years, and that’s a shame cause they got best stadium and indoor facility in the conference. Now maybe she has a breakout year this season like Allison Lawrence and Volleyball did (I was ready for her to go but she did great this year), but if she doesn’t I hope Haslam starts to put a little bit of pressure on her.
Griz til I die said:I agree. Jamie Pinkerton was an absolute home run hire and it was too bad we only had him for 3 years before he got snatched away by Iowa State. If I remember correctly, he got hired by ISU in late July or early August and with the fall Softball season approaching, there really wasn’t any time to conduct a national search. I really like her, and I think the players really like her and that may be why she never gets canned, but I agree Hooked that she probably needs to go.HookedonGriz said:Nope not with Coach Meuchel at the helm. They need a new coach, one who understands that the latest trend in softball is small ball, aggressiveness, and putting pressure on the defense. Our coach doesn’t have that philosophy and we struggle.
It was night and day how Pinkerton coached this team vs Meuchel and it shows. Nice gal, good culture, players coach but not winning.
This will be a big season for her in terms of where the programs at. She’s got a much older pitching staff and more veteran roster this year. I’ll be interested to see the preseason poll and where they’re picked. I think a reasonable goal this season is reaching the conference championship, not winning it, but playing for it. With this roster, that realistically should be achievable.
Meuchel is a Missoula girl and likely will never be let go unless she leaves on her terms, but there’s no doubt that the Softball team has been stuck in neutral the last 5 years, and that’s a shame cause they got best stadium and indoor facility in the conference. Now maybe she has a breakout year this season like Allison Lawrence and Volleyball did (I was ready for her to go but she did great this year), but if she doesn’t I hope Haslam starts to put a little bit of pressure on her.
maroonandsilver said:Griz til I die said:I agree. Jamie Pinkerton was an absolute home run hire and it was too bad we only had him for 3 years before he got snatched away by Iowa State. If I remember correctly, he got hired by ISU in late July or early August and with the fall Softball season approaching, there really wasn’t any time to conduct a national search. I really like her, and I think the players really like her and that may be why she never gets canned, but I agree Hooked that she probably needs to go.
This will be a big season for her in terms of where the programs at. She’s got a much older pitching staff and more veteran roster this year. I’ll be interested to see the preseason poll and where they’re picked. I think a reasonable goal this season is reaching the conference championship, not winning it, but playing for it. With this roster, that realistically should be achievable.
Meuchel is a Missoula girl and likely will never be let go unless she leaves on her terms, but there’s no doubt that the Softball team has been stuck in neutral the last 5 years, and that’s a shame cause they got best stadium and indoor facility in the conference. Now maybe she has a breakout year this season like Allison Lawrence and Volleyball did (I was ready for her to go but she did great this year), but if she doesn’t I hope Haslam starts to put a little bit of pressure on her.
Just from watching the Fall season games, the pitching looks stronger than last year, and much deeper. But the staff doesn't compare to the Pinkerton staffs. The team lost all the power hitters to graduation and now looks to be more a collection of singles hitters.
alabamagrizzly said:maroonandsilver said:Just from watching the Fall season games, the pitching looks stronger than last year, and much deeper. But the staff doesn't compare to the Pinkerton staffs. The team lost all the power hitters to graduation and now looks to be more a collection of singles hitters.
Don’t be surprised if 1B Hannah Jablonski, 3B Grace Hardy, RF Presley Jantzi, and DP Kelly Sewyer all bring their fair share of power this year. They might not be a Delene Colburn or Maygen McGrath but they got some pop. They’ll definitely hit a lot of RBI doubles with the singles hitters around em. SS Jaxie Klucewich, CF Julie Phelps, and LF Elise Ontiveros will bring some speed where we’ll see some of that small ball that Hooked has been begging and pleading for for years now.
HookedonGriz said:alabamagrizzly said:Don’t be surprised if 1B Hannah Jablonski, 3B Grace Hardy, RF Presley Jantzi, and DP Kelly Sewyer all bring their fair share of power this year. They might not be a Delene Colburn or Maygen McGrath but they got some pop. They’ll definitely hit a lot of RBI doubles with the singles hitters around em. SS Jaxie Klucewich, CF Julie Phelps, and LF Elise Ontiveros will bring some speed where we’ll see some of that small ball that Hooked has been begging and pleading for for years now.
I know I have been a bit of a broken record on it, but it’s so important and 100% the trend of the game. If you watch the big dogs play (Oklahoma, Okla St, UCLA, Texas, etc) they all have big time power hitters but they still employ an incredible level of small ball. Bunting runners over, hit and run, double steals, squeeze bunts, safety bunts….they all use it to put pressure on the D, get runners on base, and then let one of their studs hit a 3 run homer.
I have watched the Griz for the last few years literally get runners to 1st and 2nd, no outs, and NOT bunt runners over. It’s absolutely incredible to me. That is a text book move the runners situation and she refuses to do it. Until she starts doing that, and generating more offense and runs, we are not going to be at the top.
alabamagrizzly said:HookedonGriz said:I know I have been a bit of a broken record on it, but it’s so important and 100% the trend of the game. If you watch the big dogs play (Oklahoma, Okla St, UCLA, Texas, etc) they all have big time power hitters but they still employ an incredible level of small ball. Bunting runners over, hit and run, double steals, squeeze bunts, safety bunts….they all use it to put pressure on the D, get runners on base, and then let one of their studs hit a 3 run homer.
I have watched the Griz for the last few years literally get runners to 1st and 2nd, no outs, and NOT bunt runners over. It’s absolutely incredible to me. That is a text book move the runners situation and she refuses to do it. Until she starts doing that, and generating more offense and runs, we are not going to be at the top.
You may sound like a broken record but you speak the truth. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen exactly what you mentioned and then not score any runs cus we get three quick outs w/out advancing anyone. It’s not incredible, it’s maddening. It makes it very hard to watch, especially when we lose so many games with scores like 2-3 and 3-5. Last year in conference play, of our 11 losses, six were by one run and a 7th by 2 runs. One sac bunt in those one run games that eventually allows that runner to score is very well the difference in them.
HookedonGriz said:alabamagrizzly said:You may sound like a broken record but you speak the truth. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen exactly what you mentioned and then not score any runs cus we get three quick outs w/out advancing anyone. It’s not incredible, it’s maddening. It makes it very hard to watch, especially when we lose so many games with scores like 2-3 and 3-5. Last year in conference play, of our 11 losses, six were by one run and a 7th by 2 runs. One sac bunt in those one run games that eventually allows that runner to score is very well the difference in them.
Bingo! Man I love your love of Griz softball. It’s one of my faves too.
maroonandsilver said:HookedonGriz said:Bingo! Man I love your love of Griz softball. It’s one of my faves too.
Losing Southern Utah really hurts the conference Softball. There are now only 6 teams (The good news is every team will make it to the conference championships, rather than the top 6 of 7). This makes the home schedule for the Grizzlies rather sparse this year. Only 4 home stands: Carroll, Providence, Sac State, and Weber).