Softball in season news/awards/such and such

[SubGod22]

[SubGod22]

This is cool.

KSN - Former player reminisces with Wichita State team

Ray Ruggles, 89, a former shortstop, got to sit in on practice for the Wichita State softball team on Tuesday.

Ruggles, who was diagnosed with dementia, got to reminisce about his days running bases. He played with the St. Louis Cardinals farm team. Ray’s son joined him at the practice.

“It’s a big part of the experience for him is growing up playing ball, and he grew up in Burrton, Kansas, and he’s small town baseball right here, but he went on to achieve really good things,” Mark Ruggles said.

[SubGod22]

[SubGod22]

[1972Shocker]

CC has a nice short, compact swing. I don't think she has a choice.

Even though she is not very fast she is putting up Sydney McKinney kind of numbers with more power but without the benefit of a bunch of infield singles and bunt singles that were a regular part of Sydney's game.

I would not be surprised to see CC come back down to earth to some degree over the 2nd half of the season if for no other reason than she is obviously no longer flying under the radar and teams will no doubt make her, along with Addie and perhaps Taylor, the focus of their game planning. Plus the Shocker have a pretty tough schedule to navigate over the remainder of the season.

But so far, way more than so good, and if she keeps her level of production over the 2nd half of the season at even 75% of what she has done so far some very nice post-season honors will be heading her way.

[flyingMoose]

CC

And we hope things get figured out, and she is back next year. Hmm, a radio show question.

[1972Shocker]

And we hope things get figured out, and she is back next year. Hmm, a radio show question.

HCKB briefly mentioned that. I am not sure what basis they are using to pursue this.

My understanding is that 2020-21 fall and winter sports received automatic Covid eligibility waivers. However. for 2021 spring sports this did not apply.. In those sports, If a team plays more than fifty percent of their games, an athlete’s season counts towards their eligibility.

CC played in 55 games (clearly over half) for McClennan Community College in the spring of 21 and then played a full season at McClennan CC in the Spring of 22.

Last spring at Grand Canyon she appeared in 45 games with 18 starts.

Unless their was something really out of the ordinary going on last year at GCU I am not sure how this would work.

That would be great but I am not getting my hopes up too much that another year of eligibility is in the offing for CC.

[1972Shocker]

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[SubGod22]

[1972Shocker]

And #80 was not exactly a pitch you would expect to be hit out of the park especially to the pull side.

[SubGod22]

[1972Shocker]

I imagine CC is the best hitting 2nd baseman in all the land. Defensively she is not in the conversation.

[SubGod22]

Eagle - Focus on mental health at Wichita State helps spur breakout season for softball star

When the doubt starts to creep in, like she doesn’t belong, CC Wong will head to Wilkins Stadium.

She stands by herself in the vacant field with the only noise being the Kansas wind whipping through. For about 10 minutes, she “grounds” herself by trying to soak in the scene.

She fixates on the Shocker softball scoreboard beyond left field and studies the championships commemorated on the fence. She appreciates how green the grass is and reaches down to feel the infield dirt.

“Sometimes I don’t think I deserve to be here,” Wong said. “It feels surreal that I’m here in this amazing place and I’m surrounded by amazing people with the opportunity to play at this level. So being able to look out and be like, ‘I’m really here, I’m really doing this,’ that’s really helped me.”

After struggling in her first year at the Division I level, Wong has become the latest in the line of softball transfers to Wichita State who have thrived in the team culture created by coach Kristi Bredbenner.

Wong, a transfer from Grand Canyon, has proven unequivocally that she does belong at this level during WSU’s 17-12 start to the season, which continues on Friday with a weekend series against Tulsa at Wilkins Stadium. She ranks top-10 nationally with her .495 batting average (second), .575 on-base percentage (seventh) and .958 slugging percentage (sixth).

For a WSU comparison, Wong is reaching base nearly as often as All-American Sydney McKinney once did, while providing power numbers (11 home runs, 32 RBIs) similar to All-American Addie Barnard. After a three-homer game last month, Wong was even tabbed the NFCA National Player of the Week and she was recently ranked as the No. 1 second baseman in the country by Softball America.

“CC is a great example of how (a first choice) isn’t always a great fit,” Bredbenner said. “Everybody fits into different programs in different ways. We’ve had a lot of success in the transfer portal with kids coming here and rejuvenating their careers. I don’t think it’s because we know way more about softball than everybody else, it’s because we create a community where you can be yourself and you have the resources to be the best version of yourself.”

A wonderful article from Taylor on CC.

For the record, I have zero issues opening the article in a private window.

[1972Shocker]

Did anyone else listen to Kristi Bredbenners radio show this past Monday (April 15)? I was hope to re-listen to it and post about it, but the archived show is still not available. I thought she had a very interesting and candid discussion of her recruiting challenges in today's NIL environment.

A couple of points I recall.

She was talking with USF head coach Ken Eriksen this past weekend. KB had noticed that USF has 30 players on his roster. KB has 22 (and I would note that 2 are out for the season due to injury and 1 is, redshirting at this point) and not sure all 22 are receiving athletic scholarship support. Softball has a total of 12 scholarships. She asked Coached Eriksen how he could keep that many players on his roster happy. He said the weather in South Florida doesn't hurt but that everyone one of his roster players have fully funded Alston awards (academic achievement awards up to $5,980 per year). That, of course, is on top of any NIL deals they might have.

She said the recruiting wars have definitely gotten tougher and that she is finding many team from coast-to-coast are scouring the Midwest for players these days largely because of the success of Midwest programs such as Wichita State.

She said that so far she has made offers to 15 pitchers in the class of 2025 and has yet to find any takers.

[flyingMoose]

Did anyone else listen to Kristi Bredbenners radio show this past Monday (April 15)?

She said that so far she has made offers to 15 pitchers in the class of 2025 and has yet to find any takers.

I am sorry, but that cannot possibly be too surprising.


EDIT: To be fair/complete, it has been pointed out in the past that KB said she moved on from Presley because pitching recruits (seemed? - I forget the exact words) to want a pitching coach with more experience.