Softball recruiting

[1972Shocker]

Here is Sydney's twitter account. I don't see anything definite but some of the recent tweets don't sound too promising. I'm pretty sure she had some surgery in late July and my guess is if she isn't back it is medical/injury related.

[1972Shocker]

Here is Ali Vandever's OU Bio.

Here are OU's stats: http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careerteam

You can click on Ali's name for her two-year stats at OU.

[1972Shocker]

Here is Megan McCracken's Kent State bio. Megan only had 11 AB's as a freshman at Kent State with 2 singles and 4 strike outs.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Softball fall schedule is up also. http://www.goshockers.com/SportSelec...45&SPSID=61322

[flyingMoose]

Here is Sydney's twitter account. I don't see anything definite but some of the recent tweets don't sound too promising. I'm pretty sure she had some surgery in late July and my guess is if she isn't back it is medical/injury related.

Even if she can't throw, if she can swing a bat, she still would be a terrific asset.

[1972Shocker]

Even if she can't throw, if she can swing a bat, she still would be a terrific asset.

That she sould be, but those darn "ifs" alwasy seem to be a problem. IF Sydney, in fact, is done with softball I wish her the very best in her future endeavors. I am sure she will do very well in whatever she pursues.

[Hovpen]

Off the top of my head, I say Butler beats WSU in their meeting at least one. Loosing Sammie, Syd, Rachel bats and not having Laura in the lineup at this time are big losses. Current players must step up their game to be successful and this fall will be a learning experience for them as was last season. At least six Butler players will be signing D-1 next season and four of them are from Wichita. Two Wichita players have already commited to Creighton (twins), leaving Berlin and Malone whom I understand have offers from D-1's = or > WSU. Butler also had a big time pitcher transfer in from Louisiana Lafyette (sp).

[1972Shocker]

@Hovpen: have you heard any info about why Rachel Milnark is not returning?

[shocker691]

l

[shockmonster]

It seems to be weird that all these players are leaving. I have no idea why these girls are not playing anymore but to me I do not believe the coaching staff is very good. Sometimes coaches ruin athletes attitudes toward the game. That is what it seems to be in this situation. I haven't talked to one player/parent that likes the head coach. She makes the players regret ever playing DI softball. Even last year Torrie and Jessica quit halfway through the season. Maybe there needs to be a coaching change. Because no girl will go to college knowing they are going to play for a psycho DI wannabe coach/player. Never setting foot on a DI field as a player how would you know how to coach DI softball. DI is a lot different then DII there is better competition and obviously a DII coach cannot win coaching in DI level. Losing a couple of the best players from last years team shows something is wrong. I don't know if any of the other girls are transferring but I know the freshman pitcher from last year transferred to another successful DI school. After she was not given a chance to play at all I am glad that she transferred. I am sure she will be a great DI pitcher and Coach B will regret giving her up.

Uhoh, sounds like someone didn't take a Dale Carnegie course. :)

[1972Shocker]

Well we know there are non-coaching reasons that Sydney (injury) and Sammie (internship) are not playing. Whether their dislike of the coaching staff contributed to their decisions I can't say. Not sure what the situation is with Rachel Milnark.

As far as Katherine Johnson goes I actually thought she got decent opportunities as a freshman pitcher appearing in 21 games but struggling with a 6.77 ERA. You certainly can't make the case that she was not given a chance at all. I would be interested in knowing where Katherine has transferred to if you could share that. Hope she does well wherever that may be.

Stating that a D-II coach obviously cannot win at the D-I level is probably not fair to the no doubt many D-II coaches who have successfully made such a transition over the years in various sports around the country. It is not uncommon for there to be some player turnover with a coaching change, especially when the coach inherits a weak progam as was the case with Coach Bredbenner and with players recruited by the previous staff. Jody Adams experienced that with the WSU women's basketball program.

You said you have no idea why these girls are not playing anymore, then you proceeded to rip and blame the coaching staff. As far as Torrie goes she only got 14 AB's in her one season under Pooch hitting 0.143 and doesn't look like she played at all last year. It is possible she really wasn't D-1 material and perhaps would be happier playing at a lower level. As far as Jessica goes I have to plead ignorance as I'm not sure who that is but perhaps the same applied.

D-I sports can be a nasty business with the expectations with the Coaches to win and they may make decisions that at times anger some fans, family and friends. At this point the only signficant departure, in my opinion, that has not been explained is Rachel Milnark. BTW, we do have 10 players returning from last year's squad so she apparently hasn't run everyone off yet, but maybe she just needs a little more time.

My suggestion for you @shocker691 is that if you have solid evidence of player abuse by the coaching staff I would encourage you to submit that to Coach Bredbenner's superiors in the athletic department. We certainly don't want our student althletes abused but they can't expect to be babied either. It is highly competitive and you perform or you don't play.

If Coach Bredbenner is a bad as you say I wouldn't think she will last too long.

[Hovpen]

72Shocker: No.

[Quick Pitch]

I saw on the Butler web site that the Millspaugh twins signed with Creighton. They played high school ball at Wichita Northwest. I hate to see local kids get away, but we can't sign all of them. Coach B has done a pretty good job of signing more local players.

[Hovpen]

They are committed, can't sign yet. Butler still has at least four unsigned options that would improve WSU talent pool. Two of them are from Wichita

[1972Shocker]

I saw on the Butler web site that the Millspaugh twins signed with Creighton.

Hard to believe they would go to school that has a coach who came from D-II Assumption College in MA. Maybe it is possible to successfully move from the D-II to the D-I level since Caoch Vigness has been pretty successful at Creighton as he starts his 20th season at the helm for the Bluejays.

They played high school ball at Wichita Northwest. I hate to see local kids get away, but we can't sign all of them. Coach B has done a pretty good job of signing more local players.

It would be nice to sign more top-notch local kids. But IMHO recruiting local talent is tougher than recruiting out-of-area talent as there seems to be a natural tendency for kids to want to go away for college if they can. That seems to be compounded in the Wichita area with a certain club coach (or club coaches) allegedly steering kids away from WSU. We will just have to see if HCKB can make the Shocks a more attractive choice for our local young ladies and overcome some of those challenges.

Still the real key would seem to be if she can recruit and develop adequate D-1 pitching. Katie and Sloan both showed some signs of life late last year, but granted that was against the weaker MVC teams.