Lets Talk Ohio D1 College Softball

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You have to understand, the football coach at OSU is held to a higher standard than any other sport.
In all fairness, Kalafatis , over the past 6 years, has put together a coaching staff with connections to the west coast. That has resulted in at least 10 all big ten players, probably more.
Why dont you post Kent St, and Bowling Green and show the last ten years and THEIR ranking? I cant recall them being ranked this century.
At least OSU is making big progress. If you actually saw the horses she has now , even you would be impressed.
The only reason OSU was not ranked was they had not had the type of pitching she has recently had. Juarez was the best pitcher in the Big Ten a couple years ago. Reeder was an All American last season. Just by coincidence OSU was ranked. Back in 02 OSU had Chain ,Allen (big Ten player of the year) and Devrees in the circle, and yes they were ranked.
Pitching is the key to success at that level. If you cant hold the other team down, you` re done.
OSU has had some of the very best players from Ohio. Guess what? Generally speaking the west coast kids were better, especially as freshmen and sophomores.

punchout

I was at Slaughts booth when Hutch bought RVP and know the person who helped her get it going and that was Leon Woods in 2004 and she won it all in 2005.

I was at a vision training class with Kalafatis in 2005 at the NFCA and they had just purchased RVP. At OSU clinic they picked a couple of our kids to use a models of a good swing that were in high school....I have always wondered why Hutch only took 6 months and OSU took four years to make the play offs?

Kent State and the others...you have no arguments with me their, let the data speak for itself as well as the other schools.

What Larabee did at Wright State in 6 months was also incredible and he at least made it to the play offs and now is an SEC coach. Do we know of any others who have made that jump from around here?

You are on target with your comments in my opinion however others want to defend and protect their favorite school or camp in hopes it will help their daughters chances of getting in at that school.

As to football or any mens athletics....they make the money for sure!

Thanks Howard

 

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Hopefully she does make progress, only time will tell. As you stated any other school could be called out as well, but again, State supported schools continue to pick from the outside and obviously it hasn't helped. So it goes back to keep our tax dollars in state and help our own kids as they aren't going to be beating down doors with the West Coast kids either.... Because they all aren't. Yes other sports support and fund the softball program, but a State supported school should be held to a higher standard with in state kids in all sports.

 

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If not for football and men's basketball, the "lesser" athletics at OSU would struggle to exist. Football generates an unbelievable amount of revenue, which is generously shared with the other programs (which most Ohio DI universities do). And as was recently announced, our football tickets just keep getting more expensive. Look at the numbers and do the math - football is King. Every ticket will sell, and the stadium will be filled to capacity. A good gauge of how popular a sport is - do they fill the bleachers? Even men's basketball had a special on the Purdue tickets to fill the arena. Point is, winning (and losing) in the lesser sports isn't as visible, and therefore less of an image impact - unless of course a team makes it to championship status (Michigan softball). So a losing OSU football team is like the Titanic sinking, whereas almost all of the lesser sports are like a sinking canoe in the Olentangy.

Hilliard - The state of Georgia has the HOPE Scholarship (not to be confused with the Hope Credit) which is designed to keep academically eligible Georgia HS students from going out of state by giving them free tuition for maintaining a 3.0 GPA from high school through college. It is based on academic proficiency, and is not a need based grant. Google HOPE Scholarship for details.

I haven't read all the details regarding the Georgia plan, but on the surface it sounds like a great deal. Unfortunately, I don't see that type of windfall happening any time soon for Ohio parents. OSU is a much desired university, and as long as there are students beating down the doors to get in, they aren't going to hand out free vouchers. Those are reserved for the top athletic prospects, and the very top tier academic kids.

 

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punchout

I was at Slaughts booth when Hutch bought RVP and know the person who helped her get it going and that was Leon Woods in 2004 and she won it all in 2005.

I was at a vision training class with Kalafatis in 2005 at the NFCA and they had just purchased RVP. At OSU clinic they picked a couple of our kids to use a models of a good swing that were in high school....I have always wondered why Hutch only took 6 months and OSU took four years to make the play offs?

Kent State and the others...you have no arguments with me their, let the data speak for itself as well as the other schools.

What Larabee did at Wright State in 6 months was also incredible and he at least made it to the play offs and now is an SEC coach. Do we know of any others who have made that jump from around here?

You are on target with your comments in my opinion however others want to defend and protect their favorite school or camp in hopes it will help their daughters chances of getting in at that school.

As to football or any mens athletics....they make the money for sure!

Thanks Howard

Howard, as much as people think hitting wins games, at the higher levels it is all about pitching. If you can manage one run and your pitcher shuts them out, you win.
Hutch`s pitching coach was a west coast college star, and has been bringing in west coast talent to UM for some time. UM has ALWAYS had great pitching. This season is no exception. OSU has had similar talent behind the pitcher, but it has been in the circle that has been lacking (I can say that even though my own DD pitched there) NOW OSU has Erica Beach, a former All American pitcher at AZ St. She has made a huge difference in bringing even better west coast talent. Sure hitting is important, no doubt, but if you can not hold down your opponents run production, you will lose to the great teams, because they WILL be holding your scoring down because of their pitching. We rarely see a slugfest in the CWS.
By the way OSU won the Big Ten AND the Big Ten Tournament in 2007, one year after RVP. They were the best team in the Big Ten. Now for the NCAA`s. Juarez was just plain worn out, much like what happened to Northwesterns pitcher last season. When DD played, OSU had the best offense in the Big Ten. However the pitching was not the best in the Big Ten. Sooo, the teams with the best pitching won when it counted, EVERY time.
By the way, I was always impressed with Larabee. I remember when he first took over, OSU was beating them pretty bad, and he was still coaching his a## off. I was REALLY impressed.

 

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Howard, as much as people think hitting wins games, at the higher levels it is all about pitching. If you can manage one run and your pitcher shuts them out, you win.
Hutch`s pitching coach was a west coast college star, and has been bringing in west coast talent to UM for some time. UM has ALWAYS had great pitching. This season is no exception. OSU has had similar talent behind the pitcher, but it has been in the circle that has been lacking (I can say that even though my own DD pitched there) NOW OSU has Erica Beach, a former All American pitcher at AZ St. She has made a huge difference in bringing even better west coast talent. Sure hitting is important, no doubt, but if you can not hold down your opponents run production, you will lose to the great teams, because they WILL be holding your scoring down because of their pitching. We rarely see a slugfest in the CWS.
By the way OSU won the Big Ten AND the Big Ten Tournament in 2007, one year after RVP. They were the best team in the Big Ten. Now for the NCAA`s. Juarez was just plain worn out, much like what happened to Northwesterns pitcher last season. When DD played, OSU had the best offense in the Big Ten. However the pitching was not the best in the Big Ten. Sooo, the teams with the best pitching won when it counted, EVERY time.
By the way, I was always impressed with Larabee. I remember when he first took over, OSU was beating them pretty bad, and he was still coaching his a## off. I was REALLY impressed.

I know I am on thin ice here...Ohio State got the monkey off its back in football this year...a little.

Hutch won it all in softball and no one from out west or south even knows or cares about the Big Ten in anything in my opinion.

As to pitching someone has to score one run to make it a win no matter who is pitching however I get your point about pitching.

Even if I did not have a stable of pitchers, I would not give up on my hitters and I would keep working on their skills, since pitchers, especially the good ones are hard to find. So until they find some, I guess we should just roll over and wait for the princess in the circle to win or loose the game and bunt and pray for a passed ball and score her from third.

 

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Hilliard - The state of Georgia has the HOPE Scholarship (not to be confused with the Hope Credit) which is designed to keep academically eligible Georgia HS students from going out of state by giving them free tuition for maintaining a 3.0 GPA from high school through college. It is based on academic proficiency, and is not a need based grant. Google HOPE Scholarship for details.


AND SAMMY you withheld this until now because??? I could have saved some dollars my friend!!!

 

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I hope I did not misunderstand this...If the college coach knew your skills and recruited you based on some knowledge about you, why would they want to change you?

I have seen our girls get recruited only to find the college coach and hitting coach not even understand a weight shift and demand they hit down on the ball and not stride!

Cookie cut the mechanics and let them develop their own style has worked pretty well for us.

This is where Coach Larabee made the jump with his team a couple years ago and why we invited him to help at our clinics.

Look at what Hutch has done at UM and it took her less than 6 months to do it back in 2004/ 2005! She was willing to change!

Thanks Howard

Howard, there are a lot of, if not most, college coaches who will try and change the hitters who play for them. I know Kalifatis does, I know Linder does, I know Ross-Shaw at BG did. Cant speak about Arizona and UCLA, but my guess is, if the kid does not use the same system they use, there will be at least some tweaking going on.

 

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I know I am on thin ice here...Ohio State got the monkey off its back in football this year...a little.

Hutch won it all in softball and no one from out west or south even knows or cares about the Big Ten in anything in my opinion.

As to pitching someone has to score one run to make it a win no matter who is pitching however I get your point about pitching.

Even if I did not have a stable of pitchers, I would not give up on my hitters and I would keep working on their skills, since pitchers, especially the good ones are hard to find. So until they find some, I guess we should just roll over and wait for the princess in the circle to win or loose the game and bunt and pray for a passed ball and score her from third.

Ofcourse hitting is important, but what separates the good teams from the great teams is the girl in the circle. Once you get into the top 10 teams or so, they can all hit very well. So it boils down to defense. Lets face it at that level, normally the teams with the best pitchers win, a large majority of the time.
You are wrong about teams from out west and down south. They all know who Ohio St is in all sports. Right now UM and Ohio St are talked about quite a bit on the national softball forums. Maybe not as much as Washington or AZ, but a lot more than people think. OSU just missed going to the CWS and this season they already beat 4 or 5 ranked teams including UCLA 7-0. That definately woke some people up.
In football most preseason polls have the Buckeyes #2 or #3
Bakstball is at least co Big Ten champs and ranked 6th...Who are you kidding? I am quite sure a Bama fan doesnt care a lot about Ohio St, just Like I could give a rats patutie about Bama. Same for Fla, same for Boise St, same for USC. That doesnt mean I dont respect their programs, and know who they are.

 

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Ofcourse hitting is important, but what separates the good teams from the great teams is the girl in the circle. Once you get into the top 10 teams or so, they can all hit very well. So it boils down to defense. Lets face it at that level, normally the teams with the best pitchers win, a large majority of the time.
You are wrong about teams from out west and down south. They all know who Ohio St is in all sports. Right now UM and Ohio St are talked about quite a bit on the national softball forums. Maybe not as much as Washington or AZ, but a lot more than people think. OSU just missed going to the CWS and this season they already beat 4 or 5 ranked teams including UCLA 7-0. That definately woke some people up.
In football most preseason polls have the Buckeyes #2 or #3
Bakstball is at least co Big Ten champs and ranked 6th...Who are you kidding? I am quite sure a Bama fan doesnt care a lot about Ohio St, just Like I could give a rats patutie about Bama. Same for Fla, same for Boise St, same for USC. That doesnt mean I dont respect their programs, and know who they are.

I am not trying to start a war however there is little respect for the softball program in general.

They still need to win one...that is why UM is always lurking in the shadows because they did.

Just my opinion....

 

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Has anyone been following the stories about campus unrest in california in reaction to academic cutbacks due to $ issues - California is broke Makes you wonder how long California colleges will still have softball programs.
Ohio schools will move right up the rankings!

 

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727100,
That would be an unfortunate ascension to the top...
Ron

 

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I am not trying to start a war however there is little respect for the softball program in general.

They still need to win one...that is why UM is always lurking in the shadows because they did.

Just my opinion....

Well that is only your opinion.
If it takes winning one to get repect then there are a ton of Softball teams out there who get little respect. Seeing that the PAC 10 has won practically every national championship, save about 7 in softballs CWS history since 1982.
In the last 22 years only Fresno St, Oklahoma and Michigan have won it all outside the PAC 10. UCLA and Arizona have each won it 8 times. The only other winners in the last 22 years is Washington, AZ St and Cal.
You may not want to hear it, but Ohio St IS on the national map for college softball. When you have already beaten 5 ranked teams, including a 7-0 whipping of #3 UCLA, you get respect. Then add in a recent Big Ten Championship, and a regional championship, and just missing a CWS berth, you get respect.

You honestly think when ranked teams play Ohio St in softball now, they are thinking, " oh it`s only OSU, they will be easy"? I can guarantee you this is not the case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_College_World_Series

 

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Has anyone been following the stories about campus unrest in california in reaction to academic cutbacks due to $ issues - California is broke Makes you wonder how long California colleges will still have softball programs.
Ohio schools will move right up the rankings!

For those not paying attention, it is the result of gradual privatization of state universities... coming soon to a school near you. The excuse for accepting private funds is that state funds are being cut. State funds are being cut because universities are ever eager and willing to accept funds from nearly any source. Can you say vicious circle? Like many other things, it band-aids the current situation, because without those funds lots of really neat things wouldn't happen - for the current generation. Seems harmless for now, but as those generous "contributors" start asking for a return on their "investment", guess what happens to tuition, and guess who controls what is taught at those universities? Better hope OSU football stays high in the rankings...