UConn Softball

The UConn softball team was picked to finish 5th this year in the Big East out of 13 teams. Now that is good enough to make the Big East Tournament. But that does mean that we are being predicted by the coaches to be finishing worse than our 3rd place showing from last year. We didn't receive any first place votes either, so I am wondering where Coach Mullins picked her Softball team to fall this season.

I don't understand this ranking. It's too low as far as I am concerned. First of all polls don't matter. People must realize that. If they did there would be no reason for playing games. Also don't listen to people who make sports arguments solely based on statistics and rankings. Statistics and rankings aren't arguments, they back up arguments. Sports arguments should be based on things that you see with your own two eyes. Sorry for that tangent...It's just how I operate.

So what I don't get is how a team that returns all but 2 players (only 1 of those started), and finished 3rd in last years regular season, is now supposed to finish 5th! That doesn't make sense to me. There are 7 seniors on the team, and two upperclassman pitchers. We have the back to back Big East Softball player of the year Micah Truax and return two more seniors who were honored by the Big East. Jillian Ortega was regular season All-Big East and Danielle Del Ponte, was on the All-Tournament team. On top of that the team beat Louisville in both games of a double header last year, and Louisville is ranked higher in this poll. On top of that UConn also had a runner on 2nd with two outs, down by one run, with the Softball player of the Year up against the Big East's highest ranked team DePaul. Thats how UConn's season ended...hanging in against the best team in the league.

There is no way we should be ranked less than 4th...Now personally I have even higher expectations for the Softball team than 4th place. I expect them to have 30-35 wins and be in the Big East Championship Game. That is a lot better than last year, but here is why I think that. We are returning the Big East Player of the Year, Micah Truax. That is always a good thing. Micah Truax is a special player. It was beautiful to see her wait on an off speed pitch and hit it to the opposite field gap. Danielle Del Ponte was awesome last year. I don't expect that she will be catching as much as last year and should be the designated player....for more simpler terms...the designated hitter. (Softball rules are slightly weirder than baseballs) She has a great bat...hits well to the opposite field. You also add to that Melissa Lucas...who I heard from Softball's biggest fan, Sam Witryol, was quite an athlete. If she plays in all of the games then her bat in the middle of the line-up should make that 3-4-5 pretty darn good. Leading off will be the scrappiest player at UConn, Jillian Ortega. She is really fun to watch, always diving, always into the game. She plays the game of softball/baseball the way it should be played. She'd be a fan favorite in New York and Phili...and thats saying something since they threw batteries at Santa Claus in Phili. She is a good leadoff hitter. Sarah Neuschwander should bat 6th and she is perfect for that...she is an Adam Dunn type hitter...All-or-nothing...She can hit the ball a mile but also lead the team in strike outs. I think that 6th in the lineup is perfect for a hitter like that. We also have two solid pitchers in Tricia Sullivan and Rachael Crossin. Both of them can keep UConn in any game, and I'd expect that they have improved from last year. On top of that recruiting has added more pitchers, which I feel is something that UConn needed because I didn't think we had enough depth there.

To me the single most important player will be sophomore 2nd baseman Julie Towers. I heard from Sam that she has been injured. She played pretty well last year, even though she was injured. If she improves and is healthy she will be perfect for the top of the line-up. I expect her to hit 2nd and she will be key to getting things going. If she hits well than UConn should hit well. I hope she doesn't feel the pressure I'm putting on her.

3 more positions will need to be filled. One thing I've learned about softball is that players get moved around in the field, so I'm not sure which ones exactly will be moved around. I am sure that those 6 bats I mentioned will play...somewhere, and should be the first 6 bats in the line-up. I know nothing about the freshman so if they are good they could start. I think that Justyne Roy's glove is too good not to be playing at first base. Erin Burtner is a senior who is fun to watch and who has improved year in and year out. I'd like to see her play. I also wouldn't be surprised if Jessica Arremony played too. She'll be a sophomore and I'm guessing she's gotten more consistent at the plate.

So that's why UConn softball should be better than 5th place in the poll. My expectations for them might be higher than their own expectations but so what? I saw a lot of good things out of them last year. I don't think that they are that far off. They have experience and a lot of seniors. They should be better than that poll indicates. Their season starts in about 6 weeks.