The Loyola Marymount Lions took many softball fans by surprise in 2018, nearly upsetting a years-long dynasty by Brigham Young University in the West Coast Conference. Despite failing to emerge ultimately victorious, LMU gave the Cougars from Provo a run for their money, with the conference title – and automatic NCAA tournament berth – coming down to the teams’ head-to-head series. “We were really young,” head coach Sami Strinz-Ward said after the season. “Even though we had a mix of some seniors that started for us, we had anywhere from four to six freshman in our starting lineup all season,…
Author: jmcleod
As fans entered and found seats in Mississippi State’s Nusz Park last season, an energetic female voice greeted them over the stadium’s public address system. Though many in the crowd likely didn’t know it, the voice belonged to a former softball player who also happens to be one of the brightest rising stars in the field of athletic administration. That voice belonged to Leah Beasley, a Senior Associate Athletic Director in the Bulldogs’ athletic department. Nestled behind the microphone in the press box behind home plate, Beasley had all the makings of a complete natural in the position as she…
(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #3 on our list.) 3. Recruiting rules change, tighten As 11- and 12-year-old players announcing college commitments became more and more frequent, calls for change in the recruiting world increased with fervor. In April, those calls were answered when the NCAA Division I council passed legislation eliminating any contact with a potential recruit until September 1st of the athlete’s junior year in high school. A drastic move, and in sharp contrast to the game’s trend…
North Carolina and head coach Donna Papa have agreed to a five-year contract extension. The pact is set to run through the 2023 season and is the first multi-year contract of Papa’s career, according to a university press release. Papa has been head coach of the Tar Heels since the late 1980s, collecting more than 1,200 wins during her tenure. She has led UNC to five ACC regular-season titles during her tenure, as well as the ACC tournament title in 2001. The Tar Heels have reached the NCAA regional round fourteen times since 2000. Five times named the ACC Coach…
(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #4 on our list.) 4. Coaching carousel winds on Presbyterian was the first Division I school to make a move at the head coaching position this summer, with then-head coach Britne Stubbs announcing her resignation before the season’s end. The offseason’s dawn brought a handful of widely-expected retirements from a number of coaches who had built their programs from the ground up, including Connie Clark at Texas; Sandy Pearsall at Louisville; and Scot…
Who is she? Casey Goodman, a former catcher for the Louisiana-Monroe Indians (now known as the Warhawks). What is she known for? Goodman starred for Louisiana-Monroe from 2000-03, anchoring the program from behind the plate. Goodman posted a career batting average of .328, with thirty-seven home runs during her career and 147 RBIs. Louisiana-Monroe then competed in the Southland Conference, and Goodman earned all-Southland honors in each of her four years as an Indian. She twice earned all-region honors and was named ULM Female Athlete of the Year in 2004. Here’s something interesting… In 2013, Goodman was selected to the Southland Conference’s all-time softball…
(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #5 on our list.) 5. Florida State takes home the National Championship It was supposed to be “the year of the PAC-12”. All thirteen teams from the SEC reached the NCAA tournament’s field of sixty-four teams. Yet in the end, it was a team from the so-called ‘lowly’ ACC who not only drew eyeballs and headlines, but put together a particularly memorable postseason. FSU had been a postseason stalwart and a regular appearer…
(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #6 on our list.) 6. Alex Wilcox inspires Who knew that a Mississippi State freshman would become one of the most beloved softball players nationwide, and that it would have nothing to do with her on-field endeavors? Alex Wilcox was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2015, while still in high school, but committed to Mississippi State to play softball. She played her freshman season while receiving treatments, persevering through fighting cancer to appear…
(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #7 on our list.) 7. Southern Indiana makes a run, wins Division II title Just ask head coach Sue Kunkle or ace pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt; even the Eagles themselves didn’t see themselves as title contenders at the start of the postseason. The squad put together a terrific postseason run, however, en route to the program’s first-ever softball national title. The Eagles went 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament, outscoring opponents…
(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #8 on our list.) 8. Cat Osterman returns to the circle Even casual softball fans took note of an announcement in early October from one of the game’s all-time greats. Three years removed from her last time pitching competitively, Cat Osterman announced that she will be mounting a comeback with the goal of participating in the 2020 Olympic Games. Osterman retired from professional softball in 2015 and last appeared for Team USA…