A lot of softball happened this weekend, and every pitch was seen on one of ESPN’s many, many broadcast and streaming entities. In years past, full regionals were selected for either airing on television or on ESPN3, the company’s online-only streaming option. This year, though, ESPN appropriately cherry-picked the best games for television and housed a number of other matchups online.
ESPN brought in sixteen full broadcast teams for the Regional round, a somewhat-new strategy for their softball postseason offerings. In years past, the Worldwide Leader would staff 13-14 Regionals and fill out the remaining matchups with “local” broadcast teams, made up of play-by-play and analysts who work regular-season games for the hosting team.
New to ESPN’s talent roster this postseason were Natasha Watley and Brittany McKinney. Watley, of UCLA and Team USA legend, made her mainstream broadcast booth debut, while McKinney fulfilled a role that she was scheduled to have assumed a year ago. Team Mexico star Tori Vidales, who has on ESPN’s programming for the last few years since her graduation from Texas A&M, also called her first career Regional.
Some observations and highlights from the weekend as they relate to the broadcast booth…
- Jenny Dalton-Hill has never shied away from giving her honest opinions, but the Arizona legend has really come into her own as a broadcaster in the past few years. Tasked with calling the Seattle regional from her home in Kentucky – a 3-hour time difference – it fell into Dalton-Hill’s purview to talk about the perceived-underseeding of both Washington and Michigan. Agree with her point or not, Dalton-Hill did a nice job of bridging the gap of controversy and giving her thoughts in a knowledgeable fashion.
- Jessica Mendoza rejoined the softball broadcasting world for the week as part of ESPN’s “7 Innings Live” offering. A renamed version of the classic Bases Loaded program, Mendoza and Jen Schroeder helmed the analysis portion of the show, working 12-hour days on set. Now that she’s full-time in Major League Baseball and part-time on the softball mic, it can be easy to forget just how capable of a softball broadcaster Mendoza is. Her analysis of both game action and the nuances of the game is top-level.
- Brittany McKinney’s afore-mentioned debut paired her with veteran play-by-play broadcaster Jenn Hildreth. McKinney’s delivery is a dry one, though that’s not to her fault; on the contrary, McKinney speaks well and fairly eloquently, and her analysis is solid. Originally set to call a few dozen games in the ACC Network’s debut season in 2020, McKinney was deprived of that opportunity last year and, with the arrival of virtual broadcasting in 2021, was not in a similar position this year. She was brought in for regionals, though, and did well in Tallahassee, especially for a rookie game-caller.
- Beth Mowins and Michele Smith are still ESPN’s “A-team” in the booth, and both get more attention than any other because of that rank. Mowins is the game’s best historian, without question, but Smith does not get enough credit for the nuanced instances when her veteranship shines through. For instance, when sending the game to a commercial or killing time in the midst of a delay, Smith is concise, fairly succinct, and gets the job done.
- Alex Loeb and Megan Willis have incredible chemistry in the booth, even when they’re not together in the booth. Loeb and Willis have worked together as a tandem for several years, thanks in large part to the pair’s geographical placement and ties to the Longhorn Network. The chemistry between the two was on full display this weekend, as the Baton Rouge Regional went to seven games, and helped the broadcasts flow well.
QUICK HITS
- Awards to Kevin Brown and Amanda Scarborough for the late-night perseverance in the Austin Regional, when Texas and Oregon did not finish their if necessary game until roughly 1:15 am local time. Scarborough confessed to having “tired eyes” but she and Brown called a good guy even into the wee hours.
- The chemistry between Brown and Scarborough is really thriving, and they seem to be hitting their stride down the stretch run of the postseason.
- Scarborough likes puppies. A lot. She likes puppies a lot.
- Sideline reporter Jalyn Johnson worked the SEC Tournament and was the third member of Brown and Scarborough’s broadcast crew in Austin. While this reporter was not initially impressed with Johnson’s skills, it was later noted that she is brand new to the line of work and to being on-camera for mainstream television. With that consideration, she’s actually done fairly well and did not give the impression of being a rookie reporter.
- Mark Neely and Kenzie Fowler teamed up for the Los Angeles regional. The pair worked together really nicely and complemented one another well. Technical difficulties robbed viewers of a couple of innings of the pair’s final game on Sunday, but this would make a nice pairing on a more permanent basis going forward.
- Yvette Girouard was missed on the Baton Rouge Regional. A field that included three teams from the state of Louisiana would have benefitted from her vast knowledge and expertise in the state. Girouard calling LSU vs. the Ragin’ Cajuns may seem like an old trick at this point, but she continually adds a quality element to such broadcasts, both during the season and in postseason.
