For the last decade, McLeod has been the publisher of Justin’s World of Softball and steadily grew the site into ultimately becoming the go-to source for breaking news and analysis on college softball.

“When Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball’s President & Executive Editor, initially approached me, I put some serious thought into the opportunity,” McLeod said. 

“I have known Brentt for several years and we have worked together really well on some projects. My goal has always been for covering college softball to be a long-term, viable career option for myself, and I believe this opportunity will make that goal a reality. I’m excited to continue writing about the game that I love on this new platform for me.”

The Justin’s World of Softball brand will remain visible, including on social media and in a soon-to-debut college-only newsletter that will feature exclusive content and an aggregation of published content (as well as on McLeod’s breaking news reports that will now be published on Extra Inning Softball).

Eads said he has long followed the new editor’s work and couldn’t be more happy to have him on the EIS team.

“What first struck me,” the founder of Extra Inning Softball explained, “was how Justin is so prolific in writing about softball and covers so many topics, which is what we try to do on our site! The other thing I quickly learned is he is very well connected and respected in the sport and will greatly enhance what we strive to do in our editorial coverage: honor the athletes and bring more positive attention to the sport.”

The newest member of the EIS family stresses that he will bring the same approach in teaming up with Eads and the current Extra Inning editorial staff.

“One thing that I want to mention specifically is that the college content that I write and that we publish will not be changing,” McLeod noted. “Now, it will just be on a different platform and alongside a lot of Extra Inning’s great content, as well.”

Existing subscribers to Justin’s World of Softball will be able to access the same exclusive content on Extra Inning Softball; current JWOS subscribers: please email Info@ExtraInningSoftball.com to set up an Extra Inning Softball account using your current JWOS subscription.

The post Justin‌ ‌McLeod‌ ‌Hired‌ ‌to‌ ‌Be‌ ‌Full-Time‌ ‌Extra‌ ‌Inning‌ ‌Softball‌ ‌National‌ College‌ ‌Editor‌ appeared first on Justin's World of Softball.

One of the longest-tenured head coaches in Division 1 softball, here are five things that you should know about Worthington following her milestone victory.

1. She is the only head coach in Eastern Kentucky softball history.

Worthington started the EKU program in 1993, and has led the Colonels on the diamond ever since. 2021 is the 29th season of Worthington’s tenure.

2. Her 700th career win occurred on March 4, 2018.

Worthington celebrated win #700 exactly three years and two days prior to celebrating #800. The Colonels have played just 108 games since then, and won 100 of them.

3. She is a 3-time Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year.

Worthington was named the conference Coach of the Year in 2002, 2004, and 2018. She led the Colonels to conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances in ’02 and ’04, and set the program record for wins with 45 victories in 2018.

4. EKU softball had two scholarships and a $99 budget when the program began.

According to a 2018 story on Worthington after her 700th win, ‘humble beginnings’ only begins to describe the EKU softball program when it joined the school’s athletic department. Worthington led the program to their first winning record in just their third season of existence.

5. Worthington won the 1981 College World Series as a player.

The 1981 season was the last year that the AIAW College Softball World Series champion was the consensus national title winner; a year later, the NCAA would organize a competing event called the Women’s College World Series and would absorb the AIAW tournament beginning in 1983. In 1981, though, Worthington was a junior on the Utah State softball team that won the national title, beating Cal State Fullerton in the tournament final. The championship is one of just two in Utah State program history.

The post Eastern Kentucky’s Jane Worthington wins #800: Five Fast Facts appeared first on Justin's World of Softball.

Q: Why has JWOS implemented a paywall? 
A: Great question! Justin’s World has been, and remains, committed to bringing you the best coverage of softball across all levels of this great game. With that said, there are operational, travel, and other costs that come along with running a media outlet. We truly cannot do this without your support!

Q: Why am I seeing ads?
A: Same general answer as above – ads are a way for JWOS to make money in a way that does not require any of our readers or members to spend their money. A perk of being a subscriber: no paywall content will have any ads within those articles themselves.

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Kyllo-Kittleson joins JWOS after spending the last year as the Executive Editor of FastpitchNews, where she had direct oversight of the site’s collegiate and club softball coverage. While at FPN, Kyllo-Kittleson covered a number of major events in the softball world and authored a number of popular editorial articles on a variety of subjects across the game.

Prior to joining FastpitchNews, Kyllo-Kittleson spent five years as the Director of Softball Operations at the University of Minnesota, and was a part of the Gophers’ staff when the team earned a program-first No. 1 national ranking during the 2017 season.

“Joining Justin’s World is an opportunity that excites me to no end,” said Kyllo-Kittleson. “The work Justin has done over the years coupled with his reputation and loyal audience base is nothing short of impressive. I think fans and followers of JWOS will enjoy the way we compliment each other and what that means for future content. Sky’s the limit!”

“I’m extremely excited for Michael to be joining our team,” JWOS founder Justin McLeod shared. “Even as we have competed for stories over the past year, we’ve developed a great friendship and when the opportunity arose to partner up, the decision was a no-brainer.”

Along with the staff expansion, other exciting things are happening around JWOS in preparation for the 2020 season. The recent unveiling of justinsworldsb.com includes several new and exciting features, including premium content and the expansion of coverage into all collegiate levels and travel ball.

The post Michael Kyllo-Kittleson Joins JWOS appeared first on Justin's World of Softball.

Davis spent the past fifteen years working at the prep level and in travel ball, spending time with the Texas Blaze, Diamond Sports Hotshots, and Sudden Impact organizations. During her tenure with those programs, she coached more than 150 former, current, and future Division I athletes.

“Adding Tammie was a great find for us. She came highly recommended from two Division I coaches in our league. So that meant a lot to me that they felt comfortable enough to recommend her here,” Incarnate Word head coach Joe DiPietro said in a statement. “Tammie brings a lot of experience to our team. She’ll work great with our pitchers and catchers. I think we really lucked out with such a quality candidate.”

From 1998-2000, Davis served as an assistant coach at Galveston Junior College, and previously spent time as a graduate assistant at Texas Wesleyan University in the late ‘90s.

Incarnate Word finished the 2019 season with an 8-40 overall record, including a 4-22 record in Southland Conference play.

The post Incarnate Word hires Tammie Davis as pitching coach appeared first on Justin's World of Softball.

First and foremost, there’s a new URL in your address bar. Welcome to justinsworldsb.com. Now, don’t worry – if you’ve got justinsworldofsoftball.com bookmarked in your browser, there’s a handy link on that site that will lead you right here so that you don’t miss anything. While you’re here, though, go ahead and update that bookmark! We’re here to stay. If you were on our mailing list already, you still are.  Get ready for a fresh new look there, too.

We’ve changed some things around on how we organize our content. Previously, if you were looking for news or feature articles, those were single categories of their own, where anything that fit that basic heading was filed under that label, regardless of topic. We’ve heard your suggestions, and now you’ll find everything categorized by topic, so that you can pay close attention to whatever is nearest and dearest to you. Are you a college softball fan? Good news: All of our college news and feature articles are now in one place, so you can easily find all of our coverage of your favorite team. Is international or pro ball more your speed? We’ve got you covered there, too, with a section solely devoted to softball at those levels. In the lead-up to the 2020 Olympics, that’s where you’ll find our coverage of all of the international teams’ preparation and anticipation for the Tokyo Games.

There are also some things coming that aren’t just a redesigned look on something you’re used to seeing; on the contrary, we’ve got some brand spankin’ new stuff coming, too. We’re adding staff (including some big-time contributors that will pop in from time to time); expanding our coverage area (travel ball asked; could we be answering?); and moving into some mediums beyond just the written word (my Southern accent has been waiting for its big break, and it’s finally here!)

As a writer, I have a tendency to endlessly go on and on about things, so I’ll stop here. One thing I do want to make clear, though: Justin’s World of Softball is still Justin’s World of Softball. For the last eight years, you’ve come to rely on us as a trusted resource for everything softball, and we want to make sure that we are proving ourselves worthy of that billing.

We are proud to introduce the new Justin’s World of Softball website. Click around, see what’s new, and stay tuned for even more awesomeness to come.

—
Justin

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A tornado warning in the midst of the weather delay forced those still in the stadium into the refuge of stairwells and other safe places, and didn’t do much for the softball side of things, either. Originally scheduled to play a quintet of games on Wednesday, the weather dictated a change of plans, as SEC officials chose to play just three games on the tournament’s opening day, altering the schedule for the remainder of the tournament.

In the tournament’s opening game, Mississippi State and sophomore pitcher Emily Williams held strong against Texas A&M in the tournament’s play-in opener between the two teams at the bottom of the conference standings, as the Bulldogs earned a 3-2 victory. After the game, Mississippi State head coach Vann Stuedeman called Williams her “sophomore-senior”, noting that Williams has had to lead the Bulldogs’ pitching staff like an experienced veteran this season, despite being just a 2nd-year player.

For Texas A&M, the loss leaves the Aggies in a precarious position as they now set their sights on Selection Sunday to find out if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies came in at #45 in the latest edition of the RPI rankings, putting them decidedly ‘on the bubble’ as Sunday nears.

Aggies head coach Jo Evans, after her team’s disappointing loss, noted the Aggies’ strength of schedule and their six conference wins. After the tournament-opening defeat, the Aggies sit at 28-25 on the year, with notable non-conference victories over McNeese, Rutgers, and a pair of wins over Sam Houston State.

Once the weather delay ended – officially coming in at four hours, fifty-eight minutes long – Florida and South Carolina resumed their game in the top of the second inning. It was all South Carolina in the early-going of the restarted game, as the Gamecocks hit three home runs in two innings off of Gators starter Elizabeth Hightower, including a moonshot by Cayla Drotar that hit the top half of the Davis Diamond scoreboard.

Gators head coach Tim Walton elected not to start Kelly Barnhill in the circle for his team’s first showing in the conference tournament, instead going with the freshman Hightower. Walton also gave junior Jordan Roberts the start behind the dish, with Kendyl Lindaman sliding into the designated player spot in the batting order.

Dixie Raley pitched five innings of four-hit, shutout ball before giving way in the sixth to Drotar, who got hit hard, giving up five hits and six runs, three of them earned, in just 1.1 innings of work in the circle. A pair of errors by Madison Owens at first base – the position that Drotar occupied before assuming the circle – led to the unearned runs. A 2-run walk-off double by Jordan Matthews cemented the comeback for the Gators as they came out on the positive side of the 6-5 final.

USSSA Pride general manager Don Dedonatis made an appearance before the rain delay, and returned after the tornadoes and nasty weather had passed. Dedonatis’ Pride drafted Florida star Amanda Lorenz in the first round during the league draft in March.

In the day’s finale after the schedule revisions, Auburn rode the arm of Chardonnay Harris to an upset win over Missouri. It was a battle of the Tigers – the nickname of both teams – and Auburn came out on top, with a 3-0 final score.

Missouri had only been shut out twice this season, both times in tight, 1-0 ballgames, and Harris’ changeup had the Mizzou hitters swinging from their heels throughout the game. Harris collected six strikeouts on the day, but allowed just five hits. Missouri hit the ball hard at times, but seemingly always directly at an Auburn defensive player.

After the game, Auburn head coach Mickey Dean made particular mention of Missouri catcher Hatti Moore, who hit the ball hard in the game and required a pair of diving catches from Auburn fielders to retire her.

Dean’s offense clicked better than they have in recent memory, collecting six hits and scoring three runs. A 1st-inning RBI single for Kendall Veach stood as the lone scoring for much of the game, before a 2-run home run by senior Morgan Podany in the fifth inning gave AU some much-needed insurance runs.

FINAL Scores:
Mississippi State 3, Texas A&M 2
Florida 6, South Carolina 5
Auburn 3, Missouri 0

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Kolaitis’ coaching staff will consist of Joe Guthrie and Courtnay Foster. Guthrie will handle the defensive instruction, while Foster will serve as the pitching coach. A married couple, Guthrie and Foster both spent the 2018 season as a part of the coaching staff at Louisiana-Lafayette and have previously coached together at Spring Hill College and Bucknell.

Foster is a Northwestern alum and also spent five years as the Wildcats’ pitching coach. Guthrie, a former assistant coach at Penn State, also spent a year on the coaching staff of the Scrap Yard Dawgs. Both are former collegiate head coaches.

​Joining the Blazers’ roster via transfer are Jenna Olszewski and Dylinn Stancil. Olszewski spent her freshman season at Auburn in 2018, while Stancil played at Ole Miss for the first two seasons of her career. Both players are immediately eligible.

Olszewski saw limited action in her first and only season in Auburn, appearing in twenty-five games with three starts. She recorded seven hits, including two home runs, and six RBI on the year.

Stancil primarily played second and third base, while also spending some time at designated player, during her time at Ole Miss. Best known for her performance in the Rebels’ win over Florida in the 2017 SEC tournament quarterfinals, when she recorded both of the Ole Miss runs in a 2-0 victory over the Gators, Stancil ended her Rebel career with a .235 batting average and twenty-nine RBI.

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