SB Future Bright

Keilani Ricketts coming back for an Oklahoma team only losing three seniors (two of which were pitchers behind her) they have to be up there. Same goes for a very, very good Alabama team with all-everything Jackie Traina returing with zero departing seniors. I'm assuming some big Pac representation near the top of the polls and possibly Hawaii at ten or twelve or so, although their two pitchers (sisters, both with ridiculous stats) got exposed pretty badly against top tier competition in the tournament last season.

M should have a good season, but they need more consistent hitting and at least the normal freshman to sophomore development at the pitcher spot to be elite nationally, at least from my recollection of their 2011-2012 season.

Edit: I'd expect Cal to be a player nationally this season, too. They return two of the best players in the NCAA, including their pitcher. The downside is that they lose a third All-American and have a crazy amount of freshman (although that's not always as big of a deal for a softball team).

My first interest in M softball was in 1983 when someone I knew (Mari Foster) went to M.  She was the starting pitcher for a few years and did a great job.  Of course this was before the internets and data was hard to get.  News spread by way of the phone line.  Coach Hutch with the help of some player's dads would chaulk the lines.

I am a lifelong baseball student.  I had two daughters and no sons.  So I thought that I might as well use my passion and knowledge of the game for good use.  So I started a travel SB team in my area with a 10U team.  I was able to keep the same set of girls together and they developed very nicely.  So when we were an 18U team, we were very good and then became State contenders, no State Championships though.  For 7 consecutive years, I took teams to the State Finals and finished no lower than 8th and no higher than 3rd.

I then coached my daughter's D1 college Club team for a few years.  I then took an early retirement.  Then a funny thing happened.  Some of the little sisters called me and asked me to coach them, which I agreed.  So I started fresh again with a 10U team a few years ago.  This team is now a 16U team and will probably finish in the Top 8 this year.

I have been to many summer tourneys where most of the better players participate.  It is fun to coach against a 16U pitcher, then in a few years, watch her on ESPN.

I am also a student (secretly) of Coach Hutch.  I dont think people realize how special she is.  She could coach anywhere at any level she wants; but she stays here.  That is dedication to the school and the program.  She is the winninest coach on campus.  Keep in mind she was the first SB coach to win a NC east of the Mississippi.  (Alabama was the second team last year).

He is a DB.

The Bo of softball.

Maryland has a historically good softball team--perhaps the second or third best program in the ACC (after Georgia Tech and maybe Florida State), in an interesting contrast with their baseball program.

Rutgers has a softball team.  They were middle-of-the-pack in the Big East, and will remain so in the Big Ten.

It will be interesting to see how they have 14 teams play in a conference that really only has 6 or 7 weekends with good enough weather to play regular-season softball games (plus 1 week for a conference tournament) before regionals start.

the ACC actually isn't a great softball conference, and Maryland has an okay history of success (never made it out of an NCAA Regional, only won one ACC tournament). Rutgers has never won a BE or A-10 title, and as far as I can tell has never made the tournament.

As far as softball goes, Jed Clampet followed the right advice: Californee is the place you oughta be. And Texas too, and some of the south, but mostly California. Michigan is probably a better recruiting territory than either of the new markets.