SB wins 2 in TC Fall Ball Tourney
The Softball Team was at Traverse City this past weekend for the annual Fall Ball Tourney. We beat WMU 15-3 and beat CMU 10-1 on Saturday. Sunday's games have not been reported as yet.
We host Kentucky this weekend for 3 games. All games are free so come on out and watch some good softball.
I think this is a much needed distraction from the football team's woes.
September 29th, 2014 at 8:13 PM ^
Good stuff, Go Blue!
September 29th, 2014 at 10:05 PM ^
I thought we were a basketball and softball school,
September 29th, 2014 at 8:16 PM ^
Amen on the need for a distraction! Thank goodness we can remember that we have a sport out there that represents us at an elite level and does so with class and character (for the same reason, I'm looking forward to b-ball season). I'm really excited about this weekend's showdown with UK. As a team looking to compete at the highest level, we need to take every opportunity to prove ourselves against the best competition available. I'm sure it'll be a great opportunity for growth & learning for the young ladies, especially the freshmen - welcome to the NCAA!
Thanks for passing along the good news, MGoSoftball!
September 29th, 2014 at 8:17 PM ^
September 29th, 2014 at 8:23 PM ^
I could not make it up there this weekend as I usually do. I had to search far a wide for the scores. Thanks so much.
September 29th, 2014 at 8:41 PM ^
No problem MGoSB, I'm always excited to talk M softball. Hope to see you in Ann Arbor this weekend for the UK games!
September 29th, 2014 at 8:25 PM ^
Only 5-2? Fire Hutch! /s
September 29th, 2014 at 8:31 PM ^
I'm curious, anyone have any word on who pitched, got the big hits, stats or anything? I know these are exhibitions & don't get much coverage, I'm just curious - esp. about the pitching, since that was so up-and-down last season. Has the potential to be a major strength, but needs to get shored up!
September 29th, 2014 at 8:39 PM ^
Pitching was about as evenly divided as you can get - one would start and pitch 3, one would come in relief for 3, and one would pitch the final inning. Only pitchers that got work were Wagner, Driesenga, and Betsa. Freshman Tera Blanco saw work at DH and 1B, notched a few hits but nothing too wild. All three pitchers had their bright spots but I thought Betsa looked especially dominant. Great movement and her control was much improved from last year. She could be the horse this year.
Otherwise, Romero was Romero, and Lawrence batted leadoff and looked fantastic. Great power. Freshman Taylor Swearingen got some work at 1B and 3B and hit a 2-run homer on Sunday against Oakland, so that was neat to see. All of the freshmen got work at some point this weekend, but the primary contributor in my opinion will be Swearingen followed by Blanco.
September 29th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
Thank you! I'm glad my prediction re: Blanco playing 1B has come to pass. I think giving Blanco a spot in the field and putting Susalla at DH is the way to go. My hope is that Blanco during her time here will become for Michigan what Ally Carda is for UCLA. Another guess, but unless Monty becomes more confident at the plate this year I could see Swearingen becoming the regular starter at third. Glad to hear Betsa looked good. Do you recall how Aidan Falk did?
September 29th, 2014 at 9:26 PM ^
I actually think Swearingen will play a majority of the season at first with Blanco seeing spot duty. Swearingen is listed at 5'10" but is probably approaching 6'0", and is clearly the most ready offensively and defensively of all the freshmen. Monte will definitely keep her spot at third. She hit the cover off the ball this weekend and has gotten stronger and faster from last year. Same with Christner. Both of them are poised for breakouts and my bold prediction right now is that Monte has double digit homers.
Susalla played the entire tournament in right field. The OF lost a lot of depth last season, and with her losing her spot at 3rd to Monte plus the addition of Swearingen and Blanco, she can fill in at right. She was adequate, making a nice running catch in the gap but also losing a can of corn in the sun and letting it drop in front of her. Her bat is still just a little bit off.
Falk struggled. You could tell she wasn't used to college pitching. She looked average in the field at 1st; behind the plate she was serviceable but threw a couple over the pitcher's head when she was returning the ball after the pitch, and hit maybe one ball hard all weekend. She did have two or three singles, but most were those little dinky hits that drop in front of the OF. She has a big, powerful swing, but needs to level it out and work on adjusting her timing. This is a 40 HR high school swing, but a 40 K college swing. She has incredible potential though, for sure.
September 29th, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^
Interesting. I'd already penciled in Falk as a new outfield starter next to Christner and thought she had the most offensive potential of the incoming freshmen. She's obviously had very little time to adjust so hopefully she can adapt her game quickly with more practice and coaching.
Blanco and Swearingen are both from the OC and played similar competition (I think they even played against each other, if I recall correctly). Blanco put up better offensive numbers, but of course college softball is a different beast. Never seen Swearingen play apart from highlights but I've seen Blanco play 1B and was impressed.
I would love for Monty to have a breakout year and it's great to hear that she's having a productive offseason. She's very skilled but had some awful slumps last year where she looked afraid to even take a swing so I hope she's also gaining confidence.
Edit: I'm also curious to know if anyone is undergoing a slapper conversion this season like Abby did coming in from high school last season. Sounds like the most likely (and perhaps only) candidate is Vargas.
September 29th, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^
The way this weekend went, I'd be shocked if Falk saw much time in the outfield, or any time at all. Yeah, there's no question both are going to be great players. Just from what I've seen though, Swearingen is college ready. She can play. I'm hoping that Blanco could be a serviceable DH this year and make up for some of the offensive production that Hasselbach took with her when she graduated.
I really think Monte and Christner will be two of the biggest offensive contributors outside of Romero and Lawrence this year. Both pass the eye test, they look a lot stronger than they did a year ago, and both looked like they made serious swing adjustments over the summer. Monte banged a couple off the wall and hit what the annoucncer described as a "SCUD missile" line drive through the infield to score two with the bases loaded. Christner hit a couple of lasers too. You'll see a lot more consistency out of the two of them this year.
September 29th, 2014 at 10:23 PM ^
Well, sounds like the team will be very good this season, though I can't say I'm not a bit disapointed to hear about Falk (hopefully that was just a bad case of nerves). Thanks for your sharing your observations!
September 29th, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^
To clarify, I think she'll see time at catcher and 1B. Just not in the outfield. She's definitely good enough to crack the lineup. No problem though, always happy to talk softball!
September 29th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
Awesome insights, thanks for all the commentary! I love that I can come to MGoBlog & learn things about the team that even the athletic department website doesn't have. 20 posts on fall ball is great, and just what we needed this week - much appreciated.
September 30th, 2014 at 1:12 AM ^
I would like to second Hail to The Blue’s observations on the Traverse City games and add a few observations of my own. All three pitchers had very good weekends. Sara was a little rocky in the first game but steadily improved throughout the weekend. It gives me hope that she will return to her sophomore form this season. Megan was awesome. She had many strikeouts (8 of the 9 outs against WMU, I think) and very good control. Haylie was Haylie. A very good and steady pitcher. Michigan pitchers gave up very few walks, HBPs, or hits. The hits they did give up were mostly softly hit flares. Here is the approximate line-up for the final game against CMU. It will give you an idea of how the coaches view the hitting potential of the players. 1. Silo (LF), 2. Kelly (CF), 3. Romo (2B), 4. Lindsay (3B), 5. Taylor Swearingen (1B), 6. Kelsey Susalla (RF), 7. Lauren (C), 8. Aidan Falk (DP), 9. Abby (SS). Lindsay was in the 5-spot for the first 3 games but moved up to the 4-spot after Tera Blanco struggled a bit at the plate in the game against Oakland. Tera did bat for Aiden at the end of the CMU game and hit a long fly to right that was caught. In the first 3 games, Tera batted clean-up and played 1B. It won’t surprise me if Taylor starts the season at 1B with Tera batting in the DP spot. Taylor is a very good fielder and was the best hitter among the freshmen last weekend. Lindsay batting #5 and #4 shows that she must have had a very good fall practice and a very good summer prep. As noted by HTTB, she hit the ball very hard on both days. Her two-run single with the bases loaded in the first inning of the final CMU game was an extremely hard-hit line drive up the middle. And Kelly also had several well-hit balls. Romo showed that she may have an even more outstanding season this coming year than she had the last two years. She homered 3 times during the weekend (a long 2-run home run to center her first time up, a long 3-run home run to right center, and a solo drive to left which is discussed below), had a couple of other hits, made only a few (hard) outs and walked a lot. In the final CMU game, Romo walked the first 2 or 3 times up. Then, with the score 4-2, she homered to left, a solo shot. Pitchers should not give Romo anything to hit. Romo was also very self-assured in the field, making all the plays with ease. It remains to be seen if Kelsey will be a good enough fielder to be a regular in right. She hit pretty well, not great, but pretty well, so I hope she shows she will not be a defensive liability in right. Abby did not have a good weekend at the plate. In my opinion, she needs to learn to place her slap hits better to take advantage of her speed. I am sure she is working on that. I think that Abby will be our only slapper this season. Amanda Vargas played 2nd in the first 3 games with Abby moving over to short. I don’t think Amanda got any hits, but, in her final at-bat, she hit a very hard line drive that the Oakland 3rd baseman caught and turned into a double play. I heard Hutch complement Amanda on her line drive. Hutch was clearly impressed. I thought Lauren hit pretty well. If I remember correctly, I think she had a couple of doubles in the final CMU game. Her first double, a line drive off the first baseman’s glove, drove in the final two runs in the first inning. Her second double was a drive to the fence in right center. I don’t have anything to add to HTTB’s comments on Aiden. Let’s hope she can quickly adapt to the pace and intensity of college ball. Silo was very good as the leadoff hitter. Given her many abilities, I think that will prove to be a great spot for her and for the team. She had Michigan’s other home run this weekend (Romo 3, Taylor 1, Silo 1), a deep solo shot to left in the first CMU game. We will learn a lot more about the team this coming weekend when Michigan plays 3 games against Kentucky at Alumni Field. Ohio State played a DH against Kentucky in Lexington on Sunday losing the first game 3-1 and winning the second game 4-2. I haven’t seen any reports on who pitched for Ohio State, but if RS junior Alex DiDomenico has sufficiently recovered from the arm injury that sidelined her most of last year, she and senior Olivia O’Reilly should make a pretty formidable pitching duo this coming season.
September 29th, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^
September 29th, 2014 at 8:46 PM ^
Hutch has been the standard here that every Michigan program wants to become.
September 29th, 2014 at 9:04 PM ^
Go softball and thanks as always for the update MGoSoftball