Sierra Romero wins inaugural NFCA National Player of the Year Award
Despite her career coming to an end on Sunday at Michigan, she still isn't done winning awards as a Wolverine.
The NFCA announced today that Sierra Romero is the recipient of the inaugural Schutt/NFCA National Player of the Year Award.
Romero is also a finalist (and likely favorite) for the Honda Award, presented to the top athlete in every NCAA women's sport.
She won the big one last week in the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, and was also the winner of the inaugural espnW National Player of the Year Award last season.
I'll bet she's still throwing things around her room in anger after last weekend, but when the pain of losing wears off, she is going to realize she had a great career. It's great to see another honor come her way.
They'll be playing a few games at Alumni Field at the end of the month.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Hey WD, is she moving back to SS or sticking with 2B?
She says her arm injury hasn't improved much, so I'd be surprised to see her move back to SS.
Although seeing Romero on Alumni Field wearing another uniform would be a pretty surreal sight, I'd definitely be going if I were in town. I've come to appreciate the sport of softball so much, even beyond just loving the Michigan team, I really wish that NPF were a bigger deal. I know it'll never crack the major sports, but if there could just be a smattering of games on TV throughout the summer, I'd enjoy that a lot. Glad to see Michigan partnering with USSSA Pride to promote the game.
Those games here are all gonna be on CBSSN.
She was the second pick? Who the hell was drafted #1?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
There are rumors that Romero would not play if she was drafted by PA and manipulated the draft if she didn't go to USSA. Not sure if true but it's plausible. Although Monica Abbott just got the first million dollar contract (it's filled with ways she won't get it all in the writing) the salaries are extremely low, so it's not crazy for players to opt out if it doesn't fit their desires and needs.
won a national championship.
Just saying.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
we didn't win anything so no one is going to remember anyway. . .hell I even forgot what this topic is about anyway.
Jordan Taylor and Lauren Sweet are also on the USSSA Pride roster.
http://usssapride.com/2016-roster/
They will be playing the Scrap Yards Dogs who have Sara Driesenga and Amanada Chidester on their roster tonight, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
They ought to name the trophy after her....
Impressive individual awards for Sierra, but her sister Sydney contributed greatly to the Sooners winning the National Championship (as a freshman).
...might have been the difference between Michigan winning it all and Oklahoma winning it all this season. With Sydney in the line-up, we would've had another amazing bat. And Sydney will likely develop into an All-American like her older sister.
I feel sorry for Sierra because she can't call herself a national champion but her younger sister can (and at her expense...)
Re: Oklahoma Softball
And Oklahoma might be on track to be a softball dyansty. The Sooners nearly choked it away in game 1 and did choke it away in game 2. But the team of underclassmen (4 freshmen and 4 sophomores) showed tremendous resiliency and won it all. Oklahoma is my favorite to win it all next season...
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
They're sort of like us. Outsiders always question the strength of our schedule. We both play aggressive non conference schedule and then dominate our conferences and then get flack for it.
Gasso is also an elite coach. Aside from Hutch, Gasso and Murphy are my favorites.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
The Sooners will be the No.1 consensus pick heading into next season based on their championship and their current roster profile. To me, the Michigan defeat to the Soobers was just a failure to string together a few key hits with runners in scoring position in two innings. I mean, I don't think anyone was actually better than the Wolverines. The Sooners just took advantge of Michigan's greatest flaw, a catcher with the inability to throw anyone out. They got some seeing eye hits with runners on and then hit the ball out twice to pad their lead and Michigan succumbed to their base-running pressure late, ruining a great shot at near incredible comeback in the seventh.
That loss doomed them the next day facing another incredible pitcher who stymied them and won on a passed ball. Michigan had it all except they were forced to rely to much on Betsa and had no answer for teams running at will. Softball is driven by the pitcher-catcher tandem.
Regardless of your lineup and fielding ability at the corners and up the middle, pitcher and catcher dominate softball. If you are weak in one or both of those positions, you might manage a lot of wins, but you won't win a championship. Unfortunately, Michigan found that out the hard way.
when I learned she was not coming here.
I just knew this shit was coming.
OSU would have somehow kidnapped her and made sure she enrolled on campus.
Yes, I believe we win the title with her on the team.
I hate to say it, but I also think we might win if you replaced senior Sierra with sophomore Sierra for just the WS games. Sierra seemed to be pressing, where as sophomore (or junior) Sierra just went up expecting to and ready to kill you.
Wow, I think that was my first double post...
Our missing link was Lauren Sweet. The difference between having an elite catcher and Falk was clear. This has nothing to do with Falk as a player, I think she's great, but her athleticism is why she had to be behind the plate. She's a first baseman, but we couldn't find a respectable catcher and she was the best option. Not framing Betsa's pitches well, letting past balls go, and not being able to throw out steals was a major deficiency we are not used to. Those things are all huge in softball because getting to second base (and 3rd) is incredibly likely to score in softball by nature of the game. Move Falk to DP and add Sweet or similar back in and we are in the finals.
Side note: we have 2 outfield, 2nd base, and then blanco pitching next year. Who fills in? Canfield, Peters, no idea about 2nd Base...?
I hope Hutch stays our coach until Romo retires from playing so she can come back to Michigan and take over the team when Hutch decides she's done.
Romero may have a really long playing career.
As for Hutch, hopefully the year she retires is very very far away.
Her coaching tree is impressive.
Bonnie Tholl was Michigan's first 4x All-B1G First Teamer (Romero is the 3rd). She's been on staff forever and is the associate HC.
As for other former players currently coaching-
- Michelle (Bolster) Gardner, head coach at Indiana
- Kelly (Kovach) Schoenly, head coach at Ohio State
- Jenny Allard, head coach at Harvard
- Melissa Gentile, head coach at EMU
- Marissa Young, head coach at Duke (begins play in 2018)
- Amanda Chidester, assistant at Duke
- Jessica Merchant, assistant at Minnesota
When Allister at Minnesota inevitably gets hired by some better school, I wouldn't be surprised to see Merchant get the HC gig.
Carol Bruggeman coached under Hutch here in the early 90s. She started up the Purdue program in the 90s and then moved on to Louisville. Michigan actually ended her career as we knocked out Louisville on their home field in 2012. She retired after that 2012 season.
Jordan Taylor was a volunteer assitant at Boston University fairly recently and Nikki Nemitz was a volunteer here last year. She's now the director of ops for the program.
Gotta think Bonnie Tholl is the heir apparent for sure, unless something strange happens. Should get at least 10-15 good years with her as the top woman after Hutch steps down, which could be anywhere from 5-15 years from now, depending on our continued success & Hutch's desires/health.
That would provide a nice amount of time for Romero to have an awesome, extended playing career, get into coaching as an assistant (here or elsewhere) and then succeed Tholl as the softball Harbaugh (only hopefully w/o the period of bleh beforehand). Highly speculative, I know, and I don't know if she even wants to go into coaching. The thought of Michigan softball being in the hands of Hutch-Tholl-Romero for the next 50 years, though, is pretty enticing. Plus, then Sierra could rectify the injustice of never winning the WCWS as a player.
and the team will not miss a beat when she takes over. She is Hutch's right hand person and the two pretty much discuss everything that happens with the team. Hutch has one year left on her contract. I'm guessing she signs one more contract, probably about 3 years and then calls it good.
Nice list of coaches. Also, Dorian Shaw is an assistant coach at Stanford (per their softball website). .
is the top assistant at Duke as they started a program this year. She worked many years for Hutch also. Think when Tholl takes over I could see her brining Nikki back to help coach.
Nemitz is still at Michigan as the Director of Softball Operations. The assistant at Duke is actually Chiddy, and the head coach there is Marissa Young, another former UM great.
Yeah, it's Tholl whenever Hutch decides to step down. Tholl is and has been the main recruiter for the program, especially the California pipeline, and she's more than capable coaching on the field. We are in good hands for the long haul. Hutch has built something extremely special... as much as the geography hurts the program, in some ways it helps. We are unique and offer a lot of things other schools can't.
She has the stats to prove that she deserved nothing less. Players like her don't come around very often, and when you see coach Huchinson hug her like she doesn't want to let her go I know why and you should too. Thanks again to Sierra for coming to Michigan and playing like an All-American Wolverine..... and as always. GO BLUE!
..and thanks to WD for keepin us all posted.