Messages

Valpo lost on the road to both DePaul (6-3) and Northwestern (3-0) today.

Thanks, Not for sure how DePaul is suppose to be this year, they are playing in a revamped Big East that is not as strong as used to be, still not bad 6-3.
Northwestern should have a very good team this year, especially when their ace is on the mound.
Il State, who I mentioned beat Valpo earlier will contend for the MVC title this year, so all & all, played pretty good this fall versus some good competition & probably ended up around 4-4 ?

How did they do in the first tourney at Il State? I think there was 2 or 3 D-1 schools in it & one pretty good NAIA team.

Someone reported on 2 wins against GV State, but how about the games at the Il State tourney. I see ISU beat us 7-0, but we played 3 other games? And how about today, I see on Northwestern site that we are to play Northwestern & DePaul. Any scores, would like to know how they show against some good D-1 schools....anyone?

They should be favs to win Horizon, especially with good Loyola team to MVC.

It should be another good season for the softball team, with a lot of key players returning!

Was told they went 1-3. Did anyone go & who did we play. Tried to find results & can't without knowing teams.

How did they do in the first tourney at Il State? I think there was 2 or 3 D-1 schools in it & one pretty good NAIA team.

Hope I am wrong, but didn't they beat us LY? They have great QB returning & preseason D-2 All-American WR & 26 players that started games LY....a win would be big for Valpo, but I don't see it. I'll be cheering for Crusaders just the same.

Did we lose the pitching coach ? What happened to K C Boldt ? Is Joylyn now asst ?
I must have missed announcements.

Wow! Big loss for Valpo softball, I was looking for huge year from Duncan in 2014.
Things will be a little tougher with the Cardinals & I think they did graduate their All American first baseman. Duncan should be up to it.
I'm assuming Marinic will play 1b if she comes back for 6th year [ anyone know her status?]

and IU is scared of us.

Do you REALLY think so?
I'm excited about our big win & hope we can knock off AP, but not to sure IU fears us. In fact, I would like to see them be over confident if we get another shot at them. Don't like giving them any statements for their bulletin board.

What is scary is Cals Henderson was pitching on 1 good leg.
The effort put out by that young lady their last conference series & NCAA was truly amazing & gutsy to say the least.

I said Michigan was overrated [ RPI & nfca poll ], I didn't say they were a bad team. They are probably a top 11-12 team in my opine [ & that's all it is, an opinion]. They have some great players & will probably be better next year than this.{ But so will the BIG10}
Valpo played a respectful game against them. In order for Valpo to have a chance against a team like Michigan is to increase their strength of schedule. I think Valpo has a shot at winning the Horizon the next 2-3 years & can do it with a .500 or even losing record in pre-conference, so go for a tougher schedule & give the 2 young pitchers the experience.
Go get CMU tomorrow.

They will miss Joy, other than the year she sat out, she has been a key fixture in the Valpo lineup for a while. She had a fantastic Horizon Tourney.
Don't know if Marinic is going to stay for a 6th year or not, another fixture & a player who can play many positions. Was a very good SS when she first came to Valpo.
Brown has also had some very good games & 2-3 key HR's this year.

I'd say the key for the team & the pitchers is to step up the schedule a couple of notches. The Horizon league is not a very strong league & if Loyola leaves [ as someone said ] it will make it even weaker in that they usually had the highest RPI in the conference.

I wish them luck this w/e

I believe Nebraska beat them twice. They did not play Wisconsin or Mn.

Yeah, NE took us 2 of 3.  We lost to Wisco in the tournament. 

But perhaps you may be right...only 6-6 vs. ranked teams.  Did thump then-#9 A&M (now 16 seed) and knock off #2 ASU though (now 5 seed).

Even more of a down year for my favorite girls, the defending champs from Alabama :/

Alabama pitcher seems to be having some problems, I wonder if maybe she threw too many innings?
All in all softball is getting better across the country & there are many good teams out there.

Valpo softball is an example of a program that has come a long ways over the past few years, they use to be a doormat & now have back to back NCAA appearances

They should not be an 8 seed imo.

I agree--I think they should be higher...however it strikes me that you seem to imply the opposite?

I see them as a # 12-14 at best...jmo
Consider this, they played only Nebraska of the top 4 teams in conference. I believe Nebraska beat them twice. They did not play Wisconsin or Mn.
They started off with some very good wins & after that more or less coasted in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, they have a very good team, but I think can be beat. I don't know anything about Valpo's pitching & if it can stand up to the Michigan bats, if it can they could make a game of it.
If both Michigan & California avoid upsets, that could be an interesting game.

Michigan can be beat, but it will take a combination of long ball, short game & manufacturing runs on the bases. They should not be an 8 seed imo.

I hate knocking our players, but she definitely seems like an upgrade over Norway.  It seems that we still put Lindsay in for defensive help at the end of the games, but she has been a .200 hitter since she got here, and we needed more offense with Duncan out.  We can only have so many sub-.200 hitters and still win games (Wisniewski, Doerffler, Norway).

Im not really sure if Duncan coming back in will help the line up much. Im sure it cant hurt but she has been pitched around all season and has for lack of better words been reduced to a contact hitter at best. Her ba. ob and slug numbers are still respectable but her production numbers are way down. The simple reason is there is no protection in the 5 hole. Last season Rutowski made it almost impossible for that to happen. When your 4 hole leads off between 35 to 40% of the time and no protection behind her you are pretty much setting that 4 hole up to fail. There are batters in the 6 ,7 hole that might have made a difference. Place Bouchard behind Duncan and give the pitching battery something to think about. Joy, Britt and Janelle would make a pretty nice 4,5,6.

I coach myself at the 18 exposure level so I know how it feels to be second guessed all the time. But towards the end of a pretty frustrating season you sometimes set back and think what if..........

Boomdad- there is no doubt that having someone behind you will make a difference. The loss of Rutkowski, Phalen & the fantastic leadoff,3 slot,2 slot [ where ever you needed her] Strickland hurt. Valpo lost 3 very good pitchers & 3 very good hitters. Having Strickland get on 35-40% of the time ahead of a hitter helps.
It will be interesting what they do next year with the loss of Joy & don't know if Marinic is going to stay for 6th year or not? Hopefully one or two of the incoming Freshmen can add to the mix

In the meantime, I would like to see them give Korb a shot.
But, I'm no coach, so what do I know.

2 nice wins for lady Crusaders vs WM.
Korb is knocking the cover off the ball, while I don't get why she had hardly played in 2+ years except to pinch run, at least we found out in time to help for Horizon tourney.
She should help.

I must have missed that announcement on Loyola. While they can hold their own in softball in MVC, they will have to bring things up a notch or two for basketball & other sports.
It will hurt Horizon softball, they are usually a very good team & carry one of the higher RPIs, due to early schedule. Lost 2 good softball programs with Loyola & Butler

Happy to see Korb getting a chance to prove herself. Amanda, like her sister Karen was an outstanding High School player [ although they were quite different players, both great ]. She could help the Crusaders in the tourney & be a big plus for next year....way to go Amanda

He was able to craft his talent with the Crusaders & his 4 years

They came back in nightcap for 3-1 win. Could have used Duncan over w/e?

Loyola & UIC are much better teams than records show. They both played very tough schedules & both have 1 pitcher that on a given day could beat many teams in the country.
Versus the past few years the crusader's schedule this year was rather weak & could catch up with them.
They do have some good hitters & could get on a run come Horizon tourney time, but pitching will have to keep them IN the games.
I wish they would run a little more, but I don't know what speed they have.

Middle of Crusader lineup, Ichiyama, Duncan & Marnic are on fire, what a combo

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/softball/weekly-awards, Duncan named player of week for Horizon

I'm happy for the Crusaders & the pitchers are looking good & hitters great.
Don't think I'd get too carrried away with comparing to others in conference quite yet. I have seen UWGB play this year & they have a very nice team. They always get started late, but note that Alabama,UNI, Illinois & a very good Drake team were 4 of first games.
Wright State has played UCLA, TX A&M, Mcnesse State, ARk., UNI  & 2-3 other very good teams [ maybe a top 25 RPI schedule.
UIC has played Nebraska 3x [ many say after wins over Ok. & Ok State they could win Big 10], Mi State 2x,AZ State,Il State & USF.
Loyola not quite as tough, but have lost 3 to a very good Coastal Carolina team & FGCU.
Could be that the above might have a lot to do with others stats.
Hope the Crusaders continue to play well, but me & my superstitions,don't want to see them Jinxed.

Thanks for the great report.
Games coming up should give them some good experience for conference [ seems like a number of teams in conference are struggling ]
The games against TN. & Florida Gulf coast will be tough ones for sure & Maryland [ that great pitcher did grad ] / Stetson will take a very good game to win. I would think we should stand in there with all the others, yet like you reported can't leave a lot of runners in scoring positions.
Keep it up & things will get better, hope to catch a game later in the year & maybe on the tube if Valpo or Horizon show any.
Tell your daughter to keep swinging away....good things happen.