WCWS Thoughts and Takeaways 2.0
2019’s NCAA Women’s College World Series has lived up to its “hype” and produced some amazing softball games that history and record books will remember for years to come. In yesterday’s semi-final matchups Washington took UCLA to the brink in extra innings and Alabama pushed the winner-take-all if necessary game. Both programs eventually fell, ending their 2019 campaigns.
Alabama did not throw superstar ace, Montana Fouts, in the second game while Washington struggled at the plate and made what could be considered an interesting pitching change in the tenth inning.
National Pro Fastpitch Commissioner, Cheri Kempf, also posted a tweet about her wishes to change the format of the WCWS.
1. Alabama
A stellar season and postseason run came to a close last night after the Crimson Tide fell in the if necessary game to Oklahoma.
I’m impressed by head coach Patrick Murphy for sticking to his decision to not throw freshman, Montana Fouts, in game two sighting concerns for an overuse injury. When asked in the post game press conference if he considered going with Fouts in the nightcap he had this to say, “No, I didn’t. She had an overuse injury in the middle of the season. I want to be here for three more years with her. I don’t want her to run out of gas her freshman year because I overthrew her. Tomorrow, what are we going to do? You’re going to ask me the same question. Is she going to pitch Tuesday? Wednesday? Then it’s like a never-ending thing.”
We don’t really hear talk about “overuse” injuries, you know “because the windmill motion is just so natural” but it happens. Overuse is a real thing and it needs to be monitored, especially in the youth ranks. Look at these inning pitched numbers from four aces from the WCWS.
Montana Fouts: 181.2
Samantha Show (Oklahoma State): 200.1
Amber Fiser (Minnesota): 259.2
Kelly Barnhill (Florida): 287
Those are unreal statistics and it happens all the time, every season. Regardless of how “natural” the motion may be, this is still a ton of strain that surely takes a major toll on these student-athletes’ bodies. I was very impressed with Coach Murphy and hope his actions serve as an example for coaches at all levels, everywhere.
2. Washington
The Huskies Women’s College World Series was, at times, frustrating and almost tragic. Senior all-american, Taran Alvelo, was on another planet this weekend. Her energy, her poise, and her performance should not soon be forgotten. Gabbie Plain also pitched well and the Husky defense was pure talent. joy, and wonderment as fans have some to expect.
Alvelo struck out 16 batters versus Oklahoma State to advance past “Survival Saturday” to match her career high and tie for the fifth-most strikeouts in WCWS history. Alvelo also surpassed Danielle Lawrie for the Washington WCWS single-game strikeout record. Lawrie’s mark was 12 and she accomplished that twice: June 1, 2009 against Florida and June 5, 2010 against Arizona.
It was their offense that fell short. In their four games the Huskies left 36 runners on base including 21 in their two losses. While teams can be expected to leave more runners stranded in the WCWS since they are facing the best pitchers in the country, that is way too many. Only way to say it, the offense let the pitching staff down, especially Alvelo.
Another odd moment during the intense, nail-biting ten inning marathon versus UCLA included the decision to pull Taran Alvelo. In the bottom of the tenth, leadoff and eight-hole hitter Kelli Godin singled, the Huskies lifted Alvelo to reenter Plain immediately. Plain recorded the next two outs before Aaliyah Jordan singled and Rachel Garcia blasted the three-run shot to walk the Bruins into the Champ Series.
It doesn’t appear that the question has been asked and the coaching staff hasn’t addressed the decision to remove Alvelo. Hindsight is twenty-twenty as they say and it’s easy for outsiders to critique but the fact remains, why did Washington pull Alvelo? In three innings of work Alvelo sprinkled three hits (versus Plain’s 6.2) and struck out four. We may never know!
Another moment of “what could have been” occurred in the top of the eighth. Washington had the bases juiced with two outs and seven-hole hitter, Madison Husky at the plate. The Huskies’ struggles to plate runners in scoring position were not unknown and UCLA’s Garcia was mowing down batters (she recorded 16 strikeouts of her own yesterday). The “would-have-could-have-should-have” moment is this: “why didn’t Washington go for the suicide squeeze?” I would have loved to see it, and yes, bunting has been a brutal during this WCWS yet, it would have been so exciting to see them try it.
3. Changes to Format?
What do you think? I don’t necessarily have a strong opinion on this either way but the one thing I think is most interesting is the comment about “two (doubleheaders) in two days seems too much.” She may not necessarily be wrong but we all have to remember during the pre-conference schedule and tournaments teams are playing 4-6 games a weekend and that often includes doubleheaders. I do realize that is in the beginning of the season versus the very end and that the competition may not always be as high but the point is, playing doubleheaders is not suddenly a new and foreign concept when you get to Oklahoma City.
A number of press members talked about this after the tweet was issued. One point that was made, is that teams are almost more punished for winning their first game but losing their second round matchup than teams who lose their very first game. Again, I don’t have a strong opinion yet as I haven’t had the time to really think through it all but, it’s interesting none the less, and we’ll see if anything comes of it.
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