The Oklahoma Sooners and the Auburn Tigers left it all on the field Wednesday night and the Sooners came away with a 2-1 win and the National Title. Game three was very different from game two where we saw offensive fireworks. Game three was all about Paige Parker facing off against the Auburn bats. Parker won the fight. Lost in this was an excellent pitching performance by Auburn freshman pitcher Makayla Martin. Martin went the distance giving up just five hits and zero earned runs. In game two Emily Carosone was the hero hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Auburn a win and a chance to win a national title. Game three went a different way for Carosone who had two errors on one play in the bottom of the first inning. Both of which proved costly as they led to the only two runs of the game for Oklahoma. It shows how rewarding and cruel the game can be.
What we learned about Auburn
It is hard not to be impressed with the Tigers and their never die attitude. This team had to fight their way back in just about every game they played at the 2016 WCWS, with the exception of their opener in which they drilled UCLA 10-3. In game two they had to come back to beat Georgia, in game three it was a comeback against Florida State and of course the amazing comeback in game two of the championship series. Second we learned that head coach Clint Myers is an excellent coach. What he has done with this program is amazing. We also learned that the Auburn staff rarely agrees with the umpires as they tend question them nearly every call.
Auburn may be losing two of their most dangerous hitters in Jade Rose and Carosone, but they do return a solid core led by All-American Kasey Cooper. Martin is also back giving them what should be a true Ace in the circle. This team has improved every season under Myer so we have to assume that trend continues in 2017. Heading into the next season, they have to be considered a real threat to win.
What we learned about Oklahoma
First and foremost, we may have just witnessed the birth of a small dynasty in Norman. This team was very young, with seven freshman starting and Parker is just a Sophomore. Any level of improvement from their young players and they are the early favorite to repeat next year. We did learn that they do need a solid number two for next season. Freshman Jayden Chestnut did show promise and did have a solid season so with improvement and maturity in the circle there is no reason she could not fill that roll. They also bring in one of the best pitchers in the country for the 2016 class in Mariah Lopez out of Saugus, CA. If Lopez develops into the type of pitcher many think she will, the Sooners will have a great one-two punch.
Another thing we learned is that Shay Knighten and Sydney Romero are special players. These two were outstanding during the WCWS and will be the leaders of this team for the next three years. Both have game changing abilities and showed it throughout the tournament. The area they did struggle with as a team was scoring runs in the second half of games. In the championship series they scored zero runs past the third inning in all three games. Since they are so young we have to figure that will improve by next season. They were the best hitting team (based on average) this year and were second All-Time in NCAA history in fielding percentage. We would say that is a pretty good foundation to build on.
Bullet Notes and Thoughts
- Coverage again was outstanding and if you were not aware that Sierra and Sydney Romero were sisters, you should know that by now.
- Defense was not on display for most the tournament. Yes there were some outstanding defensive plays, but the errors were aplenty. There were 41 errors in the WCWS.
- There really is no point in having a pitching lane since its clear the umpires pay no attention to it.
- You are much better off pitching Jade Rose low and inside then you are middle out.
- The ASA Hall of fame venue is awesome, but sometimes we question holding college softballs biggest event in Oklahoma at the peak of their stormy season.
- Clint Myers likes to argue with umpires.
- Shay Knighten is cool under pressure.
- Auburn is a pretty good hitting team.
- Paige Parker needs several ice baths over the next few weeks.
- Framing pitches is important.
- Either umpires had terrible strike-zones or the k-zone is a bit inaccurate.
- Auburn knows how to turn double plays.
- LSU is not afraid to change pitchers, either is UCLA.
- We missed the props, NCAA should reconsider.
- Dugout Dancing is unique to college softball and Alabama enjoys doing it in the rain.
- Did we mention that Sierra and Syndey Romero are sisters?
