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We’ve dropped a lot of college softball content this week and the ole’ inbox has been full with questions, statements, and… well, other things. As your national college softball editor, I’m here to answer some of those questions. The questions have been slightly edited for grammar and brevity.
Any JuCo rankings?
At this time, no. Right now, our college staff is one person – me. There are 306 Division I teams alone, plus we’re working on expanding our D2 and D3 coverage this year, as well. That’s not an excuse by any means – I would love to cover JuCo and we’ll work up to that point at some point. But not right now.
How can you justify Tiare Jennings not being the #1 overall player? Laughable. You are the only one who says she is second best.
When we sat down and looked at numbers across the board, Washington’s Baylee Klingler simply won out. That’s not a shot on Tiare Jennings – and when we revisit and revise this list at the end of the year, Jennings may sit in the #1 spot at that time. The group we assembled to add input on this list was in agreement with Klingler and Jennings being 1-2, so that’s where they were ranked. Jennings and Klingler were the only two players that had a real shot at being the top-ranked player, a testament to each of their respective careers to this point.
Um, the American IS a mid major.
Define mid-major for me. Please, proceed. I shall wait.
OK, now that that exercise has failed, here’s the thing: There is no set definition to “mid major”. It’s a colloquial term, one that fits different definitions for different purposes. In college basketball, Gonzaga and the Big East are not considered “mid-majors”, but in any other sport at those same schools, the mid-major moniker fits.
The American has seven teams in total. Two of them are bound for the Big 12 and a third has one of the nation’s best offenses. The rest of the league is teams either in rebuilding mode or on a downward trend. Calling them part of the “Power 6” may have been a bit much, admittedly, but they’re excluded from the mid-major top 10 for multiple reasons for this year.
Did you forget about Miami? Karli Spaid… 28 home runs…Â
Miami Ohio came in at #12 in my preseason Mid-Major Top 10. The Redhawks are still a solid offensive club, though their pitching raises a few questions. They’re also not a total dominant force despite some impressive non-conference wins over the last couple of years. Spaid is Spaid, a rightful All-American. Miami is likely to appear in the MM Top 10 more than a couple of times throughout the regular season if history holds.
Where is San Diego State [in the Mid-Major Top 10]?
I’m not high on the Aztecs this year. The departure of Maggie Balint from the circle and the old adage of lightning striking twice in the same place are both factors into why.
Stacey Nuveman-Deniz is a really good coach, so let’s get that note out of the way on the front end. She’s quite good. Her coaching staff is also pretty solid.
The pitching staff has a pair of returners in Dee Dee Hernandez and Allie Light who are capable arms, while Sarah Lehman joins the bullpen by way of Iowa and DePaul. All three are solid arms, but none of the three are or can be at Balint’s level. That’s a problem in a competitive Mountain West race where a couple of games can make all the difference.
On the offensive side, Mac Barbara headlined last year’s Aztec offense but I don’t expect her to run roughshod over opposing pitching this year. The newness factor is gone.
All that said, SDSU should be a solid club once again this year. But, at least before games begin, I don’t see them being one of the best.
We’re not a mid major.
Cool. Thanks for letting me know.
Look, I’m being snarky, but to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the phrase either. It’s not derogatory, it’s not “furthering the gap between the haves and have nots”; on the contrary, it’s specifically designed to spotlight the programs who aren’t on TV every weekend, who aren’t up in the Top 25, but who are putting together solid seasons nevertheless.
I spent hours throughout the offseason trying to retool the title and come up with something that worked; nothing that I came up with did, so the MM Top 10 was back for year #2.
The SEC isn’t the only conference in softball. In case you didn’t know that.
Why not just call yourself Pac 12 softball central? Would be fitting based on your rankings.
These both fit a similar mold, so I’ll answer them together.
Our Top 25 polls are voted on by a specifically-chosen variety of individuals that pay attention to the college game and vote honestly. How the votes fall, the votes fall.
That said, I did suggest changing the site’s name to “PacEastern Coast 10 Softball” but was voted down. Shame. It was so catchy, too.
Is this D2 top 100 deal the only D2 content we’re going to get from Extra Inning this year?
Happily, no! Back in the fall, we announced a new D2/D3 writer with plans to expand our coverage of those levels like never before. An unexpected coaching opportunity arose for her, however, so that position is currently vacant. But it won’t stop us from doing some content on those levels this year. The D2 Extra Elite 100 player rankings is the tip of the iceberg; we’ve got some fun stuff and some good stories in store through the course of the year. If you’ve got a suggestion on how we can improve our D2 and/or D3 coverage at any point, send me an email.
Do you even read your Twitter DMs? I have sent you messages and never get a reply.
If you’re sending me a message like this, then just assume I’m a non-replying individual and maybe consider why that might be. Thanks for following though.