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We continue our list of the Top 15 Softball Stories of 2018, which will run through December 31st when we’ll present our No. 1 story of the year.
We’ve surveyed the softball community and talked internally as well to come up with what were the most impactful and relevant stories in 2018 pertaining to the world of fastpitch softball.
Here are the previous stories:
- #15… Alexia Carrasquillo: The Shot Heard Round the Recruiting World (Dec. 17, 2018)
- #14… Ashley Rogers Overcomes Tragedy to Become National Player of the Year
- #13… High School Senior Sydney Supple Approaching $100K To Build Hometown Field of Dreams
- #12… NFCA’s StrikeOut Cancer Initiative Provides Unity & Half Million-Plus For Research
- #11… There’s Rage in Them Cajuns…. Michael Lotief Firing at ULL Sparks Pushback from Coach & Players
- #10… Controversy at TC/USA Nationals As Championship Team Disqualified
- #9… Mike Stith Wins Club Title & Pro Championship In Same Season
- #8… Team USA Looks Unstoppable Heading Towards 2020 Olympics
Today is #7 and covers the ongoing shift of where softball has traditionally been strongest–the West–to the South both at the college as well as club levels. Has the strongest region of the country shifted over the last few years or is it just a short-term anomaly?
To provide comments, insights or thoughts, email: [email protected].
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There’s no denying that the West Region was, and has been, the best in college softball since the NCAA begin holding Div. I National Championships in 1982.
For the first 23 years, only Texas A&M (twice) and Oklahoma were non-West title winners and, overall, 26 West teams–from UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Cal, Cal State Fullerton and Fresno State–have been the NCAA Div. I National Champions out of the 37 years there’s been a champion with the last being the Sun Devils in 2011.
But since then it’s been Alabama, Florida (twice), Oklahoma (three times) and Florida State and there’s been a growing argument that the South is where it’s at not just at the college level, but in the younger ranks too.
At PGF Nationals this summer, considered the top event for club play, three of the top Premier age group were won by teams from Southern states: Georgia Impact (18U), Birmingham Thunderbolts (16U) and Tennessee Mojo (12U). The only non-South team was the traditionally strong Corona Angels 14U squad coached by Marty Tyson.
At the TC/USA Nationals, another Peach State power, the East Cobb Bullets won, beating the Texas Bombers.
Speaking of Texas, the Texas Glory won the World Fastpitch Championship and the Diamond Sports Hotshots won the 16U, 14U and 12U titles.
One interesting theory on why the East is winning, at least recently, was floated by Coach Greg Schnute, whose Bullets teams won the TC/USA Nationals.
“There’s been a shift,” he told Extra Inning Softball last week, “and one reason I believe it’s been that way is there’s more outstanding pitching on the East Coast. It’s been that way for three years. The Georgia pitching is strong and California is lagging behind in pitching.”
One example was the No. 1 ranked by player in the 2019 Extra Elite 100, Kelly Lynch from Georgia. A standout pitcher and hitter, she led the Impact to the PGF 18U National title and, ironically, after originally committing to Auburn signed with Washington–a more rare case of a top East player going West when more and more West club standouts have been coming East.
Does this mean it’s a short-term trend or something that could be in effect for a while?
It’s hard to say, but the growth of fastpitch nationwide–particularly after the South was slow in moving from slowpitch to fastpitch in many states–has helped create a dynamic where Southern California doesn’t have the stranglehold it’s had for the last several decades.
Part of that is because of the big dollars put to Power 5 Conference schools to invest in facilities, coaching and other areas that lead to recruiting advantages. The big-time money that the SEC has always had for football has trickled down to softball and has allowed schools like Alabama and Florida to rise up to the level of the UCLA’s and Arizona’s of the past.
There are still powerhouses at the club level on the West, including the OC Batbusters, Corona Angels, Firecrackers, and many others and SoCal especially isn’t going anywhere with its large populations to draw on, the great weather conducive to playing all-year round and the continual high level of competition.
And it’s interesting to see that, while Marty Tyson predominantly fields teams of players from Southern California, Mike Stith had success in winning the Boulder IDT tournament this year with pitchers from Oklahoma and will field a strong team in 2019 with an elite hurler from Texas.
One thing that’s good for the sport is that there’s interest, talent and success in every region now and we’ll see if the West can use its built-in advantages to get back on top.
If so, how will the sports-crazy South react and continue to respond? Will we see the South having to rise again after becoming an equal–if not–superior area for fastpitch softball success?
Only time will tell…
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
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PGF 18U Premier Title: Georgia Impact-Lewis Finds Redemption… & Perfection
(article originally published July 27, 2018 on Extra Inning Softball)
Georgia Impact organization head Will Tomasello admitted he watched today’s PGF 18U Premier National Championship from his car. Finishing runner-up nine times in national title games will do that to you.
Head Coach Patrick Lewis remembers well the PGF 14U national title game three years ago when his team lost 7-4 to the OC Batbusters, which was coached by Mark Campbell– an assistant coach on Mike Stith’s squad the Impact faced today at Deanna Stadium in Bill Barber Park located in Irvine, California.
And Lewis admitted he was 0-2 this year facing Stith’s OC Batbuster team.
“We just knew to get the championship we’d have to go through them at some point,” he said before the game started.
The two teams from opposite coasts also had very opposite paths to get to the championship game: the Batbusters lost its first game Monday and then had to run off 10 straight wins–six on Thursday alone–including a dramatic 4-3 win over the Corona Angels in the IF game.
The Impact, on the other hand, rolled through its bracket undefeated at 7-0 with the closest game being a 3-0 win over Impact Gold-Jackson. While the Batbusters were fighting for their playoff lives, the Impact run-ruled a strong Cal Cruisers 10-2.
Although the Impact looked to be hitting on all cylinders rolling into the final, Lewis admitted he told his team that this wasn’t just any game.
“I said they would feel different because the stakes are higher here and to not be surprised by that,” Lewis said.