RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
We continue our list of the Top 15 Softball Stories of 2021, which will run through December 31st when we’ll present our No. 1 story of the year.
Here are the previous stories (clink on link to read):
- #15… Ty’Liyah Hardeman Foregoes Playing for Bethune Cookman to Support Family after Mom Dies, Now at Kennesaw State
- #14… Dakota Wagner Promotes Tourette Syndrome Awareness Through Her Successes On & Off the Field
- #13… Sara Goodrum, the Trailblazing Former Oregon Duck Softball Player, Makes History in the MLB Ranks
- #12… USA U-18 Team Goes Undefeated in International Play This Fall (& Valerie Cagle Leads the Way!)
- #11… Women’s College World Series Expands & Explodes in TV Rankings Thanks to Great Teams, Games & Storylines
- #10… James Madison’s Cinderella Run & Odicci Alexander Wears the Slipper
- #9… Avery Flatford Signs with Tennessee Tech… While Dealing with Cystic Fibrosis
- #8… The Pro League Status in Softball, Ongoing Developments Both Good & Bad
- #7… College Coaching Legends Retire
- #6… Oklahoma Sooner Domination, Team-Wise & Individually
- #5… The Transfer Portal
Also, on New Year’s Day 2022, we’ll list all 15 of the top stories of the year as well as run 15 more that were considered.
We’ve surveyed the softball community and talked internally as well to come up with what were the most impactful and relevant stories of the year pertaining to the world of fastpitch softball.
Where applicable, we are providing the text to the original articles and/or references when the story first happened.
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2020
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2019
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2018
To provide comments, insights or thoughts, email: [email protected].
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Today’s Story of the Year: #4
COVID’s Continuing Impact on Softball, All Year Long
The 2020 softball year was changed like no other thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the effects of the pandemic continued into this year and decidedly affected the 2021 college softball season, as well.
At one point during the college season, as many as a dozen teams were unable to travel, practice, or play due to COVID-19 protocols. Along with the teams they were scheduled to play on the ultimately-cancelled weekends, a significant portion of the country spent an unexpected weekend at home at some point during the year.
In addition, the ongoing pandemic also forced schedule changes for every level of the collegiate game:
- The Ivy League elected not to play in 2021, leaving member teams the chance to only play a handful of regional games at most.
- The Big 10 played only conference opponents, the only major league to take such an approach and ultimately only placed three teams in the NCAA tournament.
- The ACC and PAC-12 also saw schedule changes that affected their teams.
- Regional hosting sites were also narrowed down weeks in advance, which saw Duke as the seeded team in the Athens, Georgia regional.
- The Division II tournament field was also not at its normal volume and included the elimination of Super Regionals, with the winners of expanded regionals advancing straight to the World Series.
Certainly not least among the effects of the pandemic were the lives lost to the pandemic.
National Scouting Report’s Robby Wilson and Jim Frost, known as the Godfather of Softball in Tennessee, both passed away in January from the effects of the virus. As the year continued on, a number of individuals in and around the sport were taken too soon by the virus and it has, tragically, continued up through the very end of 2021.
Just within the last week, Finesse club coach Kevin Kilburn passed away at age 50 due to COVID complications.
Organization head Donny Dreher commented:
“Kevin joined Finesse in 1994 and was an integral part of the organization’s growth as a head coach and most recently as an assistant with the Dreher/Lesko team.
He gave generously to so many young-student athletes over the years and will be missed by everyone who knew him in the softball community. Our deepest sympathies to the Kilburn Family.”
Effects of the pandemic are ongoing, and it remains to be seen how softball will be affected by the virus in the months to come. Looking back on 2021, though, there’s no doubt that the pandemic made an indelible mark on the sport this year.
— Justin McLeod, Extra Inning Softball
To provide comments, insights or thoughts, email: [email protected].
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As was the case with Story of the Year #5, the Transfer Portal, we had so many COVID-related articles this year that it’s impractical to run the complete stories, so here are the links to several we published…
Click on the headlines below to go to the actual stories…
College News: Ole Miss Freshman Brooke Barnard Loses Father & Brother to COVID Over Last Month
Breaking News: UCLA vs. Cal Series Cancelled This Weekend… Bruins with Too Many COVID Positives