I think for the players that sat the bench, most will have to transfer down the rankings. The higher the ranking for the previous school, the easier the process. For softball, I would imagine that any teams ranked from ~125 (D1 RPI) and down, transferring while sitting the bench would be a difficult proposition.
But as always, sometimes there's extenuating circumstances requiring schools to dip into the portal. DD's verbal team had 6 players enter the portal this summer. Of their 4 rostered catchers, they lost their part time starter and #3 catcher. #4 catcher was a medical R/S. I would guess that they will have to pick up another catcher that wasn't originally part of the plan. Who knows!?
But as always, sometimes there's extenuating circumstances requiring schools to dip into the portal. DD's verbal team had 6 players enter the portal this summer. Of their 4 rostered catchers, they lost their part time starter and #3 catcher. #4 catcher was a medical R/S. I would guess that they will have to pick up another catcher that wasn't originally part of the plan. Who knows!?