- Apr 14, 2022
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I wonder with the transfer portal and NIL, top colleges will sign fewer incoming and rely more on transfers. Pushing more incoming freshmen to lower d1/d2/d3.
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- Thread starter DropcityUSA
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No doubt. Why wait for a 2024 to develop when you can pick up a polished 2021 HS grad from another school?
Once we get through next year, the last year of the Covid super seniors (Don't get me started on the stupidity of that decision), the number of kids graduating each year will need to be replaced on rosters so the number of spots for incoming freshman will normalize. The distribution might differ from the pre-portal days but in aggregate the total number of roster spots open from graduating seniors will need to be filled with freshman.
That's why people in areas of the country where travel ball isn't strong do.. We paid to get on flights to So Cal, Clearwater, and Boulder. Pitchers need to learn what they can and can't get away with. Dead red pitches in High School with some velo may work. Do that against a top 25 hitter in the nation and you will be reading your outfielders numbers all day. Thats one reason freshman pitchers in college struggle. Yes they get better as the season goes on, but many don't pick up speed or spin, they just learn how to pitch. People would say "why travel to California to play, my kid doesn't want to go to a school in California". That's not the point, she needs to learn how to pitch.
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College coaches are very aggressive with the portal. They may not need/want a #1 from the portal but having a strong #2 or 3 could be the difference between making regionals or not. The other issue with the portal is so many pitchers had to sit behind 5th year pitchers the last two years. In years past these same pitchers would have been thrown in and learned. Sitting for 1-2 years doesn't help them. With the 5th year kids gone after this year (finally) more pitchers will get the experience they need and less schools will go to the portal
- Jun 8, 2016
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I have no problem with college coaches using the portal to it's full extent. It is their job to win, not develop players..college softball isn't travel ball. Gasso (or insert whatever high paid coach you want) isn't being paid 1.6 million per year to make the pitcher she recruited better..If you (and that is a general "you" not necessarily anybody on here..) don't like how the portal is being used, blame the NCAA not the coaches.
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- May 27, 2013
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Are you able to elaborate on your first statement as to why you feel the one pitcher is way out of her league? I think you’ll see some overlap with lower end P5 schools and decent mid-majors.
Sometimes a player gets seen at the right place and the right time and it’s all that is needed to seal the deal.
- Jan 1, 2023
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She struggled mightily in HS much of her senior year. Seemed to get it together towards the end. Nice girl, so hope she does well. But struggling against HS hitters then a year later facing P5 hitters seems like a big jump.
Had a friend that pitched for a lower P5 school as an #2-3 and one year for a mid-major. Neither was easy, although she did have a shining moment 1-hitting Florida St.
Also it seems like you find really good pitchers go to these P5 schools and they just get lost in the shuffle as pitcher 4-6. Local girl Ryleigh White is a good example. She played for a California team that won PGF and she was ranked #7 by extra innings. As a junior she pitched just 21 innings last year for Tennessee and about 40 the year before. Tennessee is obviously not lower P5, but she was a top recruit who hasn’t gotten a lot of time in the circle the past 3 years.
- May 27, 2013
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My DD’s HS team faced Ryleigh a few years back in Florida. I believe she originally turned down TN to go to Texas, correct? I recall the HS team being pretty stacked. She had good velocity. I couldn’t comment about movement because I wasn’t near the plate where I was sitting. Didn’t need to throw off-speed against us as we only had about 3 TB players at that time.
There's a girl from NJ going to a certain Midwest school that just picked up a big name pitcher. How she sees an inning there is beyond me. She hasn't thrown a single pitch in travel her entire senior season.
Right place at the right time, indeed.
Right place at the right time, indeed.
