by DHBHitting » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:43 am
I think you people are getting way ahead of yourselves with this talk of Top 5 or even Top 10. You might want to just focus on qualifying. That in itself is no walk in the park.
Response: Oh I agree NorCalDad, just to qualify is an accomplishment and that first must be done, no doubt about that. And just to clarify I was not saying I believe these teams will finish in the top ten, I believe I mentioned that I hoped they could. I'm a big time Nor Cal softball supporter and I know that our talent level has grown and our teams/clubs are stronger. We can do it, it can be done, Sting showed us last year that Nor Cal can go down to Oklahoma and win some games. So while qualifying is the first and foremost task, I believe we have some clubs this year that could make some serious noise at Nationals if they can get there of course. Now if that noise equates to top ten or top 5 only time will tell, but it can be done, the Sting showed us that.
And holy smokes. To say that Cal's leading hitter, a kid who hit .324 playing in the toughest conference in the country, would not be able to crack the Sorcerer line up is an absolute joke.
Response: I believe you are mistaken NorCalDad I do not believe that anyone said that Cal's leading hitter which was Arioto could not crack the Sorcerer starting line up, quite the contrary I believe what was said is that she will be a welcomed and much needed addition to the middle of that order. Arioto absolutely will be in that order and will be a major part of that teams success, she was a huge pick up for them, again I do not believe anybody said anything about Val not being able to crack the Sorcerer line up, at least I know I have never said anything like that.
Ditto for Fluery. I don't like the idea of bringing the college kids back, but if they choose to and she is interested, she's your shortstop
Response: Now here is where you can get some debate, I do not believe Fluery is any better than what Mumma has currently. No disrespect to Fluery who is a wonderful player and had a heck of a freshman campaign hitting .295 as a freshman in the big east, great job Fluery. However are you saying that she can out hit Wallace? She may get the nod defensively; I will give you that, but offensively? Fluery can hit, no doubt, you dont hit .295 at the D-1 level and not be able to hit, but will she bring you much more than Wallace will give you? I dont know about that one, she could, she has the talent, but Wallace can flat hit, for power at that. Wallace will be a premier hitter in the PAC-10 when she gets there, and will definitely be a big addition to CAL's offense, she needs work defensively with her hands and her throwing, but her bat is undeniable. Now can Fluery, replace Decker? I mean she could, no doubt, but hey Decker has verballed to CAL as a sophomore for a reason, the kid can flat play. Now Fluery brings you experience, and can help with her bat for sure, but in a line up that already features allot of big bats you need somebody who can focus on getting on in front of them. Bringing Fluery back who is a hitter, and does not sport a terribly high on base percentage is not really what you want to do as you need people on in front of those big bats if they are going to drive them in. Fluery's on base percentage was .415 this past year, decent but clearly not her thing, she is a hitter, she drives runs in, the Sorcerer need girls who will get on base. This is where I would give Decker the nod, she is one heck of a #2 hitter behind Allard, and her on base percentage even when she gets to CAL, will be her asset to a team just as it will be for the Sorcerer. Now having said that, Fluery might be playing short stop this weekend, hell I don’t know, but lets not act like it is a no brainer that if she wants to come back it is a done deal. Look Fluery is a great player in her own right, however I believe that the Sorcerer are adequate in the infield and with their offense without her, just my opinion of course.
As for the comment about the Robbins kid, yes, I thought the comment about Sanoe not being able to either out hit or out defense Robbins was a bit much, being that Sanoe just started nearly every game and hit .295 or something like that in the toughest conference in the country for a top 20 program thank you very much, but hey everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Sanoe is a tremendous player, and I have to believe if she wanted to come play for Sorcerer Mumma would have to seriously consider working her in to the mix somewhere. She brings a huge bat to any line up, and contrary to what has been written on this board is a fairly decent defensive ball player, no it is not her specialty and I know she is working on it, but she can play, you don’t start for CAL as a freshman and hit .295 and not be able to play. Now is Robbins better, hell I don’t know, not going there, will say this, Robbins has verballed to CAL as a sophomore in her own right. Look both kids can play, they are both CAL girls, lets leave it at that. I will say this, if Sanoe wanted to come play, I can’t see Mumma saying No, I tell you that.