2012 Miss Softball Candidates

[Stratos]

Help me understand. I am looking for some honest unbiased feedback. I have not followed IN high school softball for that long. I have a 13 yr old daughter who is not a pitcher and it's sounding like she doesn't have a chance at ever being Miss Softball. Boetjer has had a great yr and career. She has been on a TEAM that has won the state title twice. But when I look at her individual numbers against the pitchers in the state record book, they don't stack up. Kotter has also had a great yr and career although she has never played on a state championship TEAM. Individually she led the state in batting avg this year and when you compare her #s to others in the record book, she will break the career batting avg record, be 2nd in single season batting avg & she will also make the list for career hits. Her #s are spectacular. How can Kotter not be the obvious choice? Help me understand what I am missing.

Both were affected by the 43ft move a few years ago. You might not ever see 450k's again in a hs season and the offensive numbers went up also. JMO

[10GatorCoach]

you may also look at the number of innings pitched. In the past the "great" pitchers have pitched every inning for their teams. Brooke didn't pitch every inning or every game. They were not interested in padding her numbers, but on winning a State Title and about being a "TEAM" as you put it. South Putnam is a great team and IMO the best in the State regaurdless of class. Are you saying that she should be penalized for being a great pitcher on a great team? Seems to me that a 0.11 ERA is as good as any. Oh and by the way, she's a pretty darn good hitter too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you look at the combo of the two, seems like a no brainer.

[3Bar]

Statos that's a good point about the pitching distance change. However it doesn't appear it has had as big as impact as initially expected. There were more kids who threw over 200 Ks at 43' these past 2 yrs than were thrown the prior 2 yrs at 40'. Plus Kotter hit over .600 during her 2 years at the 40' distance as well as the 2 years at 43'. So I don't think her #s should be written off that easily.

10Gator - I no where even came close to stating Brooke should be penalized for being on a great team. I was just pointing out Miss Softball is an individual award so we should focus on the individual. Sorry for the confusion. Using your "combo" methodology, it points out again how sad the current system is flawed. Because Haley Chambers has a lot more Ks and a better batting avg than Brooke and she isn't even a candidate. So what I am saying is IMO it's def not a "no brainer" of a year. There are several great seniors who will be graduatiing this year that are deserving of the title.

Since the pitching distance did change maybe we should just look on how these candidates ranked amongst their peers over the past 4 years. After reviewing that, my vote would still go to Kotter. She was just at the top of the leader board all 4 years of her career.

[10GatorCoach]

I agree 100% the process is flawed!!! Hailey is not even an IN All Star because her coach is not a voting member. I was just saying with it looking like a 2 horse race, it is a no brainer IMO. The having to be a member or having a player who should be recognized and you dont become a voting member is a whole other problem!!!!!

[Turn two]

I think this process is even more flawed than we think. Slapperdad and DLauck can correct me if i am wrong as I am not a HS coach.

There are 5 districts in IGSCA. As alluded to earlier, players are nominated and voted on by each district to the North/South All Star Game. My understanding is that only the top vote getter in each district is eligible for Ms. Softball. (This is where I need correction if wrong). So if the two "best" players in the state are in the same district, only one is eligible to be voted as Ms. Softball.

As to who deserves the award? Every young lady mentioned in this post is very deserving and has had on outstanding season/4 years. Trying to pick one is like deciding between a Monet or Manet...

[slapperdad]

You are correct. The top senior vote getter for all-state in each district is eligible for Miss Softball. And there are five districts.

You guys can argue about this all you want, as I said earlier, you can ALWAYS make a case for multiple young ladies. Sadly there is only one. It would appear this year it's a two horse race, both of them are very deserving, but only one of them will win. It doesn't diminish the other's career or season.

Congrats to all the kids playing in the all-star game this weekend. Great careers ladies, and best of luck to all of you in your future endeavors.

[DLauck]

With the exception of how we get our Miss Softball candidates, the all state/all star system works fine. I don't know the Cascade coach, but if this is their first year, they may not know how the voting system works. If they're not an ICGSA member, they should have their AD take care of it for them - imo.

DL

[10GatorCoach]

Not 1st year and he is also the basketball coach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[slapperdad]

History says 90% plus of the players in the state don't have a shot at Miss Softball, based on the fact they're not pitchers. Life's not fair, move on.