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Posted
24 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I didn't realize Steve was from Oakland and went to Bishop-Gorman.  Guess the pull of going back home was too much and he was never going to stay an assistant coach forever.  He really rose up the ranks fast under White to someone people really wanted to hire. 

No one here wanted him fired around March or April 2025 that’s for sure 👀 

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Posted
24 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

No one here wanted him fired around March or April 2025 that’s for sure 👀 

Hahahahaha I was going to mention that but figured after a championship all would be forgotten and I'd be roasted

Posted
2 hours ago, Js1 said:

They can graduate and transfer, or else it won't open again until December for 2 weeks? 

Mike built the culture, I don't think anyone is going to bolt because Steve left.  The hire timing sucks for Cal, because he's going to just have to work with what he's got, pending any grad transfers or post fall-ball transfers. 

No one is leaving Texas for Cal for softball reasons. If they leave for playing time, that means they weren’t playing here.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

No one is leaving Texas for Cal for softball reasons. If they leave for playing time, that means they weren’t playing here.

Oh I know. If they left to follow Steve, they weren’t going to be a starter at Texas

It ain’t happening. Mike built the culture and no one is leaving a team that will be top 3 to start 2026 and another title favorite 

Posted

Big, big loss though we knew it was inevitable.     Singleton was noted for his recruiting prowess as well as hitting coach ability.   Tireless worker at both,  very difficult to replace.   Will be a bonus if the replacement is familiar with the softball recruiting landscape to include NIL and transfers in the new era of college athletics.

Posted

Am I crazy to think Texas can upgrade? 

Maybe its a dumb take but our overall hitting has beengood for most of the year but has generally let us down at the World Series. Our deep runs in recent years have been primarily because we've rode a dominant pitcher----see Kavan and Dolcini. Its weird because I would say our pitching has generally underachieved in the regular season but has been really good when it mattered. The complete opposite with the hitting imo. 

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Posted

Tyler Bratton (MSST) would be a good hire.  Also a baseball guy.

Or.... DJ Gasso (Arkansas).  Could you imagine?  That would make the OU games so much more fun.  I loved what he did with Ellis and Day - give him an offseason with Atwood, please.  

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Posted
2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Tyler Bratton (MSST) would be a good hire.  Also a baseball guy.

Or.... DJ Gasso (Arkansas).  Could you imagine?  That would make the OU games so much more fun.  I loved what he did with Ellis and Day - give him an offseason with Atwood, please.  

Hard pass for me on DJ. He is by far the worse coach in the Gasso family. I agree Bri Ellis was really good under him, but take a look at his lackluster career before that. I hope Mike really thinks outside the box and goes after someone not many people would think of, similar to what he did with Singleton. I hope for someone with a strong travel ball connections for recruiting....I wonder why someone like Stith or Rico have never gotten college jobs. Those guys have been producing D1 talent for years with the Batbusters and Firecrackers.

Posted

I am glad it's almost football season because Mike is pretty slow with hires.  Something to distract us

Posted

The well travelled Jimmy Kolaitis (Mike's hitting coach at Oregon) left Ariz St and is now the AD/Head Coach at a small community college in his home state of Alabama.   When Mike left for Texas,  he got the head coach at UAB job.

I think he is under the age of 50 so no idea if he wants to retire in Alabama or get back in the grind of D1 softball.    And not sure of the relationship with Mike and there may be some baggage there due to his many moves that  @FloridaHorn may know.    A positive seems to be his West Coast connections.

Fall workouts will likely begin in Sep.   First Fall game was the first week of October last year,  so good to have someone in place then. 

 

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Posted

 

24 minutes ago, torre said:

The well travelled Jimmy Kolaitis (Mike's hitting coach at Oregon) left Ariz St and is now the AD/Head Coach at a small community college in his home state of Alabama.   When Mike left for Texas,  he got the head coach at UAB job.

I think he is under the age of 50 so no idea if he wants to retire in Alabama or get back in the grind of D1 softball.    And not sure of the relationship with Mike and there may be some baggage there due to his many moves that  @FloridaHorn may know.    A positive seems to be his West Coast connections.

Fall workouts will likely begin in Sep.   First Fall game was the first week of October last year,  so good to have someone in place then. 

 

Jimmy would be a home run hitting coach and he is a tremendous recruiter. He resigned from UAB over lack of support from the AD. He recruited my daughter while at South Alabama and my family thought a lot of him.

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Posted

Would be a good, albeit comfort, hire but a guy who knows Mike pretty well 

Also hoping Steve leaves the rest of the staff alone! 

Posted
1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Would be a good, albeit comfort, hire but a guy who knows Mike pretty well 

Also hoping Steve leaves the rest of the staff alone! 

There have been a slew of hires recently that involved husband and wife tandems. I would not be surprised if Steve found a position on staff for his wife. She coaches travel ball currently.

Posted (edited)

Watching the girls Little League Softball World Series.  Team from Oklahoma (Tulsa) playing a team from Pennsylvania.   They asked the girls some questions about different favorite things….a girl from Penn when asked her favorite player said “Mia Scott”!  Found that interesting….

Penn leading Ok team 4-0  bottom 6.

Penn wins to advance to final vs Indiana.

Edited by Cairn Horn88
Posted
12 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

Watching the girls Little League Softball World Series.  Team from Oklahoma (Tulsa) playing a team from Pennsylvania.   They asked the girls some questions about different favorite things….a girl from Penn when asked her favorite player said “Mia Scott”!  Found that interesting….

Penn leading Ok team 4-0  bottom 6.

Penn wins to advance to final vs Indiana.

I remember one year one of the answers was 'Lauren Burke' (power of social media)

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Posted
Just now, Cairn Horn88 said:

Penn leads Indiana 1-0 going to T6.

Penn pitcher Reagan Bills with no ER in the World Series in almost 30 innings. Nice Teagan Kavan impression 

Posted
13 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Penn pitcher Reagan Bills with no ER in the World Series in almost 30 innings. Nice Teagan Kavan impression 

Yep…really bares down when needed….Penn wins 1-0….theses girls will never forget playing for the championship.

Posted
9 hours ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

My girl, Camille. 

 

Just as I mentioned several days ago Singleton add his wife to the staff. This has become the "thing" to do lately. I guess when you factor in the salary of most D1 HCs, adding your spouse and a second income is a smart move.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Just as I mentioned several days ago Singleton add his wife to the staff. This has become the "thing" to do lately. I guess when you factor in the salary of most D1 HCs, adding your spouse and a second income is a smart move.

And he didn't poach anyone from our staff.  I hope a big thing in his leaving was that he wouldn't touch KZ or PRT and he will leave our 2026/2027 recruits alone.

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Posted

mmm,  don't know.   Baggage there @FloridaHorn may have details.    Alleged verbal abuse of players at Mizzou and abrasive leadership style.    

He was only at Ole Miss for 1 year,  prior to that AD for the Jefferson City, Mo school system.     Seems he would have been offered asst position earlier,  perhaps he was and declined.    

Personal opinion,  best to have an up-and-comer like Singleton.    Would be interesting to know other candidates.

 

https://www.flosoftball.com/articles/6093152-missouri-fires-softball-head-coach-ehren-earlywine

 

Quote

Despite Missouri’s many successes, Earleywine’s coaching career has been marred by controversy. In 2016, he was investigated by the athletic department and Missouri Title IX office for nearly five months after being accused by players of verbal abuse. When the 2016 season ended, seven players left the program including pitching aces Paige Lowary and Tori Finucane.

In Sterk’s university statement he said, “We do not take this magnitude without careful thought and consideration, however, we have lost confidence in Coach Earleywine’s leadership to foster the type of healthy environment we expect for our student-athletes, and as a result, believe it is in the program’s best interest to make a change at this time.”

“Since my arrival at Mizzou, I have had a chance to consider concerns within the softball program that arose before my time and observe Coach Earleywine’s leadership of our program. This decision was based upon a culmination of leadership concerns, not just one incident, which caused me to reevaluate his position within our softball program at this time.”

 

 

 

Posted

That was also almost 10 years ago.  I do not think CDC would sign off it if they felt like he hadn't learned/grown from it. 

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Posted

He was retained after the 2016 incident which was found not have violated Title IX.    A new AD was hired later in 2016 and fired him in 2018, 2 weeks before the season started.   Maybe another incident or personality conflict.  But 2 weeks before season is an alarm. 

True CDC approved, but   "We'll see, says the Zen Master".     He was very successful at Mizzou.   Ole Miss hit .302 last year up from .268 in '24.

 

https://www.kshb.com/sports/college-sports/mu/veteran-missouri-softball-coach-fired

 

Quote

The investigation was completed in August 2016 and Earleywine was allowed to remain as coach. Sterk was hired that same month to replace Rhoades, who left to become athletic director at Baylor.

Sterk said the decision to fire Earleywine "was based upon a culmination of leadership concerns, not just one incident, which caused me to reevaluate his position within our softball program at this time."

 

Posted
8 minutes ago, torre said:

Ole Miss hit .302 last year up from .268 in '24.

2024 Ole Miss:

.268 BA, 66 doubles, 7 triples, 47 HR, .412 SLG, .362 OBP, 185 walks to 278 K

2025 Ole Miss:

.302 BA, 88 doubles, 9 triples, 67 HR, .486 SLG, .389 OBP, 193 walks to 242 K

 

Marked improvement.  And he gets an abundance of hitting talent in Austin. 

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Posted

Rule changes:

https://d1softball.com/double-first-base-retaining-successful-challenge-among-approved-rule-changes/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMK6C5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHnC5VnQVHzSFnp1yHOjiZLcln7D5RE9BkKs_Gdvxna2I82st39PNRGlGgip1_aem_2s0FKUJSBradJ4xENQl1xQ

TLDR:

  • Double first base bag will now be used in the 2026 season (FINALLY)
  • Retention of challenge if the call is overturned (you win the challenge). If games goes to extra, all remaining challenges carry over
  • Video challenge is allowed if interference is not called on the field and ball remains live
  • Interference that is called on the field will not be reviewable, and all runners remain at the bases they were occupying.  Exception is spectator interference and batter interference is reviewable. 
  • Some other stuff about where players can be during reviews
  • Replays of the play under review can be shown on video board at any speed
  • All protests now resolved in-game
  • One-way comm devices may now be used by offensive players, with comms originating from the dugout for 1st/3rd base coaching boxes
Posted
1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Rule changes:

https://d1softball.com/double-first-base-retaining-successful-challenge-among-approved-rule-changes/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMK6C5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHnC5VnQVHzSFnp1yHOjiZLcln7D5RE9BkKs_Gdvxna2I82st39PNRGlGgip1_aem_2s0FKUJSBradJ4xENQl1xQ

TLDR:

  • Double first base bag will now be used in the 2026 season (FINALLY)
  • Retention of challenge if the call is overturned (you win the challenge). If games goes to extra, all remaining challenges carry over
  • Video challenge is allowed if interference is not called on the field and ball remains live
  • Interference that is called on the field will not be reviewable, and all runners remain at the bases they were occupying.  Exception is spectator interference and batter interference is reviewable. 
  • Some other stuff about where players can be during reviews
  • Replays of the play under review can be shown on video board at any speed
  • All protests now resolved in-game
  • One-way comm devices may now be used by offensive players, with comms originating from the dugout for 1st/3rd base coaching boxes

this all sounds good except for interference being eligible for video review if it is not called on the field. That seems like it will be open to all sorts of fuckery and needlessly slow down the game even more. Terrible idea IMO.    

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