It's unfortunate they have to play each other in the Supers. 1 seed either up or down in the seedings and you avoid the Big 12 matchup in the Supers. The Big 12 isn't the SEC who gets everybody in the tournament. The committee could have avoided this match up. Wish they would have!
Cyclone Softball: 33-22, was ranked, first NCAA since ‘88, first NCAA wins
- Thread starter StPaulCyclone
- Start date
The playback opportunity in the Regionals was a nice format. Too easy to lose a single game. I liked that both UNI and ISU had opportunities to play again after losing. Would have been weird if ISU beat Missouri and then had to play them right away again, but it would have been consistent.
Do they use this format in the Super-Regionals?
Do they use this format in the Super-Regionals?
Are the bracketing/seeding rules different for softball/baseball compared to basketball -- where committee tries to avoid intra-conference matchups in early rounds and can move seeds up or down a line? Or does SB/Baseball adhere to strict seeding, regardless of conference, for potential Super Regional matchups?
No the Super Regionals are just two teams at one site - so it's the best 2 out of 3.
Although our Team48's historical season has come to an end, the attention our softball program has garnered on the CF is at an all-time high. It's really nice of Jared Stansbury (@JStanz51) for writing something about our softball program in his latest Monday Musings. Since this is the same website, I just copy the softball part below. I hope Stanz doesn't mind.
*** Cheers to the Iowa State softball program for finishing up its historic season over the weekend. The Cyclones finished 34-23 and won their first two NCAA Tournament games in school history on Saturday before losing in the regional final on Sunday.
Obviously, the program’s rise was highlighted by the dominance of Sami Williams. There will never be another player like the insanely talented shortstop from California in a Cyclone uniform.
The question on my mind now is how sustainable is this success after Williams moves on?
Iowa State softball obviously had more or less zero history of success up until this season. It is a program still fighting somewhat of an uphill battle in a conference dominated by programs in the south.
But, Iowa State proved it belongs on the national stage over the weekend. Can that become a common occurrence rather than a one-year blip?
I asked Williams that very question just last week.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Williams said. “There’s a very high percentage of our team coming into this year that never played a Big 12 conference game because our freshman class from last year didn’t get to that point. We had a huge freshman class last year and a huge freshman class this year. It feels good being able to be here for another year and kind of just drop any kind of wisdom I can or any answer any questions that I can for them before my time’s up, but I feel confident that the people here are going to be able to keep this going. The coaching staff is really committed to this team and everyone here in this program. So I feel confident that they’ll be able to keep it going after.”
Iowa State will lose only three players off this year’s roster in Williams, starting infielder Logan Schaben and starting outfield Skyler Ramos. All three players have been key pieces of the program’s recent resurgence.
Everyone else will be back next year and beyond, though, and this weekend gave them all a taste of what it takes to compete at the sport’s highest level.
While Williams and the other seniors will be missed, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Iowa State softball’s best days are still to come.
Here are my follow-up thoughts.
1. "There will never be another player like the insanely talented shortstop from California in a Cyclone uniform." I sure hope this is not true. We can definitely find and recruit more Sami Williams caliber players in the near future. I understand it requires a lot of resources and support (especially financially) to make it happen, but as long as our softball program and our administration have the determination, it's not a "Mission Impossible". Our WBB program has been doing it for a long time, I hope our softball program can duplicate the success.
2. Of the three seniors on our softball team, Sami Williams and Logan Schaben are 5th-year seniors. But our left-fielder Skyler Ramos still has one-year eligibility left. I just saw this CycloneSB Tweet which makes me wonder if Skyler is not included in the photo, is there any chance she's coming back for another year?
3. Regarding recruiting.
1) I'm glad to hear Mizzou Man mention we are getting a promising 2021 recruiting class. Here's more about the four freshman signees.
We have signed two players from the HS powerhouse programs in the Quad Cities area (one of them is the teammate of the Spelhaug sisters) and the other two come from California (since Asst Coach Courtney Herron-Martinez is from California, I assume she has contributed to the commitment of those two recruits).
2) A lot of you would agree with me that the pitching position is probably the most important on a team. We saw firsthand how much a pitcher can impact the outcome of the game in our NCAA Regional. Although we have solid pitchers on our team and I'm sure our coaching staff will develop them into better ones since most of them are sophomores and freshmen, it doesn't hurt if we could look for an elite pitcher on the transfer market. If we could strike gold by finding a Sami Williams kind of program-changing player in pitching, this program can definitely sustain its success next year. Just take a look at what Kailyn Packard did for UNI who transferred from UMKC last year. Since we are a program on the rise, I'm sure some great pitchers who decide to transfer will now give us a serious look.
4. Regarding the scholarships.
I understand college softball is classified as an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes. For D1, only 12 athletic scholarships are given for each program. It's up to the coaching staff to offer each player a full-ride scholarship, a partial one, or none. Considering college softball is a non-revenue sport and each team usually carries a 20-30 player roaster, I can imagine it's not an easy task to distribute the scholarships on the team and attract recruits.
I have some questions for CF members who follow college softball more closely and have inside information about the softball scholarships. Could you please chime in and let us know
a) The details about ISU's softball scholarship structure?
b) Can a softball program offer non-athletic scholarships such as academic or donor-endowed ones to their players in addition to the 12 athletic scholarships? Or are there other financial aids available for players who only get partial or don't get athletic scholarships?
c) How do the softball powerhouses like OU and Mizzou manage their roasters and their softball scholarships (calling Mizzou Man and OKClones)? Naturally, if more scholarships or financial aids are offered, more good players will come to play.
Here's the current Endowed Scholarships for ISU Athletics posted on the Cyclone Club site, there's none designated for our softball program. I hope it can change this offseason (if applicable).
I apologize if there's any misunderstanding of the softball scholarship in my post. Hey, I come here to learn something new every day. Your information and comments about the recruiting and scholarship situation are really appreciated.
*** Cheers to the Iowa State softball program for finishing up its historic season over the weekend. The Cyclones finished 34-23 and won their first two NCAA Tournament games in school history on Saturday before losing in the regional final on Sunday.
Obviously, the program’s rise was highlighted by the dominance of Sami Williams. There will never be another player like the insanely talented shortstop from California in a Cyclone uniform.
The question on my mind now is how sustainable is this success after Williams moves on?
Iowa State softball obviously had more or less zero history of success up until this season. It is a program still fighting somewhat of an uphill battle in a conference dominated by programs in the south.
But, Iowa State proved it belongs on the national stage over the weekend. Can that become a common occurrence rather than a one-year blip?
I asked Williams that very question just last week.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Williams said. “There’s a very high percentage of our team coming into this year that never played a Big 12 conference game because our freshman class from last year didn’t get to that point. We had a huge freshman class last year and a huge freshman class this year. It feels good being able to be here for another year and kind of just drop any kind of wisdom I can or any answer any questions that I can for them before my time’s up, but I feel confident that the people here are going to be able to keep this going. The coaching staff is really committed to this team and everyone here in this program. So I feel confident that they’ll be able to keep it going after.”
Iowa State will lose only three players off this year’s roster in Williams, starting infielder Logan Schaben and starting outfield Skyler Ramos. All three players have been key pieces of the program’s recent resurgence.
Everyone else will be back next year and beyond, though, and this weekend gave them all a taste of what it takes to compete at the sport’s highest level.
While Williams and the other seniors will be missed, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Iowa State softball’s best days are still to come.
Here are my follow-up thoughts.
1. "There will never be another player like the insanely talented shortstop from California in a Cyclone uniform." I sure hope this is not true. We can definitely find and recruit more Sami Williams caliber players in the near future. I understand it requires a lot of resources and support (especially financially) to make it happen, but as long as our softball program and our administration have the determination, it's not a "Mission Impossible". Our WBB program has been doing it for a long time, I hope our softball program can duplicate the success.
2. Of the three seniors on our softball team, Sami Williams and Logan Schaben are 5th-year seniors. But our left-fielder Skyler Ramos still has one-year eligibility left. I just saw this CycloneSB Tweet which makes me wonder if Skyler is not included in the photo, is there any chance she's coming back for another year?
3. Regarding recruiting.
1) I'm glad to hear Mizzou Man mention we are getting a promising 2021 recruiting class. Here's more about the four freshman signees.
Iowa State Inks Four On National Signing Day - Iowa State University Athletics
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State softball program and head coach Jamie Pinkerton announced Wednesday that four outstanding prep softball players have signed their letters of intent to attend Iowa State. Angelina Allen, Angelita de los Angeles Fuentes, Olivia Wardlow and Emily Wood are the new...cyclones.com
We have signed two players from the HS powerhouse programs in the Quad Cities area (one of them is the teammate of the Spelhaug sisters) and the other two come from California (since Asst Coach Courtney Herron-Martinez is from California, I assume she has contributed to the commitment of those two recruits).
2) A lot of you would agree with me that the pitching position is probably the most important on a team. We saw firsthand how much a pitcher can impact the outcome of the game in our NCAA Regional. Although we have solid pitchers on our team and I'm sure our coaching staff will develop them into better ones since most of them are sophomores and freshmen, it doesn't hurt if we could look for an elite pitcher on the transfer market. If we could strike gold by finding a Sami Williams kind of program-changing player in pitching, this program can definitely sustain its success next year. Just take a look at what Kailyn Packard did for UNI who transferred from UMKC last year. Since we are a program on the rise, I'm sure some great pitchers who decide to transfer will now give us a serious look.
4. Regarding the scholarships.
I understand college softball is classified as an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes. For D1, only 12 athletic scholarships are given for each program. It's up to the coaching staff to offer each player a full-ride scholarship, a partial one, or none. Considering college softball is a non-revenue sport and each team usually carries a 20-30 player roaster, I can imagine it's not an easy task to distribute the scholarships on the team and attract recruits.
I have some questions for CF members who follow college softball more closely and have inside information about the softball scholarships. Could you please chime in and let us know
a) The details about ISU's softball scholarship structure?
b) Can a softball program offer non-athletic scholarships such as academic or donor-endowed ones to their players in addition to the 12 athletic scholarships? Or are there other financial aids available for players who only get partial or don't get athletic scholarships?
c) How do the softball powerhouses like OU and Mizzou manage their roasters and their softball scholarships (calling Mizzou Man and OKClones)? Naturally, if more scholarships or financial aids are offered, more good players will come to play.
Here's the current Endowed Scholarships for ISU Athletics posted on the Cyclone Club site, there's none designated for our softball program. I hope it can change this offseason (if applicable).
I apologize if there's any misunderstanding of the softball scholarship in my post. Hey, I come here to learn something new every day. Your information and comments about the recruiting and scholarship situation are really appreciated.
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Y
You know, like Missouri and tons of other softball programs enjoy?
I mean, this is 2021.
I think before we get into luxuries like endowed scholarships, Iowa State should at least establish a radio play-by-play affiliate to broadcast and stream the games.
You know, like Missouri and tons of other softball programs enjoy?
I mean, this is 2021.
Radio would be nice but even a audio stream over cyclones.com would be good. I listened to a lot of iheart radio streaming to listen to the WBB team this yr.
I don't really know. If you want to say that's an illegal pitch then I wouldn't protest it too much. I'm at more baseball games than softball (because of Covid protocol they split softball season tickets where you could only be at half the games). I don't recall illegal pitches being an issue for Weber this season when I have been around but it's not something you can easily find within the stats either. Maybe the spotlight is on her now and they call her for it a bunch in the Super Regionals. About a decade ago, Kenzie Fowler from Arizona hadn't been called for an illegal pitch all year and she got called for like 10 in two innings at the WCWS.
Somebody earlier mentioned that the illegal pitch call is a subjective thing and it really is so you just never know what you are going to get within a particular umpiring crew. I think the vast majority are solid and try their best, but the overall quality of officiating is not great in my opinion. It is what it is.
Happy Birthday to Coach Pink! We are blessed to have you as our softball head coach. You have planted the seed of success and built a winning culture here at Iowa State. Thank you for the fantastic job you have done in this historic season. I hope you continue leading our softball program for more success.
JP and the administration please give the man a raise and contract extension, and find some resources to upgrade our softball program.
JP and the administration please give the man a raise and contract extension, and find some resources to upgrade our softball program.
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About the schollys, I can’t speak towards SB specific but know that wrestling can offer non athletic schollys last I knew.
All home games were streamed on ESPN like other Big 12 sports, ie WBB. I was able to stream several of the away games there too.
SUPER REGIONAL SCHEDULE/RESULTS (all times CT)
*if necessary
| HOME | VISITOR | THU 5/27 | FRI 5/28 | SAT 5/29 | SUN 5/30 |
| (1) Oklahoma | (16) Washington | OKLA, 4-2 | 2:00 (ABC) | 3:00 (ESPN)* | |
| (8) Missouri | James Madison | JMU, 2-1 | 6:00 (ESPNU) | 11:00 or 1:00 (TBD)* | |
| (5) Oklahoma State | (12) Texas | OKST, 6-1 | 3:00 (ESPN) | 5:00 (ESPNU)* | |
| (4) Florida | Georgia | UGA, 4-0 | UGA, 6-0 | ||
| (3) Alabama | (14) Kentucky | ALA, 4-3 | 1:00 (ESPN) | 3:00 (ESPNU)* | |
| (6) Arkansas | (11) Arizona | ARIZ, 10-4 | 4:00 (ESPNU) | 8:00 (ESPN2)* | |
| (7) LSU | (10) Florida State | FSU, 1-0 | FSU, 4-3 (9) | ||
| (2) UCLA | Virginia Tech | VT, 7-2 | UCLA, 2-0 | 8:30 (ESPN2) |
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Just watched the Mizzou vs James Madison Game 1. It was intense. Both pitchers did a great job in the first 6 innings with Mizzou pitcher allowing 0 hits and JMU pitcher allowing just 1. Then came the dramatic final inning with both pitchers having a sort of meltdown. Mizzou allowed 3 hits resulting in 2 runs by JMU. Then JMU pitcher lost her pitching command and kept walking Mizzou batters and had the bases loaded twice. In the end, JMU made enough plays to win the nailbiter 2-1. Credit to both teams for fighting to the end. Great atmosphere with record attendance. Hopefully the series goes to 3 games. Hey, @Mizzou Man, what's your take on Game 1?
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SUPER REGIONAL SCHEDULE/RESULTS (all times CT) - SATURDAY UPDATES
| HOME | VISITOR | THU 5/27 | FRI 5/28 | SAT 5/29 | SUN 5/30 |
| (1) Oklahoma | (16) Washington | OKLA, 4-2 | OKLA, 9-1 (5) | ||
| (8) Missouri | James Madison | JMU, 2-1 | MIZ, 7-1 | 1:00 (ESPNU) | |
| (5) Oklahoma State | (12) Texas | OKST, 6-1 | TEX, 4-2 | 5:00 (ESPNU) | |
| (4) Florida | Georgia | UGA, 4-0 | UGA, 6-0 | ||
| (3) Alabama | (14) Kentucky | ALA, 4-3 | ALA, 4-1 | ||
| (6) Arkansas | (11) Arizona | ARIZ, 10-4 | ARIZ, 4-1 | ||
| (7) LSU | (10) Florida State | FSU, 1-0 | FSU, 4-3 (9) | ||
| (2) UCLA | Virginia Tech | VT, 7-2 | UCLA, 2-0 | 8:30 (ESPN2) |
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SUPER REGIONAL SCHEDULE/RESULTS (all times CT) - SUNDAY UPDATES
6 teams in. Last 2 games this afternoon. Game times/TV were changed due to a lack of "if necessary" games on the schedule today.
6 teams in. Last 2 games this afternoon. Game times/TV were changed due to a lack of "if necessary" games on the schedule today.
| HOME | VISITOR | THU 5/27 | FRI 5/28 | SAT 5/29 | SUN 5/30 |
| (1) Oklahoma | (16) Washington | OKLA, 4-2 | OKLA, 9-1 (5) | ||
| (8) Missouri | James Madison | JMU, 2-1 | MIZ, 7-1 | JMU, 7-2 | |
| (5) Oklahoma State | (12) Texas | OKST, 6-1 | TEX, 4-2 | 3:00 (ESPN) | |
| (4) Florida | Georgia | UGA, 4-0 | UGA, 6-0 | ||
| (3) Alabama | (14) Kentucky | ALA, 4-3 | ALA, 4-1 | ||
| (6) Arkansas | (11) Arizona | ARIZ, 10-4 | ARIZ, 4-1 | ||
| (7) LSU | (10) Florida State | FSU, 1-0 | FSU, 4-3 (9) | ||
| (2) UCLA | Virginia Tech | VT, 7-2 | UCLA, 2-0 | UCLA, 6-0 |
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Sami's older brother Luke Williams has made the Team USA Baseball Olympic Qualifying squad. Luke is currently playing for Lehigh Valley IronPigs, an AAA affiliate of the Phillies. Team USA will be playing in the 8-team Americas Qualifying Tournament in Florida from May 31 to June 5. The winner of the tournament qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics directly. The 2nd and 3rd placed teams will have one more chance to qualify in the Final Qualifying Tournament (a 5-team event held in Mexico from June 22 to 26). Only 6 teams will be playing in the Tokyo Olympic Games, which marks the first time baseball has been featured in the Games since 2008 in Beijing, where Team USA won the bronze medal. Former Angels' manager Mike Scioscia servers as Team USA's manager.
Here's the official press release.
Here's the details of the Qualifying Tournaments.
Here's the official press release.
Here's the details of the Qualifying Tournaments.
Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
