softball 2014

[Dave_2010]

Boomdad's response to the post re: his daughter is example of a problem I've witnessed at the handful of non-MBB road events I've attended since graduating. The parents keep to themselves and treat alums like lepers sometimes even refusing to acknowledge their presence (as a matter of fact boomdad did exactly that to me in Phoenix 2 years ago).

While at the games I sometimes feel I can't even talk about the action for fear of offending a parent. I must stress that NOT all parents are like this and I've had more than a few pleasant conversation during a game...however, too many are.

I appreciate that parents have a different perspective than alums and that their love of their children far exceeds our love of Valpo, but that is not an excuse for how some behave toward us. We are there to support Valpo's student athletes in the same way alums supported us on the field (or in my case, onstage at concerts in the Chapel/VUCA).

I know it was off topic, but that's been on my chest for a couple of years.


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[valpotx]

Sorry to hear about your in-person experiences.  When I was playing, I was always nice to any fans that showed up, and hopefully our athletes do the same nowadays.  Based on his harsh response to what was essentially praise for his daughter's skill set, your comment doesn't surprise me as much.  Some parents can't take any criticism of their child, that when something even has the remote possibility of being such a thing, they lash out.  This has happened a few times on this board, but mainly with basketball parents (Jay Harris' dad, and Brandon Wood's dad come to mind) thus far.  When my son is born in a few weeks, I am sure that I will have that same pride they do in their children, but hope to be much more tolerant of others' opinions, as long as they aren't personal attacks.

[boomdad]

Boomdad's response to the post re: his daughter is example of a problem I've witnessed at the handful of non-MBB road events I've attended since graduating. The parents keep to themselves and treat alums like lepers sometimes even refusing to acknowledge their presence (as a matter of fact boomdad did exactly that to me in Phoenix 2 years ago).

While at the games I sometimes feel I can't even talk about the action for fear of offending a parent. I must stress that NOT all parents are like this and I've had more than a few pleasant conversation during a game...however, too many are.

I appreciate that parents have a different perspective than alums and that their love of their children far exceeds our love of Valpo, but that is not an excuse for how some behave toward us. We are there to support Valpo's student athletes in the same way alums supported us on the field (or in my case, onstage at concerts in the Chapel/VUCA).

I know it was off topic, but that's been on my chest for a couple of years.


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Im a little confused. As memory serves we went to a party held by the alum and I thought it was all a pretty good experience. Being a freshmans dad I had no idea how to act, except to be polite to anyone I met. I am sorry but I do not remember snubbing anyone at any time. I sat with the upper classman parents, just trying to fit in. I do not remember talking to any alum about the games. I have no idea where this came from unless it is in retaliation to me answering questions to what Tx wrote

[boomdad]

Alot can be read or misread in t

Sorry to hear about your in-person experiences.  When I was playing, I was always nice to any fans that showed up, and hopefully our athletes do the same nowadays.  Based on his harsh response to what was essentially praise for his daughter's skill set, your comment doesn't surprise me as much.  Some parents can't take any criticism of their child, that when something even has the remote possibility of being such a thing, they lash out.  This has happened a few times on this board, but mainly with basketball parents (Jay Harris' dad, and Brandon Wood's dad come to mind) thus far.  When my son is born in a few weeks, I am sure that I will have that same pride they do in their children, but hope to be much more tolerant of others' opinions, as long as they aren't personal attacks.

Alot can be read or mis read in font on a board like this. Some times its hard to tell if it is praise or a dig. I apologize if you believe it was an attack on you personally.Britts name is plastered all over the internet, she has her detractors and her supporters and I try not to be one of those parents that get overly caught up in it. My natural nature is a bit gruff and that can come across the wrong way especially in type. I have people all the time that come to me at games , talk to me and give me advice on how they think she could be improved. It happens. Everyone is a hitting instructor, everyone is a coach, Its just part of the game and being a parent of a student athlete that does well in her sport. We as a family still have friends at Valpo. Nothing Negative from me about the University or the kids there, And contrary to what the last poster said even the alums.

Good luck in the remainder of the season

[valpotx]

Man, we are missing our hitting this year!  We just lost 4-0 and 8-0 in our first 2 games in Hawaii, with only 2 hits in each game.  I know that we are playing much better competition this year, but we have now been shutout 9 times!!  Also Taylor is getting majorly roughed up this season, so far, with an 8.27 ERA and 12 HRs against in 31 innings pitched!!!!  It looks like the pre-season first place team has a lot of improvement needed in order to reach that expectation

[jetz]

Since I played baseball at Valpo, and we had a few transfers that played right away, I am very well aware that it was all within the rules.  My question was more of why baseball/softball are able to play right away upon transferring, but basketball/football players have to sit out 1 year.  They also receive releases from their schools to transfer, but have to sit out?  It makes absolutely no sense for the NCAA to punish kids in a few sports, but not all, for moving on to another school.  The only reason I can think of would be relating to the fact that they (football/basketball) are revenue sports, while others are not.

Just FYI, you do have to sit out a year in baseball when transferring D1 to D1.  I'm very familiar, as my son went through this process.  In some cases, the NCAA will grant a waiver allowing a student-athlete to play right away, but the rules are specific about when this waiver is granted.  (Non-scholarship player or redshirt situations, for example)  If you got some money and played even a little, you are going to have to sit at a D1.  A waiver in baseball, like other sports, is the exception rather than the rule.  For this reason, you see a lot of baseball players go to a big D1 right out of high school, realize they bit off more than they can chew, and transfer to a JUCO or D3 school to play immediately.  You can then leave the D3 after a year there for another D1 and again play right away.  This is how Valpo has signed a lot of the California players in recent years.  I don't know if softball has the same rules.

[valpotx]

Interesting, as that must have changed since my days.  Brian Wolotka transferred in from Butler for his last season to play at Valpo, and had played a decent amount of games the season prior at Butler.  The same went for Sean Peickert from Creighton, not having to sit out.  Brian was from somewhere else in IN (I believe), while Sean was from MN, and neither was injured, so I am not sure that they would have received any type of waiver to play right away. 

[jetz]

Yes tx, I believe the rules have changed in the last decade or so.  I don't doubt you when you say it happened all the time back in the day.  Now, though, it's downright un-American how the NCAA controls these kids, even in baseball.  The kid wants to go, both coaches agree, and yet the NCAA takes away a year on the field for a kid who maybe didn't play much last season anyway.  It won't be long before one of these cases makes its way into a courtroom, IMO.  Every year, there are 2-3 high profile cases at big schools.  It can cost a kid huge in future earnings in some of these blue chip cases.  Sorry for hijacking the thread...

[valpopal]

Spring has finally arrived in Valparaiso... or at least Valpo softball has begun! I attended the home opener today, and it was good to see players competing on the diamond once again. In fact, the field looked remarkably good considering the harsh winter that has continued into spring.

The day was sunny and temperatures hovered in the upper 40s and flirted with 50 degrees, though there were 30 mph winds, which surprisingly didn't seem to have much influence. In fact, everyone played the difficult pop-ups well and neither team committed an error. However, during most of the game neither team hit very much either. The Crusaders could only scratch for two hits, both singles; WMU was shut out except for one big inning when unfortunately they got 5 out of their six hits for the game, including a grand slam. Final score: WMU 5 — Valpo 0.

First pitch of the home opener:

[vu72]

It seems like we are in for a down year in softball.  Losing record and really not much on which to hang ones hat.   

[valpopal]

I have now uploaded a gallery with about 20 of my photos, including the three below, from the opening game against Western Michigan. Valpo didn't score, so unfortunately there aren't many action shots, but it is great just to have images of play that remind one spring is here.

In addition, this was the first game with the new dorm in the background. As you can see, one of the construction workers took a break to watch the play. I didn't realize how good the view of the field will be from some of those rooms! The full set of photos can be enjoyed at the following: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157643291813463/

[valpotx]

Even with our record, we will still be competitive in conference.  We played a pretty tough non-conference schedule

[okinawatyphoon]

The new dorm looks great, even better up close!

[FWalum]

Last Friday I got to watch the girls practicing on the Football field.  There were a number of spring sports teams sharing the Turf on what was a chilly and wet day.  Conditions of the grounds and landscape around campus were not very good.  Everything was cold, wet and brown all weekend except Sunday.  Good to see from the pics that things looked sunny for a change.

[valpopal]

The women played very well in their conference home opening doubleheader against Detroit on Saturday, winning both games in shutouts: 6-0 and 9-0. Detroit seems to be one of the weaker teams in the league; nevertheless, it was good to see the pitching and hitting come together for the Crusaders. Here are two of my photos: one displays a wind up by Weissenhofer, who struck out 10 batters; the other shows a home run swing by Ranieri, who was 5-6 with 5 RBIs and 2 runs scored on the day.

[valpotx]

They will still do well in conference, as previously stated.  We are a top 2 team in the HL, and just played a really tough non-conference schedule

[LaPorteAveApostle]

great pics, as always.

what a colossal swing!

[valpopal]

great pics, as always.

what a colossal swing!

Thanks, Apostle! The team completed its 3-game weekend sweep of Detroit with another impressive performance and another shutout. They won the three games by a combined score of 23-0. I have now uploaded more than 40 photos taken during the weekend games, including the three below. The whole gallery can be enjoyed at the following: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157643497589955/

[a3uge]

What's with Detroit's all black unis?

[vusupporter]

Don't look now, but softball's in first place in the Horizon League standings entering today's series finale against Cleveland State.

[valpopal]

Don't look now, but softball's in first place in the Horizon League standings entering today's series finale against Cleveland State.

Yes, the team has been playing well. They split the doubleheader game with Cleveland State yesterday, losing in one of the oddest games. The umpires kept having problems. At one point the Cleveland State coach protested the game because of a lineup issue, and the discussion or arguing on the field seemed to last almost a half hour. At one point, Mark Labarbera even came out of the stands and onto the field to participate in the debate. For some reason, the result was that two balls were added to the pitch count for the Valpo batter.

The women took a one-run lead into the 7th inning and were apparently going to win. However, when one of the CSU players popped out, the umpires again stepped in and said the play didn't count because a ball in one of the bullpens had come loose and apparently was somewhere on the field. The player got to bat again and doubled, scoring a minute later on a wind-helped home run that gave CSU the win.

But the team shook off the tough defeat and came back to win the second game. Here is one of my photos from the game, which shows Jessie Marinec scoring in a cloud of dust:

[valpotx]

Yep, right where they should be!  I was watching that delay and had no clue what was going on, other than the fact that I would have been so tired of that CSU coach after even 2 minutes of that crap.  I would love to hear what was protested, and why we ended up with a 2-0 count on our hitter, as that made absolutely no sense.  When MLB came on the field, it looked like the CSU coach was giving him an earful with some emotion, and all MLB was trying to do was answer any questions.  He had his Facilities guy with him for whatever the issue was, and had to pull Coach Stevens away from the discussion, because he seemed a little animated as well.  What a BS ending in that game, btw.

[valpopal]

Congrats to Kaitlyn Ranieri for being named the Horizon League Player of the Week!

Ranieri had a great week, hitting over .500 (11-20), and she is the leading hitter in conference play in many categories. Ranieri is a big reason Valpo is currently in first place in the Horizon League.

For those interested, I have posted two galleries of photos for the recent conference home series against Cleveland State and Detroit, including the image below of Ranieri and some pictures of the disputes with the umpires, at the following: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/

[FWalum]

Need to win the series against Green Bay this weekend to have a shot at the regular season title and host the league playoffs.

[valpotx]

Not off to a good start today, down 3-0 in the 5th