The Judi Garman Classic continued Friday at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif. and the premier match-up of the day pitted the top team teams in the country according to the USA Today/NFCA Div. I rankings this week.

Florida, fresh off a 10-0 six inning win earlier in the day over No. 13 Arizona, faced Oregon, playing its first game of the tournament.

Rather than do the traditional game story—you can click here if you want to see the box score—I’m going to just give some random thoughts on the game including personal observations and experiences!

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*** Because of other softball commitments, I couldn’t see other games but definitely wanted to see these top two teams on opposite coasts, in large part because I had covered many of the players and knew them personally.

Players like Jenna Lilley and Gwen Svekis, who’ve actually written blogs for the site, and others like Lele Ocasio, Aubree Munro and Nicole DeWitt who I’ve interviewed and gotten to know well (and liked all of them immensely!).

Amazing to see how they’ve matured, some in as little as a year. So proud of all—I feel like a distant parent!

*** Getting to the game was an adventure—coming from the south there was major construction and I had to take a significant detour that cost me 20 minutes and I missed the first inning. Naturally, that’s when Florida outfielders Kirsti Merritt and Bailey Castro would hit home runs.

*** And while I’m whining, parking was $8 and the game was $14 because I had to get an all-day pass even to see just one game. Still, worth it to see fantastic athletes and great play.

*** The Gators are a juggernaut. I was talking to some coaches after the game and one said he’d seen all the top teams and Oregon, Michigan and LSU are all good, but Florida is clearly the best.

So why are they so good? The thought was they keep coming at you and are confident they will win. I noticed how smooth and efficient the Gators are; they don’t make mistakes. Tim Walton’s team looks self-assured and plays with a purposed, like they know they’re going to win.

*** Not to say Oregon doesn’t look or play that way, you don’t get to be No. 2 in the nation by being timid or lacking talent, but the difference in the game were two infield errors in the fourth inning that allowed Florida to blow the game open.

That same inning the Gators executed a double steal where the throw went to second when I felt it shouldn’t have—it would’ve been the third out if the runner was out, but too big of a risk—and the Gator baserunner came home easily.

They were the only two errors of the game but when you have two elite teams it just takes a little to make a big difference.

*** The game drew 1,000-plus fans and it was a cool atmosphere to watch a game. There were a lot of Gator and Duck fans, for sure, but there were a lot of young players and club coaches too.

For example, one of my bloggers, Justus Perry, an infielder from Minnesota committed to Auburn, was there with her father, Mike, to see the Tigers play. I think they were also just looking for an excuse to get out of the Midwest winter for a few days too (it was a gorgeous 80 degrees with clear blue skies… not trying to rub it in, those in the Cold Weather States!).

I talked briefly with several prominent club coaches too including Marty Tyson (Corona Angels), Bret Denio (Explosion) and Kevin Shelton (Texas Glory), who was sporting a nice shirt for the new NPF team, the Dallas Charge, he’s overseeing as GM.

*** One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in covering softball was not having Lele Ocasio in the 2014 Hot 100 list. I recognized it soon after it came out, after going to the Diamond9 Classic in Nov. 2013 and watching her pitch. I got to know her and her father well and followed her stellar career closely at Harmony (Fla.) High where she lost two excruciatingly tough state championship games by 1-0 scores.

I was very happy for her last summer when she led the Wagner’s Dunn team to the ASA 18 GOLD championship and knew she would be something special.

But her 9-0 start for Florida is something I don’t think anyone expected… well, maybe other than Lele herself!

Said Coach Walton after the game, ““I really don’t want to hype her up too much and get out of control here – she is a freshman in the first quarter of her career, but she is just really magnificent. [She is] changing speeds, locating her pitches, popping people up. She gave up a lot more hits than she’s probably been accustomed to – most of them [singles] as opposed to the extra-base variety. I again thought she pitched really well. She shows a lot of poise for a kid of her age.”

Against a great hitting Oregon team she went the distance with eight strikeouts while scattering six hits and giving up a quiet run in the bottom of the seventh.

I was really impressed at how she worked quickly and confidently (it helps to have a great catcher like Aubrey Munro working with you) and, as Coach Walton said, her effectively altering speeds made her riseball that much more effective.

Very, very impressive.

*** On the Ducks side, I continue to be fascinated by the intensity and passion for the game of Jenna Lilley, the third baseman who we DID identify correctly as the No. 1 player in the 2014 Hot 100.

I videotaped an at-bat of Jenna’s that was an amazing display of laser-focused determination. I’ll put that up in the next few days; she went 2-for-4 and in the at-bat I shot had a double. Then at the end she flashes the Oregon “O” to the bench. Love it!

*** Other players who impressed:

— Kirsti Merritt, the Florida centerfielder, is a catalyst and went 2-for-2 with a home run and double. She can flat out fly and was one of the most impressive players I saw.

She also reached base twice after being hit by pitch; there were seven total HBP’s in the game… ouch.

— Lauren Haeger has been a pitching star this year, but she was the DP in today’s game and just looks like a star. She’s big, powerful and athletic and is one of those players you can’t take your eyes off of.

— Aubree Munro, as mentioned above, is a smooth catcher who made a play on an out at the backstop where she ran without hesitation into the padding to glove the ball. I first met her last June when she did play-by-play at the So Cal A’s Invitational for a game that was streamed. Then I saw her in December at a workout run by Jen Schroeder (of The Packaged Deal fame!) and she was great at teaching the kids.

One of the most personable players I’ve ever met, she will be a star in whatever she does post college…

— I liked what I saw of Oregon pitcher J. Smithson-Willett who pitched the last three innings and only gave up one hit and was in command of her pitches.

— Janie Takeda looked good at the plate and had the sole RBI for the Ducks. I like her approach at the plate. She’s one of five Oregon players hitting over .400 for the year.

— Brentt Eads, Full Count Softball

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Here are the results from the first two days at the Judi Garman Classic along with the schedule of games for the weekend:

Thursday (March 5)
	FIELD 1		FIELD 2
11:00 a.m.	#22 Arizona St. 2, #3 Michigan 0	10:30 AM	San Jose St. 4, Long Beach St. 3
1:30 p.m.	#1 Florida 7, #3 Michigan 4	1:00 PM	#14 Auburn 8, Long Beach St. 7
4:00 p.m.	#1 Florida 9, San Jose St. 1	3:30 PM	#14 Auburn 4, Pacific 1
6:30 p.m.	Cal St. Fullerton 3, #22 Arizona St.  10		**NO GAME**
Friday (March 6)
	FIELD 1		FIELD 2
10:00 a.m.	#13 Arizona 0, #1 Florida 10	9:30 a.m.	#3 Michigan 9, San Jose St. 1
12:30 p.m.	#9 Baylor 2, #22 Arizona St. 8	12:00 p.m.	Iowa 2, San Jose St. 11
3:00 p.m.	#2 Oregon 1, #1 Florida 5	2:30 p.m.	Pacific 2, San Diego St. 4
5:30 p.m.	#13 Arizona 2, #14 Auburn 20	5:00 p.m.	#3 Michigan 11, #9 Baylor 1
8:00 p.m.	Cal St. Fullerton 3, #14 Auburn 2	7:30 p.m.	Fresno St. 9, Iowa 0
Saturday (March 7)
	FIELD 1		FIELD 2
10:00 a.m.	San Diego St. vs. Michigan	9:30 a.m.	Pacific vs. Baylor
12:30 p.m.	San Diego St. vs. Iowa	12:00 p.m.	Florida vs. Fresno St.
3:00 p.m.	San Jose St. vs. Arizona St.	2:30 p.m.	Pacific vs. Oregon
5:30 p.m.	Cal St. Fullerton vs. Iowa	5:00 p.m.	Fresno St. vs. Oregon
8:00 p.m.	Auburn vs. Arizona St.	7:30 p.m.	Long Beach St. vs. Arizona
Sunday (March 8)
	FIELD 1		FIELD 2
9:30 a.m.	Fresno St. vs. Baylor	9:00 a.m.	Iowa vs. Oregon
12:00 p.m.	Arizona vs. Baylor	11:30 a.m.	Long Beach St. vs. Oregon
2:30 p.m.	Arizona vs. Fresno St.	2:00 p.m.	Long Beach St. vs. San Diego St.
5:00 p.m.	Cal St. Fullerton vs. San Diego St.		**NO GAME**