The 2013 year in fastpitch softball was a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows touching all areas of the sport—from the Olympics and professional ball down to club, high school and rec play.

Here are the stories I think were the most significant and relevant at all levels of the sport… 

 

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1.  Olympics continue without softball
Baseball and softball’s combined Olympic bid to be reinstated for the 2020 Tokyo Games was a long-shot from the beginning and what many felt would happen did: wrestling was voted back in leaving the two diamond sports along with squash on the outside looking in.  Jennie Finch was the passionate face and voice for the softball charge and, if anything, helped rally disparate factions in softball to prepare for the next opportunity to make the sport’s case.  You can never say never in the IOC’s world of political intrigue, but the reality is baseball and softball’s five rings dream is lost for another generation. Still, there is a sliver of hope as host city Tokyo may be able to find a way to get softball back in the line-up since the last Olympic Gold medal winner in softball was… Japan in the 2008 Games.

 

2. Keilani Ricketts dominates as Oklahoma wins World Series
The most dominant player in softball today, Keilani Ricketts, made sure she’d end her Oklahoma career as a champion after suffering a heart-breaking defeat to Alabama in the 2012 Women’s College World Series.  Ricketts, the two-time National Player of the Year, would not be denied in the 2013 WCWS against Tennessee.  In the first game of the finals she pitched 12 innings to secure the 5-3 extra-inning thrilling win and run her record to 25-1; in the second and concluding game, the Sooner star hit a home run and drove in four runs in the 4-0 shutout.  The championship, held in Oklahoma City and won by the home-state Sooners, also helped lift the spirits of a reeling state that only two weeks earlier was devastated by the Moore tornadoes that killed 24 and caused two billion dollars worth of damage.

 

3.  Increase of Early Recruiting
It could be the biggest topical issue in softball today—the issue of recruits in softball being offered—and committing—to colleges at younger and younger ages.  We’ve covered it here a lot on our site and it’s not just a softball issue as we profiled recently in the article The Early Recruiting Dilemma, but it does have everyone involved—college and club coaches, parents and players—concerned.  College coaches say they don’t want to offer so young, but they have to keep up with the others who do.  Players and parent, then, feel the pressure to commit as early as age 13 or face being left without a scholarship or higher dollar figures.  Besides putting undue pressure on girls barely into their teen years, it also carries the high risk/high reward gamble for both sides—what if a girl doesn’t pan out or gets complacent and stops working hard?  What if a coaching staff leaves and the player loses the offer? Perhaps the scariest aspect is what one college coach recently told me that applies to most universities: the scholarship dollars for the 2014 and ’15 classes are gone and is running out for the 2016 class (sophomores). No easy answers and it’s sure to be a topic that will be discussed more and more in the future…

 

4.  Ricketts leaves Team USA over contract dispute
As the Olympic situation brought groups together within the softball space, one incident showed that not all groups are on the same page.  After her dominating performance in the early June WCWS, Keilani Ricketts ended up not playing for the U.S. National team in the World Cup of Softball held five weeks later—ironically, also in Oklahoma City where Ricketts starred in Oklahoma’s title run. USA Softball reportedly offered the college star a long-term contract to represent the organization, but Ricketts wanted more time to evaluate her options including the possibilities to play in the National Pro Fastpitch league and overseas and see where the September vote around the Olympics would end up.  Team USA allegedly wanted a decision made before the summer and the start of the World Cup and the athlete declined, instead signing with the USSSA Pride and winning an NPF championship. The U.S. went on to win the World Cup (see No. 9 below), but ended up being bad PR for a sport that needed a positive boost.

 

5. SoCal A’s four-peat at PGF
In the club world, there are a lot of powerhouse teams with familiar names—the OC Batbusters, the Firecrackers, the Corona Angels, the Gold Coast Hurricanes, Texas Glory, the Beverly Bandits and so on—but over the past four years no team has been able to topple the dynasty that’s been the So Cal Athletics out of Upland, Calif.  Playing on the highest stage of competition, the A’s won the PGF Premier Nationals for the fourth consecutive year—each year there’s been a PGF Nationals.  Led by my tournament MVP, pitcher Delanie Gourley, now at Florida, the A’s won a tight 3-2 contest over a powerful Team Mizuno-Stith squad before a packed crowd at Bill Barber Stadium in Irvine, Calif.  Team Mizuno had to play 26 innings the day before the championship in the loser’s bracket and perhaps suffered from fatigue, but you couldn’t deny the brilliance of Gourley who went 6-0 during the PGF run with a 0.98 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 43 innings.

6. Clint Myers leaves ASU for Auburn
Many people say that family is the most important thing in their lives, but coach Clint Myers showed beyond a shadow of a doubt it’s what matters most to him when he shocked many in the softball world by leaving Arizona State during the summer to take the head job at Auburn.  Myers had won national titles at ASU in 2008 and 2011 and looked to have another championship caliber team lined up for the 2014 season, but he took the Tigers job because it allowed him to have his sons, Casey and Corey, on his coaching staff and to bring in staff he also felt like is family.  Leaving strong ties at ASU—he played baseball there and twice was on Sun Devil teams that finished second in the College World Series—he gets what every parent can only dream about in their later years: having their children and grandchildren in close proximity.  Here’s more on the change: Q&A with Clint Myers

 

7. Fall recruiting window to tighten?
The NFCA Convention held in early December had an unexpected dialogue arise that could have significant impact on college recruiting, travel play and event and tournament producers—the tightening or even closing of the fall recruiting period.  Reportedly led by Michigan’s Carol Hutchins and Washington’s Heather Tarr, many high level colleges would like to see the fall period have a shorter recruiting period as, many feel, players are missing too much school and it has become overly expensive for all involved to travel to events in California, Florid, Texas and elsewhere.  Skeptics say that the travel is minimal, maybe three weekends at most, and that colleges just want the fall to themselves to run their own institutional camps and pocket the money.  Some feel the bigger schools can afford to not recruit as much in September through Thanksgiving but the smaller programs need that time. A lot of angles to this situation that will be interesting to watch develop.

 

8. Without fanfare, softballers overcome obstacles
Perhaps my favorite story of 2013 is the ongoing, unheralded devotion of softball players who just get it done—sometimes excelling despite significant obstacles.  Sure, you can make the case that this happens every year and that there are always players overcoming great odds, but to me this doesn’t change the fact that softball is a great sport because of the athletes who make it happen.  Here are five examples that jump into mind: Indiana junior pitcher Tara Trainer (Indiana commit), who overcame a near-fatal car injury in 2012 to return to greatness in 2013; SoCal pitcher Taylor McQuillin (Arizona verbal), who has overcome blindness in one eye to become one of the top 2015 players; senior NorCal infielder Kylee Perez (signed with UCLA), who has triumphed over Type 1 diabetes since age 8; junior shortstop Toni Polk (Penn State verbal) from New York who admits she has severe OCD but gets it done on and off the field and junior infielder/outfielder Kaitlyn Alderink (Texas A&M) out of Texas who suffered two torn ACLs within a year but has battled back to be better than ever.  These young athletes are examples of the great thread that ties the softball world together.

 

9. World Cup: U.S. tops Puerto Rico, but good will gesture means both sides win
The 2013 World Cup of Softball in mid-July saw Team USA fail to win the event for the first time since 2005 when Japan beat the Americans 6-3, but what may be remembered more than the results was the good sportsmanship that prevailed in an earlier game when the U.S. team topped Puerto Rico 10-3. In the win, Amber Freeman hit two home runs, but her second trip around the bases ended up being a memorable one that would end up in international news.  As Freeman rounded first base, she tripped and rolled her ankle.  The catcher hopped in obvious pain to second where she stopped to catcher her breath. As she gingerly began walking towards third, Puerto Rico shortstop Galis Lozada and third baseman Dayanira Diaz jogged over to Freeman and helped her make it home.  The crowd stood and rightfully applauded the inspiring display of good sportsmanship and the incident made news around the world.

 

10.  The franchising of club organizations
It wasn’t discussed much this year, but the growth of high-profile organizations in a “franchising” mode will be a development to watch in the future.  The Tony Rico-led Firecrackers now have teams in California, Arizona and Texas carrying the Firecracker name as well as the brand that the coach requires each team taking the name have.  The brand, in this case, is the development of the athlete off the field as well as on.  The biggest development was with the merger of the OC Batbuster teams and name with the Team Mizuno organization.  Led by title-winning coach Mike Stith, the Batbuster identity that was developed over three decades by legendary coach Gary Haning is now integrated with the previous Team Mizuno clubs and has many of the top teams not just in California but from coast to coast.  It will be interesting to see if top players and their parents will want to play for teams in big organizations or will prefer being in smaller ones.

 

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On the bubble (10 more noteworthy stories in no particular order):

* Atlanta Vipers organization wins both ASA 18 Gold & 16A Nationals

* 2013 National Softball Hall of Fame class packed with talent (Laura Berg, Lisa Fernandez, Margie Wright are notables)

* Untimely passings: Charles Fobbs (asst. coach at Michigan State), Phil Mumma (longtime coach of the Sorcerers)

* Red Mountain (Ariz.) finishes as No. 1 team in SSS.com FAB 50

* ASA and USA changes at the top: Don Porter steps down after 30 years at ISF and 8 Ron Radigonda moves on after 15 years at ASA

* PGF Nationals continue to grow in prestige

* Sue Enquist pushes for uniformity and standardization in softball recruiting and testing

* Rayburn Hesse of SpySoftball gives heart-felt farewell speech at NFCA Convention (our prayers are with this softball media trailblazer)

* Triple Crown Sports puts club title games on broadcast TV

* StudentSportsSoftball.com returns! (hey, it’s my list… I can be biased!)

 

Did we miss any obvious stories?  Are some more important than others?  Let’s get your feedback and insights into what was significant in softball during 2013!  E-mail: brentt@studentsports.com.