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Three Peat? Gators softball team working on championship formula

MJWilliamson

Bull Gator
Apr 23, 2007
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Tim Walton will lean on bookend classes when the two-time defending champion Florida softball team starts its season Friday night in Tampa.


Gone are players such as Lauren Haeger, Bailey Castro and Katie Medina. But Walton has proven stars in this year’s senior class and potential stars in his freshman class as the Gators begin their season.

The two classes make up more than half the Florida roster heading into the 2016 season.

“We’re going to be different,” Walton said. “It’s going to take a team effort.”

For the Florida coach, the first weekend is the beginning of an evaluation process as much as anything. Championships aren’t built on opening day, but as the year unfolds.

“The first month is all about roster management,” he said. “It’s trial by error to get ready for SEC play.”

For example, Walton will have to figure out who to play at shortstop. How much does he play senior Kelsey Stewart — Florida’s every day second baseman the last three years — at short in place of the graduated Medina and how much does he go with freshman Alex Voss?

“I don't know how it’s going to go,” Walton said. “I know how we plan for it to go. If I have to write Kelsey Stewart’s name at shortstop every day I’m not going to lose a lot of sleep over it. But I have confidence in Alex. She’s the most athletic shortstop we have.”

And how will Florida’s pitching rotation go now that Haeger, the ace down the stretch last year, has departed.

Aleshia Ocasio returns as does Delanie Gourley. The two combined to go 28-5 during Florida’s 60-7 season a year ago.

But Walton has freshman Kelly Barnhill, a freshman sensation who will have to adapt to college softball in a hurry.

“It’s going to be great to play against other teams instead of each other,” Barnhill said.

Walton said Barnhill has “all the tools” and may throw harder than any pitcher in UF history.

“For us it’s all about managing expectations,” Walton said. “She’s different than what we’ve had before. I’ve learned a lot from overhyping freshmen. We have to keep her grounded. She has a ton of potential.”

Florida will also have to replace a ton of power. Haeger and Castro combined for 36 homers and 107 RBIs last year. Senior Taylore Fuller and sophomore Kayli Kvistad will be counted on to provide the power boost.

Walton knows he can count on Stewart, a senior who hit .435 last year and had 26 stolen bases.

“I’ve seen a different work ethic in her this year,” he said. “She wants to leave a legacy.”

Florida, the preseason No. 1 team, opens the season at 6:45 Friday night against Illinois State, then faces No. 2 Michigan on Saturday. Florida beat the Wolverines in the Women’s College World Series finals last year.

The Gators then face Virginia Tech and South Florida on Sunday before the home opener against Jacksonville on Wednesday.

Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
 
I thoroughly enjoy watching these young women compete. Tim Walton has built a powerhouse and yet allows them to have fun. This year's team has a mix of proven, quality talent and excellent freshmen, several of whom should contribute right away.
 
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Walton seems to have found the winning formula at how to acquire talent, develop it, and then get the players to perform at the highest level. Those girls have fun.

Sully needs to find a way to handle that last part.
 
I don't know exactly what we have coming back in softball yet to know. I know my wife is back that's all
 
Good start. I believe they shut out #2 Michigan today.
Beat Illinois State last night 11-0 and #2 Michigan today 8-0, both by the 5-inning run rule. Freshman Kelly Barnhill pitched today. Gators got no home runs, but took a lot of walks and got clutch hitting to score. Double header tomorrow against Virginia Tech & USF.
 
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Top-ranked Florida defeated No. 2 Michigan 8-0 in five innings on Day 2 of the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament behind freshman pitcher Kelly Barnhill's two-hitter.


The Gators (2-0) were paced by RBI hits from Nicole DeWitt, Justine McLean, Kayli Kvistad, Amanda Lorenz and Aubree Munro.

"She shut out one of the better hitting teams in the country, if not the best hitting team in the country," UF coach Tim Walton said. "I thought she did a really good job of mixing her speeds and locations. Defensively we made some nice plays behind her. Overall, we just had some clutch hitting."

Florida will play two today, vs. Virginia Tech at 1:30 p.m. and host South Florida at 4 p.m. Both games can be heard on 1230-AM.
 
Well if you go back to back and are still rolling at #1, you will get attention for it. lol FSU
 
Also they won their Sunday games 11-1 and 8-0. Off to a great start. Wow what a pitching staff. Looks better than last year if that is possible.
 
The No. 1-ranked Florida softball team defeated Utah 1-0 on Saturday to complete a perfect five-game road trip in California.
 
I have watched a lot of college softball over the last 15 years or so and can't ever remember a team with 3 quality pitchers getting virtually equal innings. Usually there's one dominant pitcher the team rides through the season. Last year the Gators had Gourley & Ocasio with Heager, but it was Haeger more and more as the season progressed. We'll see how the season plays out, but this looks to be another team that can win it all. Home runs and scoring enough runs later on could be an issue, but there's no weak spot in the batting order and the defense looks as good as ever.
 
Kudos for Walton changing the game in regards to the pitching. Other teams are starting to copy....He may end up being Foley's best hire when all is said and done...
 
The great thing about having three quality pitchers is in softball by the time you get your third at-bat against a pitcher you can kind of "figure her out" and get a good at-bat. Walton has actually brought in one of the 3 pitchers as relievers in the 6th, 7th inning (if we get that far) even though the starting pitcher is doing well. It's really tough on the batter because all three of our pitchers have different styles and strengths
 
#1-ranked softball is 25-0 after beating #3 Auburn 6-3 last night with a 3-run bomb in the top of the 7th.

They started last season 28-0.

It was also Walton's 700th win.
 
Their schedule the next few weekends is brutal, as the SEC has loaded them up against all the top tier teams in the conference. Tennessee at home, LSU on the road, then Alabama at home. Plus later on they go to Texas A&M for 3. Really enjoy watching these girls compete.
 
They really could go for 3, I noticed like 4 girls from last years team. The leadoff hitter, the 2 hole, the pitcher and the catcher... and you can tell they play comfortably from winning it all a few times while other teams want to beat them so badly they get out of their own game. Those auburn fans were hilarious last night crying like kentucky fans over EVERY ball and strike call and then that double play ball, then two batters later put it away with one swing.
 
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I really expected a drop off this year from the year prior ranking us high, but they really are still elite with returning players along with elite young players. That pitcher from the CWS last year showed us the future and we still have an ace/aces on this team.. I've only seen us play once because we are never on tv but they look pretty damn solid again to make a run. Still haven't seen our baseball team, my first time will be Tuesday night.
 
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Get an Amazon Firestick. You can watch most of the baseball and most of the softball games.
 
I have an amazon account, how do I set that up?
You have to buy the firestick. About $40 at amazon? Plug it into one of the HDMI outlets on your TV and go through the fairly simple set-up procedure. Then down load the ESPN app. You will get all SEC TV + programing, plus a lot, lot more
 
The ladies suffered their first loss of the season. After taking the first two games @ #3 ranked Auburn, Florida was ahead 4-3 in the bottom the the seventh. Wasn't able to close it out.
 
Auburn is really good and for the Gators to go in there and take 2 out of 3 on their field shows why they are still #1. Gurley was good thru the 1st 6 innings last night, but not as sharp as normal. Ocasio had a tough 7th inning, but the defense really let her down. Gators had 2 or 3 chances to break the game open earlier in the game and couldn't get clutch hits to drive in the runs. I think the team misses Katie Medina at Shortstop more than people would have thought. She was simply a great defensive player. Kelsey Stewart is OK there, but she's a 2nd baseman and I think playing out of her normal position is affecting her concentration at the plate. If she gets her batting back to the levels of her sophomore and junior seasons, watch out because they've been winning without their superstar playing anywhere near her potential.
 
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What I seen last night from Delaney well she should be on the bowling team no pitching softball. She has no confidence in herself and she is scared. If they keep starting her UF is going to lose more upcoming games. Also I seen way too many errors and mental break downs last night. But I think the whole team needed to get that monkey (undefeated season) of their backs last night.

BTW is UF the only team with only three pitchers year in and year out? I don't understand the thinking behind this.
 
Three in a row has only been done once, by UCLA (from 1988-1990, and from 1988-1997, UCLA and Arizona each won 5 titles). Winning a 3rd title in a row would be history and best of luck! (I'm sure Pat Riley is rooting for UF so he can make some change from three-peat).

The west coast once dominated softball, but the SEC has 9 teams in the top 19, plus (#5) Louisiana-Laf., (#11) FSU, and (#8) James Madison, the south is pretty well represented this year.

Only 7 teams come from the left coast in the current top 25.

23 out of 56 games (41%) are against ranked opponents! Why don't UF and FSU play doubleheaders instead of traveling 3 hours to play one game. I think it would be more wise to play a double headed considering the travel. Even non-conference games against LL, FSU and Michigan are against ranked teams.
 
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lol fsu never counts, they just choke to their own conference clown teams.
 
What I seen last night from Delaney well she should be on the bowling team no pitching softball. She has no confidence in herself and she is scared. If they keep starting her UF is going to lose more upcoming games. Also I seen way too many errors and mental break downs last night. But I think the whole team needed to get that monkey (undefeated season) of their backs last night.

BTW is UF the only team with only three pitchers year in and year out? I don't understand the thinking behind this.
Gourley has a devastating change up and in the last game against Auburn she had trouble getting it over the plate. She doesn't have the power of Haeger, Ocasio or Barnhill, so the change up is the key to her success. Auburn hitters were sitting on her fastball and she gave up several walks, which is unusual for her. Hannah Rogers actually credited Gourley, as a freshman, with teaching her the change up that made Rogers a better pitcher her senior year. In the past, most college softball teams have ridden one stud pitcher. The first time UF made it to the national championship, they used 1 pitcher, Stacey Nelson, the entire World Series if I remember right. Tim Walton has actually been at the forefront of having 2 and now 3 quality pitchers on staff, and other teams have followed suit. Next year, UF will actually have 4 big time pitchers, as they add a girl from Gainesville High who is touted as one of the best in the state, if not the nation. I agree that losing a game might take some of the pressure off, but they have 3 more weekend series in a row against elite SEC teams - Tennessee, LSU & Alabama. Can't expect them to win 'em all, though they certainly are capable.
 
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Tennessee was the 1st SEC softball program to get a national reputation and force other schools to spend the money on facilities and coaches in order to compete. Until very recently the PAC 12 dominated college softball, with the Big 12 & Big 10 well ahead of the SEC. Now the SEC has become the dominant conference in the sport, with 9 teams in the Top 25 and 3 in the Top 5, plus 3 of the last 4 national titles. And for the last 3 years the Florida Gators have been the best of the best. Fun to watch.
 
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