Softball Transfer Portal

[mike412]

I read today that as of yesterday, 632 Div. 1 softball players have entered the transfer portal. The names supposedly are not public unless the player discloses it. The biggest name made public so far is the freshman SS from Oregon who made the all-conference first team. She apparently wants to go to a California school as that is where she is from.

I would think that Pitt would have to hit the transfer market hard, especially for pitching, to even be respectable next season. Unfortunately, I would also think the two or three Pitt players who had good offensive years might want to move to a school which is more competitive.

Anyone have any information on transfers in/out?

The key to softball is pitching. Pitt only had 4 pitchers on the roster this year, and the current head coach only recruited two of them. That is inexcusable. Just as a point of comparison, until 2019, Clemson had a club softball team. Their first recruits were in 2019 and 2020 was their second full recruiting season. The first season was wiped out by the pandemic, so this was their first full season in the ACC. They made the NCAA regionals. Their roster shows their coach recruited 8 pitchers, 4 of whom had significant innings pitched this year and all had ERAs under 3.50. (Pitt had no pitchers with ERAs under 3.50.) One was the ACC frosh of the year. At least 7 of them would appear to be on scholarship based on their high school and travel league performances and rankings by sites which rate high school players. All 7 are at least 5’9 tall. The 8th pitcher was the SC small school pitcher of the year, but she is 5’3 and didn’t pitch an inning this year. My guess is that she walked on. She is the type of pitcher our coach unfortunately recruits.

We clearly need a coaching change but I suspect that Heather will be less likely to fire someone she hired and admit that she made a huge mistake. But, she did, and a new direction is absolutely necessary.

 

[levance2]

I suspect that Heather will be less likely to fire someone she hired and admit that she made a huge mistake.

Based on what? Which coach has clearly underperformed who should be immediately fired?

 

[ThePanthers]

Based on what? Which coach has clearly underperformed who should be immediately fired?

He wanted the softball coach fired after day 1.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

He wanted the softball coach fired after day 1.

He wanted the wrestling coach fired too, right up until the day the NCAA tournament started this year. Then for some reason he got strangely silent on the topic.

By the time next season is ready to start he'll probably be back on that bandwagon though.

 

[Charlotteyinzer96]

Based on what? Which coach has clearly underperformed who should be immediately fired?

The fact that lyke let a successful head softball coach walk out the door and go to Louisville, and replaced her with this hot mess, is good enough reason for lyke to reevaluate this hire. Softball was looking good under the old coach and has been a train wreck since she left.

 

[mike412]

Holly took a program that was horrible and led it to the NCAAs. In fact, they took Michigan to 3 games in the regionals in Ann Arbor. I believe Michigan was the national runner up that season. They also led FSU in the final inning of the ACC Tourney championship game that year, losing on a heartbreaking walk-off HR.

People on this board who clearly have knowledge of inside information have said that Holly didn’t voluntarily leave for Louisville, but was essentially forced out by Lyke. From what I understand, none of the recruits who Holly had commitments from that year enrolled at Pitt, and a number of top players already in the program transferred in the next year.

Heather replaced her almost immediately with a coach who has turned the team into a dumpster fire. Of the ACC schools that play softball, they finished this year with the third worst record—and they lost the season series to both teams that finished behind them. A significant number of their games ended in mercy rule losses.

The pitching was horrible. They had only 4 pitchers and two of them were left over from Holly’s teams. One of them wasn’t even recruited by Holly primarily as a pitcher. None of the pitchers had an ERA under 4.5 and none of them was an ACC level pitcher. Clemson, in its first year of playing NCAA softball, had 8 pitchers on the staff and 4 of them pitched significant innings and all had ERAs under 3.00.

I was among many people who didn’t think Pitt ever could be competitive in softball. I happened to be vacationing in Santa Barbara the February of Holly’s first season. We took a walk along the coast and passed the campus where Pitt opened its season with UCSB and two other teams in a round-robin series. Over the protests of my significant other we went to watch the first game. It was, I believe, the debut of M Taylor, a recruit from Orange County, California. There was sprinkling of other California and Texas players in the team. What was most impressive though was that in the stands were what appeared to be every player from Taylor’s HS team and probably 50 more high school softball players who weren’t from the immediate Santa Barbara area. Holly clearly knew how and where to recruit.

Pitt won that game, which astonished me, behind a freshman pitcher from Colorado recruited by Holly. They played a smart game. They were fundamentally sound. They were clearly very well coached. I was astounded. (I played competitive fast pitch softball for years, including for a championship military team, and I know the sport.)

I didn’t see them play the rest of the year, but the following year Holly brought in a pitcher from Massachusetts whose dad went to almost all of the games with his video camera and broadcast the games live on the Periscope app. One camera with no dialogue — just the sounds from the stands. So, I got to see a lot of Pitt softball while Holly was the coach and I saw the consistent improvement when she was in charge.

And, I have seen the disintegration of the program on ESPN3 since she left. Usually not watching seven innings because the mercy rule applies.

So, now that I know that Pitt softball is not hopeless and we can field winning teams in the ACC, I want a coaching change. Because, although I am a die-hard Pitt fan, I am not a stooge for the Athletic Dept. like the misguided idiots who think any negative post is a sign of disloyalty.

And, for the moron who lied and said that I “silently” disappeared from the wrestling board after two Pitt wrestlers (neither of whom were recruited by the current coach) were successful in the NCAAs, I made a long post on that board before the NCAAs started explaining the reasons that I would no longer be posting there. So fu** you!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And, for the moron who lied and said that I “silently” disappeared from the wrestling board after two Pitt wrestlers (neither of whom were recruited by the current coach) were successful in the NCAAs, I made a long post on that board before the NCAAs started explaining the reasons that I would no longer be posting there. So fu** you!

Yeah, you did make a long winded post filled with your typical BS, that shortly proved to be almost entirely incorrect. And then you disappeared, so that you wouldn't have to face the consequences when you were shown to be wrong.

Just like the softball hire, you despised the wrestling hire from day one. Which is why it's hard to take you all that seriously now. The chances that you would ever admit that you got one wrong are close to nil. Because that's not what you do.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Holly took a program that was horrible and led it to the NCAAs. In fact, they took Michigan to 3 games in the regionals in Ann Arbor. I believe Michigan was the national runner up that season. They also led FSU in the final inning of the ACC Tourney championship game that year, losing on a heartbreaking walk-off HR.

People on this board who clearly have knowledge of inside information have said that Holly didn’t voluntarily leave for Louisville, but was essentially forced out by Lyke. From what I understand, none of the recruits who Holly had commitments from that year enrolled at Pitt, and a number of top players already in the program transferred in the next year.

Heather replaced her almost immediately with a coach who has turned the team into a dumpster fire. Of the ACC schools that play softball, they finished this year with the third worst record—and they lost the season series to both teams that finished behind them. A significant number of their games ended in mercy rule losses.

The pitching was horrible. They had only 4 pitchers and two of them were left over from Holly’s teams. One of them wasn’t even recruited by Holly primarily as a pitcher. None of the pitchers had an ERA under 4.5 and none of them was an ACC level pitcher. Clemson, in its first year of playing NCAA softball, had 8 pitchers on the staff and 4 of them pitched significant innings and all had ERAs under 3.00.

I was among many people who didn’t think Pitt ever could be competitive in softball. I happened to be vacationing in Santa Barbara the February of Holly’s first season. We took a walk along the coast and passed the campus where Pitt opened its season with UCSB and two other teams in a round-robin series. Over the protests of my significant other we went to watch the first game. It was, I believe, the debut of M Taylor, a recruit from Orange County, California. There was sprinkling of other California and Texas players in the team. What was most impressive though was that in the stands were what appeared to be every player from Taylor’s HS team and probably 50 more high school softball players who weren’t from the immediate Santa Barbara area. Holly clearly knew how and where to recruit.

Pitt won that game, which astonished me, behind a freshman pitcher from Colorado recruited by Holly. They played a smart game. They were fundamentally sound. They were clearly very well coached. I was astounded. (I played competitive fast pitch softball for years, including for a championship military team, and I know the sport.)

I didn’t see them play the rest of the year, but the following year Holly brought in a pitcher from Massachusetts whose dad went to almost all of the games with his video camera and broadcast the games live on the Periscope app. One camera with no dialogue — just the sounds from the stands. So, I got to see a lot of Pitt softball while Holly was the coach and I saw the consistent improvement when she was in charge.

And, I have seen the disintegration of the program on ESPN3 since she left. Usually not watching seven innings because the mercy rule applies.

So, now that I know that Pitt softball is not hopeless and we can field winning teams in the ACC, I want a coaching change. Because, although I am a die-hard Pitt fan, I am not a stooge for the Athletic Dept. like the misguided idiots who think any negative post is a sign of disloyalty.

And, for the moron who lied and said that I “silently” disappeared from the wrestling board after two Pitt wrestlers (neither of whom were recruited by the current coach) were successful in the NCAAs, I made a long post on that board before the NCAAs started explaining the reasons that I would no longer be posting there. So fu** you!

The NCAA year (which they lost to FSU in the ACC championship game) was 2015 and the year they lost the ACC championship to FSU on the walk off was 2018 (despite being 33-18-1, they didn't get a bid after the FSU loss and FSU went on to win the national title). It was after the 2018 season that Holly was inexplicably forced out. Pitt had a good softball program with four straight winning seasons that was growing under Holly. She had a CA pipeline going. All sports being equal, it is undoubtedly Lyke's worst move so far.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

they finished this year with the third worst record—and they lost the season series to both teams that finished behind them

I shouldn't but what the heck. Two things:

1) Surely a huge softball fan such as yourself knows that Pitt didn't actually lose their series to BC. It was a four game series that both teams won two games. So why say something that isn't actually true?

2) Even if we assumed that it was true, if losing the season series to the two teams that finish behind you says something really bad, what does it mean that Pitt swept a four game series from the team that finished directly ahead of them in the standings?

I mean most people would probably say that when bad teams play each other sometimes one wins and sometimes the other wins. But I would imagine that someone who thinks that going 3-4 against the two teams that finished below you in the standing was a tragedy would probably think that going 4-0 against the team that finished ahead of you in the standings was of some great significance.

I won't even ask what you think about Pitt having beaten the team that will play for the national championship starting tomorrow night. Contemplating that might make your head explode.

 

[mike412]

Yes. Winning a meaningless game against an FSU in the last weekend of the season after conference tourney berths were already decided entitles the coach to another four years after already destroying the winning program that Holly built. They also won a game against VT which made the NCAA tourney when VT pitched their third best pitcher. Against VT’s ace? 2 hits, no runs in 2 games, one of which was a mercy rule loss.

So let’s ignore her terrible record, her abysmal recruiting, the failure to play fundamentally sound softball and the transfers out from the program and retain her because she won two meaningless games (while losing 29) against good teams.

 

[mike412]

Yeah, you did make a long winded post filled with your typical BS, that shortly proved to be almost entirely incorrect. And then you disappeared, so that you wouldn't have to face the consequences when you were shown to be wrong.

Just like the softball hire, you despised the wrestling hire from day one. Which is why it's hard to take you all that seriously now. The chances that you would ever admit that you got one wrong are close to nil. Because that's not what you do.

But, but, but…. You said that I stopped posting after the NCAA tournament. Now you admit that I posted before the tournament explaining in detail why I was leaving the board. So, you admit that you are in fact, as I accurately stated, a lying sack of sh**

P.S. Find a post where I said I didn’t like the softball hire when it was made. You won’t. I was disappointed that Holly left, but at the time we didn’t know she was essentially forced out. So, once again you are exposed as a lying…..

Enough said.

 

[Chaos]

I know people want to argue with Mike, but is he wrong here? Pitt was good at softball under Holly, and now they're terrible. I don't know if Lyke forced her out, or if she meddled too much and Holly just got sick of her and ran with the offer to Louisville. Either way, we were above average, and now we're very below average and a come to Jesus talk needs to happen, and more likely, a coaching change needs to happen.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Winning a meaningless game against an FSU in the last weekend of the season after conference tourney berths were already decided entitles the coach to another four years after already destroying the winning program that Holly built.

Congratulations. That's one of the best destructions of a strawman anyone has ever performed on this board.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

You said that I stopped posting after the NCAA tournament. Now you admit that I posted before the tournament explaining in detail why I was leaving the board. So, you admit that you are in fact, as I accurately stated, a lying sack of sh**

Did you, in fact, stop posting? Yeah, I thought so.

You posted a long winded piece of BS that you knew that almost everyone would disagree with, and then rather than stick around and try to defend yourself you took your ball and ran home. Just because you tell everyone ahead of time that you are taking your ball and going home doesn't mean that you didn't run away rather than attempt to defend your opinions that you knew were going to get strong disagreements. In fact it's kind of the definition.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I know people want to argue with Mike, but is he wrong here?

The disagreement isn't that anyone thinks that the program is in a good place right now. The disagreement is that he called for the new softball coach to be fired basically from day one, just like he did with the wrestling coach, and he wouldn't change his mind about that no matter what, just like he won't with the wrestling program that just had their best finish at the NCAA tournament in more than 50 years.

 

[mike412]

The disagreement isn't that anyone thinks that the program is in a good place right now. The disagreement is that he called for the new softball coach to be fired basically from day one, just like he did with the wrestling coach, and he wouldn't change his mind about that no matter what, just like he won't with the wrestling program that just had their best finish at the NCAA tournament in more than 50 years.

I challenged you to find a post around the time she was hired where I called for the new softball coach to be fired. You didn’t because there were none. My posts, like others here, expressed disappointment that Holly left. I didn’t know anything about the new coach then.

I did know about Gavin, who wrestled at Pitt. I thought he was a mediocre hire then. I think that now. But, when I quit posting on the wrestling board, I said I was done with posting about wrestling as long as he was coach. So I will say no more.

You belatedly try to use my disappointment that he was hired as an excuse for your idiotic defense of a hapless softball coach.
It doesn’t wash. She has done a terrible job and has transformed what was a solid, building program into a dumpster fire. Plenty of posts beyond mine have recognized that. If you are a Pitt fan, you should recognize that she was a bad hire and join in the call to replace here. But you are just an internet troll.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

But you are just an internet troll.

"Hello Mr. Kettle, it's your old pal Mr. Pot."

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

I challenged you to find a post around the time she was hired where I called for the new softball coach to be fired. You didn’t because there were none. My posts, like others here, expressed disappointment that Holly left. I didn’t know anything about the new coach then.

I did know about Gavin, who wrestled at Pitt. I thought he was a mediocre hire then. I think that now. But, when I quit posting on the wrestling board, I said I was done with posting about wrestling as long as he was coach. So I will say no more.

You belatedly try to use my disappointment that he was hired as an excuse for your idiotic defense of a hapless softball coach.
It doesn’t wash. She has done a terrible job and has transformed what was a solid, building program into a dumpster fire. Plenty of posts beyond mine have recognized that. If you are a Pitt fan, you should recognize that she was a bad hire and join in the call to replace here. But you are just an internet troll.

Do you donate any amount of money to the athletic department? They regularly contact Panther Club members and listen to feedback.

 

[mike412]

Do you donate any amount of money to the athletic department? They regularly contact Panther Club members and listen to feedback.

I donate a substantial amount. I don’t involve myself in coaching hires and fires in any way other than an infrequent email (maybe 2 in 10 years) because I personally don’t think it’s appropriate. Half of my annual donation goes to the AD and I earmark it for specific teams. Those teams have changed, but I doubt anyone analyzes things like that.

When the Chancellor visits Southern California, he usually has a private luncheon with 10-12 alumni/donors and I am usually one. (Years ago, I met Gene Kelly at one of those.) But, I wouldn’t raise that subject with him. To me, sports aren’t the be all and end all of the University. He talks mainly about academic progress and physical changes such as new buildings. Last year, he talked mainly about the new and in process nationality rooms.

If Heather doesn’t recognize that the softball program is in trouble, then she isn’t doing her job. I happen to know from others in the AD that she is very protective and defensive of her hires, and they don’t raise possible changes with her. No one knows what would trigger her to fire one of them because it hasn’t happened yet. Reportedly, she is a little defensive about the fact that the two most successful programs — volleyball and men’s soccer — are coached by coaches hired by her predecessors.