A Month of Thoughts about OU Softball – Looking at 2023!

[OUBeliever56A]

After the WCWS was concluded with the Oklahoma Sooners winning the title for their second set of back-to-back titles my pride about the Sooner program was about as high as it has been. The Sooner Softball Program under Coach Gasso is simply beyond compare in the world of D1 softball as of early June 2022. Only a single handful of teams can even think of being on the same level as the Sooners. My thoughts also moved to 2023 and what does the lineup and pitching staff look like for 2023.

A look at 2023 in early June:

Without any transfers and the new freshman recruits on board this is how I saw the lineup for 2023. With the Super Seniors leaving the DP, 1B, 3B, Backup C and 1 Pitcher the Sooners need to replace several positions with good players. 13 position players are on the roster.

• C – Hansen (SR) starts with Nugent (SOPH) – Erickson (FR) as backup
• 1B – Erickson (FR) likely starts with Green (5-SR) and Nugent (SOPH) as backups.
• 2B – Jennings (JR) starts with Hodge (FR) as backup plus maybe Lilio (R-FR)
• SS – Lyons (5-SR) starts with Hodge (FR) as backup with perhaps Jennings (JR) and Brito (JR) in the picture
• 3B – The starter will be decided in the fall and early spring between probably Brito (JR), T Coleman (SOPH) and Lilio (R-FR)
• LF – The starter will be probably one of the players that does not win the 3B job. Coor (SOPH) could also be in the competition also.
• CF – J Coleman (JR) starts with Boone (SR) and Coor (SOPH) as backups.
• RF – Boone (SR) starts with Coor (SOPH), and any remaining LF’ers that do not start.
• DP – Green (5-SR) is the likely primary DP with Nugent (SOPH), T Coleman (SOPH) and Lilio (R-FR) helping.

I thought that this team could hit 140+ HRs and hit at least .355 a team. I thought the OB% might drop off though as a team.

The pitching staff looked like this with 6 pitchers on the staff.
• #1 – Bahl (SOPH) - I thought she will be 100% by February.
• #2 – May (JR) and Deal (FR-LHP) will likely fill the second spot in the circle as a R-L combo.
• #3 – McAdoo (SR) and Geurin (FR-LHP) will likely fill the third spot in the circle as a R-L combo.
• #4 – Guthrie (R-FR) simply because we have not seen her pitch. If she forces her above this, it is a positive for the staff.

I thought this staff could have an ERA under 1.50 with Bahl and probably Deal in the 1.00 ERA range.

Overall - I thought that this team could be very good and would be a favorite to land in the WCWS and with everyone healthy, a chance to win three Natty’s in-a-row.

A look two weeks later in June after Storako, Torres and T Coleman transfers announced:

The Storako transfer was totally unexpected by me. But it adds a great deal of confidence in Bahl being able to return to 100% and that Deal and Geurin have time to work into the pitching ‘rotation’.

The Torres transfer was something that I thought could happen as soon as I saw her in the portal. I was glad about this addition for the Sooners. With Torres as a Sooner and probably playing 3B, Brito/Lilio moves back to the OF probably.

The portal entry of Turiya Coleman was something that I was disappointed about. I thought that Turiya was a highly talented player that had position versatility that would help the Sooners. But maybe the Torres arrival cause Coleman to think about transferring.

Here is what I thought the lineup would look like.

• C – Hansen (SR) starts with Nugent (SOPH) – Erickson (FR) as backup
• 1B – Erickson (FR) likely starts with Green (5-SR) and Nugent (SOPH) as backups. After seeing Erickson in the Norman area tourney, she is a very good hitter. She has great upside for the Sooners both offensively and defensively.
• 2B – Jennings (JR) starts with Hodge (FR) as backup plus maybe Lilio (R-FR)
• SS – Lyons (5-SR) starts with Hodge (FR) as backup with perhaps Jennings (JR) and Brito (JR) in the picture
• 3B – Torres (JR) moves to 3B from SS where she played at Arizona State. Lilio (R-FR) and Hodge (FR) could be backups.
• LF – I think the competition for the LF job may surprise some people. I think that Brito (JR) and Lilio (R-FR) will compete in the Fall and all Spring for the LF starting job.
• CF – J Coleman (JR) starts with Boone (SR) and Coor (SOPH) as backups.
• RF – Boone (SR) starts with Coor (SOPH), and either Lilio (R-FR) or Brito (JR) as backups.
• DP – Green (5-SR) is the likely primary DP with Nugent (SOPH), Brito (JR) and Lilio (R-FR) helping.

The addition of Torres is a big addition to the Sooners. With Torres at 3B, that position is probably locked down with a power bat who should hit .350+. This version of the 2023 Sooners hits 150 HRs and probably hits .360 as a team. The OB% is probably increased also. The defense should be very good at all positions.

The addition of Storako to the Sooner pitching staff provides a very good pitcher (probably better than Trautwein for 2022) and provides a great deal of room to let the young Sooner pitchers to mature into primary roles in the Sooner circle.
• #1 – Bahl (SOPH) and Storako (5-SR) – These two will fill the first two starting pitcher assignments each weekend. I can see two pitchers with ERA’s of 1.00 for the season. (Storako has to reduce EBH allowed.)
• #2 – May (JR) and Deal (FR-LHP) will likely fill the second spot on the roster as a R-L combo. But after watching Deal pitch in the Norman area tourney, Deal has a chance to be the #3 in front of May. She will make an impact on the Sooners. May is still very good, but Deal could be special.
• #3 – McAdoo (SR) and Geurin (FR-LHP) will likely fill the third spot on the roster as a R-L combo.
• #4 – Guthrie (R-FR) simply because we have not seen her pitch. If she forces her above this, it is a positive for the staff.
• I can see Geurin perhaps using a red-shirt season if Guthrie proves to be a good addition to the staff or if McAdoo finds her stride and throws with control. After watching Geurin in person in the Norman area tourney, she is probably already ahead of McAdoo and Guthrie, but she can ‘afford’ the red-shirt season.

Storako’s addition makes it hard to keep five pitchers in the ‘rotation’ as it originally looked. Her innings will likely reduce both May’s and Deal’s innings as well as the rest of the staff. But it does set up great competition in the bullpen and in the circle for the Sooners. I thought that the trio of Bahl-Trautwein-May feed each other from that competition in 2022. Maybe the same thing happens in 2023 with Bahl-Storako-May-Deal.

Overall – The Storako-Torres additions to the Sooners makes the Sooners the odds-on leaders to win the WCWS once again. On paper and on the field, they have great hitting, great defense and great pitching. They run well and will be favored in every regular season game. I thought they might not lose any more than 5 games during the year, at most.

A look after 10 days in July:

The addition of transfer player Cydney Sanders, also from Arizona State adds a starter that moves what should be a very good starter to the bench for the Sooners much as they were in 2021 and 2022. The 2023 offense could be the best ever for the Sooners. Those are lofty words.

Here is my new thoughts on a lineup for the 2023 season:

• C – Hansen (SR) starts with Nugent (SOPH) – Erickson (FR) as backup
• 1B – I still think that Erickson (FR) likely starts with Sanders (SOPH), Green (5-SR) and Nugent (SOPH) as backups.
• 2B – Jennings (JR) starts with Hodge (FR) as backup plus maybe Lilio (R-FR)
• SS – Lyons (5-SR) starts with Hodge (FR) as backup with perhaps Jennings (JR) and Brito (JR) in the picture
• 3B – Torres (JR) moves to 3B from SS where she played at Arizona State. Lilio (R-FR) and Hodge (FR) could be backups.
• LF – I think the competition for the LF job may surprise some people. I think that Brito (JR) and Lilio (R-FR) will compete in the Fall and all Spring for the LF starting job. With the play of Lilio in the FGCL, I think Lilio could likely win the job in LF.
• CF – J Coleman (JR) starts with Boone (SR) and Coor (SOPH) as backups.
• RF – Boone (SR) starts with Coor (SOPH), and either Lilio (R-FR) or Brito (JR) as backups.
• DP – Sanders (SOPH) is the likely starter at DP. Green (5-SR) is the likely backup with Nugent (SOPH) helping.

This lineup has four legit 20+ HR hitters in the lineup with at least 3 more with 15+ HRs. The team BA moves up to maybe .370 with a good OB% also. The defense is still great. There are now 14 position players on the roster. That leaves five players on the bench each game. After the 3rd inning, I hope we see 3 or 4 of the subs in the game playing in most games. The Sooners will score 10+ runs a game with about [Edit:] 3 out of every 4 games being run-rule games. The young non-starters need to see as much action as possible.

There is no change in the pitching prospects for the Sooners as of July 10th.

Overall – The Sanders addition to the Sooners simply make the Sooners a juggernaut for 2023. I think in every way that the 2023 lineup could challenge the results of the 2021 offense which was perhaps the best in history. The Sooner pitching will likely be the best in the nation as well. that adds up to probably no more than 3 or 4 losses all year. I think they should be the odds-on favorite to win the WCWS by a wide margin.

I think the transfer activity is likely over for the Sooners in this cycle. It should be wonderful ride for the Sooner fans in 2023. Lots of runs, lots of shutouts, lots of wins!

Boomer Sooner!

[inconnu]

WOW, Believer! You da hardest working person in all of OU fandom!

Patty's the Nick Saban of college softball!

Congrats to both!

All 3 GOAT!

[raven15]

Great job as usual, Believer. I had the same thoughts on the lineup as you did. Best thing that Lilio did was play in the summer leagues it looks like. She has shown she can hit. There could be so many combinations in the field that Patty could utilize with all this talent.