FSU vs OU: #3 vs #1: Coach vs Ex-Player: WCWS Finals & History ?

[OUBeliever56A]

Tonight, the WCS Finals start in OKC at OG&E Energy Field at the Hall of Fame Softball Complex. The stands will be full of OU fans who will cheer their lungs out for their Sooners and who will respectfully watch Florida State challenge the #1 country in the game for the WCWS Championship for 2023. Every bright light in OKC that can be brought in by ESPN/ABC will be there to show us the competition tonight, tomorrow night and Friday night if needed. Talk about Friday Night Lights, if the 3-game series goes to Friday!

First off, the 51-game consecutive winning streak no longer means a thing. Yeah, we as fans pump our chest and point to history and say, “See, give this team the credit it deserves!” I think at this point, one more win or two more wins mean little to the players and to the coaching staff. We should just applaud and nod our heads and say one more is nice. It is probably all that is needed at this point. But it is a very nice thought as a fan of the Sooners. Yes, it is a storybook ending to win out in 2-straight games. But that is not the goal. The goal is to win 2 of 3 games now. That is it, IMO.

Now the series.

Pitching – Game #1 will be Kat Sandercock vs Jordy Bahl facing each other to open the series. The outcome of the game is largely in these two young women’s right arms. Both can be dominating. Both can shut down offenses.

Kat Sandercock has been there before, kinda. Sandercock was a piece of the FSU pitching staff in 2021 and got the start Game #2 in the Finals in 2021. She picked up the loss in that game as she gave up 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits in 5.0 IP. But in Game #1 and Game #3 she pitched a total of 4.2 innings and only allowed 3 hits and no runs. She is likley THE pitcher that matters in the 2023 WCWS Finals for the Seminoles. Yes, Reid will pitch, maybe Royalty, DuBois and Leonard will pitch. But only Reid, the fire balling lefty, will likely matter in the series. Sandercock also pitched 2.0 innings in March in Norman earlier this year as she gave up 1 run. DuBois got the loss in that March game as FSU used three pitchers in a ‘defined’ order in an early version of ‘rope-a-dope” staff pitching against OU. OU will have to beat Sandercock in 2023 to win the WCWS. Sandercock is very good as she works the outside corner low and then pounds the ball inside against right-handed hitters both low and high. She does pitch up with a rise ball, but that is mainly to change the hitters eye level. A hitter must hit that tough inside pitch to beat Sandercock. The hitter must read the pitch early and decide if it is in for a ball or going to be a strike. If a hitter moves off the plate, the outside low pitch is very tough to handle. If Sandercock is on her game, there are a lot of foul balls down the 3B line and flares down the 1B line as hitters reach to stay alive.

Jordy Bahl has been there two. Well 70% of her maybe was there. Bahl did start the 2022 Finals Game #2 against Texas to get her in the WCWS in a meaningful way, and yes to give Trautwein and May a bit of a break. Bahl was kept in the game in the first by a great catch by Coleman to end the first inning. But Bahl pitched well for the next three innings. Jordy is no longer 70% of herself. She is a full 100% and ready to go. She has her cool blue tape on Hansen’s chest protector and has been locked in like never before the last half of the season. I do think that Bahl presents a tougher challenge to FSU than Sandercock presents to OU. But both are tough assignments for the two teams. This game, Game #1 in the WCWF Finals is why Jordy Bahl came to play at OU. I hope she can keep her feet on the ground, (literally) and show everyone the Jordy Bahl that she has been lately. It has been something to watch and just shake your head about how good she has been.

For both pitchers, the calls on those inside low pitches to the RH batters and the low outside pitches to the lefties will be a key to watch. When the two pitchers get the calls, the at bat could be tough. When the calls are not ‘strike”, the batter has a shot.

To close out the pitching preview. I think there is a significant difference between the remainder of the two staffs. For OU, May, Storako and Deal are much better than Reid, Royalty, DuBois, and Leonard. Much better. This could be a very big factor in Game #2 of the Finals.

Offenses – Early in the season, I and maybe not many other people, wondered aloud about the ‘lack of power’ that I was seeing by the OU offense. The UCLA game tempered that a bit. Then the concern was back mid-season. Now, I have learned that the season the bats are a bit different. They Sooner offense is still the #1 offense in every way but in stealing bases. #1 in everything but that. They are still scoring over 8 runs a game. It is still a very good offense. The offense regularly comes from 7 or 8 players in a game, which is a key. I think the lineup has solidified with only a flip-flop of two or three hitters depending on the pitcher. OU’s offense is firing on almost all cylinders right now. Any one of their hitters can fuel a winning effort in any game. They are very tough to pitch to for 7 innings. They will stay with the game plan, they will work the count, they will get the hits. Just pass the bat to the next batter. Someone will get the key hit. They have done that 59 times out of 60 games this season. Just go you and enjoy your success. Stay within your circle and inspire each other all you want to.

For FSU, their lineup is just very effective. Their team BA is 61 points less, their OB% is 55 points less and their Slug% is 170 points less. They do score over 6 runs a game. That is a good offense. But they are dangerous on the bases with 129 steals, and they do hit a lot of doubles. That means that 250 times in their 66 games they produce what is essentially a double and have a runner on second base ready to score on a single. They will press their running game against the Sooners. In the first game in March, FSU did not attempt one steal in the game against Hansen. Not many teams do try to steal against the Sooners. Kerr, Mudge, Muffley and Flaherty (watch her in the Finals) will swipe the base. If I read the stats correctly, OU has allowed 8 of 12 attempts to base stealers this season. The other thing is blocking, catching all the low pitches that are moving. FSU will run on balls that bounce only if it is a couple of feet away from the catcher. Blocking and catching the low ball is magnified in this series. Hansen is very good at doing this. She traditionally has thrown the ball extremely well on steals also. It is key that she performs well behind the plate in the series and that the Sooner pitchers keep the ball out of the dirt. FSU usually ‘steals’ a run a game. Especially Flaherty. If there was one player that I could say needs to go "0-fer-the Finals', I would pick Flaherty. She just does so much for the Seminoles on offense. Her stats do not indicate her worth, IMO.

Another key will be handling the FSU catcher at the plate. Edenfield, with all her eye makeup) is powerful at the plate. She is really 1 of only 3 FSU hitters that hit the ball deep. (Harding and Kerr are the other two.) But Edenfield can be handled. Keep the ball in, on her hands and low and outside away from the barrel of the bat. She needs to extend her hands and have the ball up to hit the ball deep. Harding is probably their best hitter with Mudge and Kerr not far behind. The Sooners cannot let the 6 through 9 hitters beat them. Just can’t.

It is surprising to me that FSU has committed 56 errors. That is likely to play a part in the games at some point. If OU capitalizes on the error, OU has an advantage.

I think the Finals will be close, well played games though. IT is the #1 seed versus the #3 seed in the tourney which was not doubted by anyone. In the end, after Regionals, the two best teams are in the WCWS Finals. That is how it should be. If the Sooners can force Coach Alameda to go to her second line pitchers OU will be in control and can score runs. That is what I expect. Close games until about the fourth or fifth innings. Then OU should pull away from Florida State. A 61-1 record sounds very good to me as a way for the Oklahoma Sooners to finish the season. But 61-2 is also just fine with me. Two more wins is the goal.

BTW, part of this series is the Coach Gasso and Coach Alameda relationship. Former player (a transfer by the way) Lonnie Alameda learned from Coach Gasso. There is great respect between the two friends. If the next head coach comes from outside of the current coaches, I would give Coach Alameda would be my favorite if she wants the Sooner job. Coach Alameda will be 53 on Saturday. She is only 8 years younger than Coach Gasso though. That hurts her chances, I think. But she does have the credentials to ask for the job if she would like to come back to Oklahoma, IMO.

A piece of history will be the reward for that. Back-to-Back-to-Back is a very tough thing. Only four softball programs have had a shot at B-B-B wins. UCLA did in in ‘88-‘89-‘90. UCLA had chances in ‘86 and ‘05. Arizona has a chance in ’95, ’98 and ’08. Florida had a chance in ’16 and OU had their chance in ’18. A piece of history has been claimed only once out of eight times. Going Back-Back is rare as only four programs have done that. I do not think the players on the 2023 Sooners are focused on this though which is fine. Just win two more games, one at a time. They can appreciate it when their playing careers are over. As fans, we can cheer our lungs out for them as they try to write their names in the history of the game.

Good luck the next three nights it takes all three!

Boomer Sooner!

[AllSooner]

I always enjoy your write-ups, 56! You call it the way you see it, not the way you want it....it just works out that both ways work in unison in this case.

But I really want a 2-0 Championship! That would allow next year's team to carry-on, but that might put extra weight on next year's squad. A 2-1 championship works just as well because that leaves a Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back possibility out there for us fans.....and that would really set a very high mark for the next dynasty, whomever that is. Next year's team will be very, bery good! I can get ahead of myself, because I'm not playing the game and fans can dream BIG!

[OUBeliever56A]

I always enjoy your write-ups, 56! You call it the way you see it, not the way you want it....it just works out that both ways work in unison in this case.

But I really want a 2-0 Championship! That would allow next year's team to carry-on, but that might put extra weight on next year's squad. A 2-1 championship works just as well because that leaves a Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back possibility out there for us fans.....and that would really set a very high mark for the next dynasty, whomever that is. Next year's team will be very, bery good! I can get ahead of myself, because I'm not playing the game and fans can dream BIG!

I do as well......I look forward too much!