SB: A look at 2024 and Beyond– From a Player Ranking Perspective

[OUBeliever56A]

For the 2024 Season, top-heavy with 10 “Seniors”, I thought it would be interesting to look at rankings by positions for what OU has recruited and picked up in the portal over the years since 2018. Yes, Kelly Maxwell graduated from High School in 2018. All of the ranking references are from Extra Innings Softball. Here goes:

Pitchers:
Class of 2018 - Kelly Maxwell LHP / Not ranked in top 100 (There were no Position Rankings for 2018.) IMO. Maxwell has worked very hard to get to where she is. Kudos to her.
Class of 2019 - Karlie Keeney RHP / #115 Ranked Pitcher
Class of 2020 - Nicole May RHP / #1 Ranked Pitcher (I think sometimes, we as Sooner fans, sometimes forgets this. May has been very good for a long time.)
Class of 2022 - Kiersten Deal LHP / #1 Ranked Pitcher
Class of 2022 - SJ Geurin LHP / #7 Ranked Pitcher
Class of 2022 - Paytn Monticelli / #12 Pitcher-Hitter (I found this interesting as she was ranked as a part time player, and the #12 Pitcher-Hitter.)
Class of 2023 - Ella Parker / #3 Ranked Pitcher (We know that she no longer pitches, but she was very good at one point.)
Catchers:
Kinzie Hansen - Class of 2019 / #2 Ranked Catcher
Rylie Ludlam – Class of 2019 / # 43 Ranked Catcher
Infield:
Class of 2019 – Alaynah Torres INF / #25 Ranked Infielder
Class of 2020 – Tiare Jennings / #1 Ranked Infielder
Class of 2021 – Quincee Lilio / T#3 Ranked Infielder
Class of 2021 – Cydney Sanders / T#5 Ranked Infielder
Class of 2022 – Avery Hodge / T#4 Ranked MIF
Class of 2023 – Nelian McEnroe-Marinas / #3 Ranked MIF
Outfield:
Class of 2019 – Rylie Boone / #8 Ranked Outfielder
Class of 2020 – Jayda Coleman / #1 Ranked Outfielder
Class of 2020 – Alyssa Brito / #11 Outfielder (I knew that the first time Coach Gasso saw Brito play she was playing in the OF, but I did not realize she was ranked as an OF.)
Class of 2021 – Hannah Coor / T#5 Ranked Outfielder
Class of 2023 – Kasidi Pickering / #1 Ranked Outfielder
Class of 2023 – Maya Bland / #4 Ranked Outfielder

Here is how that looks in a position-by-position format for the 2023-24 season. In total the 2024 Roster (21 Players) for the Sooners holds these rankings for the 2024 season: (Players are listed according to their classification.)

Pitchers – Maxwell LHP (unr), Keeney RHP #115, May RHP #1, Deal LHP #1, Geurin LHP #7, Monticelli RHP #12
Catchers – Hansen #2, Ludlam #48
1B – Sanders T#5, Parker #3 (Pitcher)
2B – Jennings #1, Lilio T#3
SS – Brito #11 (OF), Hodge T#4
3B - Torres #36, McEnroe-Marinas #3 MIF
OF – Boone #8, Coleman #1, Coor T#5, Pickering #1, Bland #4

Did you realize that the Sooners would have 21 players on their roster with only 3 players ranked at "their position" as a Senior in HS above a #12 ranking? I knew recruiting had been very good but I did not realize it was this good. Maxwell has certainly overperformed and perhaps Keeney has as well.

The Roster for 2025 (19 Players) will be this with the Class of 2024 added: (Class of 2024 players are underlined.)

Pitchers – Deal LHP #1, Geurin LHP #7, Monticelli RHP #12, Audrey Lowry LHP #2
Catchers – Corri Hicks #4, Riley Zacke #10
1B - Sanders T#5, Parker #3 (Pitcher)
2B – Lilio T#3, Gabriella Garcia T#5, Tia Milloy #10
SS – Hodge T#4, Sydney Barker #3
3B – McEnroe-Marinas #3 MIF, Kadey McKay T#8 MIF
OF - Coor T#5, Pickering #1, Bland #4, Chaney Helton #7

Let me say here that this is just my current thoughts as to where new 2024 recruits will fill in the roster. At this point, there is no telling where Garcia, Milloy, McKay and maybe Barker will actually play for the Sooners. I do think Barker fills the SS position though. Milloy could play the infield of the outfield. I think McKay is versatile also and 1B and OF would be possibilities. I think the Sooners will look at the portal to pick up a pitcher probably and none of know who that would bring into the Sooners. Beyond that, the Sooners could be pretty well set for the first SEC season.

In the first season playing in the SEC, the Sooners will have 19 players that all ranked as a Senior in HS as a #12 player at their position or better. I will type that again, 19 players who are all were the #12 player at their position. 13 players were in the Top 5 players. I wonder if any of the SEC teams can say that?

The Roster for 2026 (24 Players) will be this with the Class of 2025 added: (Class of 2025 players are underlined.)

Pitchers – Deal LHP #1, Geurin LHP #7, Monticelli RHP #12, Lowry LHP #2, Sophia Bordi T#1 Pitcher-Hitter, Berkley Zache T#1 Pitcher-Hitter
Catchers – Corri Hicks #4, R Zacke #10, Kendall Wells T#1
1B – E Parker #3 (Pitcher), A Parker #4 Pitcher-Hitter
2B – Lilio T#3, Gabriella Garcia T#5, Tia Milloy #10, Lexi McDaniel #1 [not McDonald, ny bad.]
SS – Hodge T#4, Sydney Barker #3
3B – McEnroe-Marinas #3 MIF, Kadey McKay T#8 MIF
OF - Coor T#5, Pickering #1, Bland #4, Chaney Helton #7, Kai Minor #1

As with the Class of 2024, there are a couple of guesses about where the Class of 2025 players will play. I think Allyssa Parker will land at 1B as it works well with pitcher and where Bordi and Zache might play. But I think, right now, Parker plays more than she pitches. I placed Lexi McDaniel at 2B because of Barker and Hodge being at SS. McDaniel will start somewhere I think. I guessed at 2B but it could be SS.

In their 2nd year in the SEC, the Sooners will improve due to the Class of 2025 Players. For that season, the Sooners' Roster will ballon to 24 Players who all ranked #12 or better at their position. This time 18 players were ranked in the Top 5 of their HS Class at their position. Think of that, with 4 classes of 5 players at each positions is 50-ish total players. OU will have 18 of those on their team. [EDIT: 18 of 50 or 36% of those players. This % is wrong. It was pointed out to me by a poster. It is really this.] The correct numbers are: 18 of 200-ish players is equal to 9% of the best players playing for one team, the Oklahoma Sooners! When there are over 300 teams in D1 Softball, it is amazing.

I think this puts the recruiting effort in focus for the Sooners and just how good Coach Gasso, Coach Rocha, Coach JT and going forward Coach Steele has done over the years. I honestly do not know how they have done it. When you consider some of the top prospects that have left the Sooners primarily seeking playing time the list is even more impressive. i can count five (5) top 8 prospects at their position easily. Four of those five players will likely start this season for other teams.

The success of the Sooners does not happen simply because of dumb luck or picking up a player or two in the portal. It starts in those early years when players are 12 and 13 looking forward to their college career and looking at a program that is the 'STANDARD' for College Softball in every way.

Boomer Sooner!

[TropicalSooner]

Wow! Very Impressive research '56.
Very interesting to see how all of our players were rated going back so far.
Thanks so much for putting all of this together for us!
We have really had amazing recruiting success over the years and going forward to our future years as well.
We should feel pretty good as we transition into the SEC next year.

[1KCSoonerFan]

Impressive recruiting by the Sooners! You bring the receits, 56!!

I am curious about what you think tipped the balance of power toward Oklahoma - a state with no beaches nor palm trees, nor winter warmth....in the middle of fly-over country. Seems to me like there are these tipping point moments that happen with a program that ripple through history. Once OUSB punched through, it changed things. When do you think we finally landed that 'right cross' that knocked out the rest of the contenders (for awhile, at least)?

I'm just feeling a LITTLE vulnerability with the pitching staff through the first couple years of the transition to the SEC because I really don't know what we have yet with Deal, Geurin, and Monticelli (the main core of the transition pitching staff as I see them.) Viscerally, I feel the lack of a proven ace or two on the staff for the transition to the SEC. We might need some portal pitching help to make the jump? (If Bahl had hung around.....then.....) I believe the pitching staff is the #1 of #1's of the strength of a softball team. My take on it.

This coming year, I feel very good about our pitching when including May and Maxwell (proven vets)....and I hope and expect to see Keeney contribute in a significant way once healthy. This year is covered as well as we could have covered it with pitching, IMO.

Pitching help is coming once we are in the SEC with Top 5 Talent in Lowrey, Bordi and Zache (which I assume will take a little time to coach-up and season on the field). Stack that talent! Looking good!! Back in solid business, IMO.

I am aware of how the offense and defense can place an out-sized weight on the scales of victory; especially if both aspects are the best in the country. I am also cognizant of the synergy that this 'whole team' excellence can have on each group feeding off the energy of the other. And it is not like we will have shabby pitchers when we kick the dirt with an SEC patch on our sleeve for the first time!

No worries overall for me. I think I am just pre-grieving the leadership and comfort of that super-class of superstars that will graduate after this year: Coleman, Jennings, Hansen, May, Brito, and Boone. OUSB has faced this Rubicon many times before and crossed it with triumph.

[TropicalSooner]

We'll get a great deal of comfort with our transitional pitching staff with the addition of Audrey Lowry (Fr) next year. And I think Deal will be a regular starter this year and will have the seasoning to be the staff leader at that point. I hope that this year Monti will be able to find the control button on her pitches and reduce the number of walks. But I also expect to pick up one last Senior pitcher add-on from the portal as we go into the '25 season, although I also expect the portal to largely settle down, and there may not be as much to pick from as we have seen in the recent past.

[Sooneryankee13]

Impressive recruiting by the Sooners! You bring the receits, 56!!

I am curious about what you think tipped the balance of power toward Oklahoma - a state with no beaches nor palm trees, nor winter warmth....in the middle of fly-over country. Seems to me like there are these tipping point moments that happen with a program that ripple through history. Once OUSB punched through, it changed things. When do you think we finally landed that 'right cross' that knocked out the rest of the contenders (for awhile, at least)?

I'm just feeling a LITTLE vulnerability with the pitching staff through the first couple years of the transition to the SEC because I really don't know what we have yet with Deal, Geurin, and Monticelli (the main core of the transition pitching staff as I see them.) Viscerally, I feel the lack of a proven ace or two on the staff for the transition to the SEC. We might need some portal pitching help to make the jump? (If Bahl had hung around.....then.....) I believe the pitching staff is the #1 of #1's of the strength of a softball team. My take on it.

This coming year, I feel very good about our pitching when including May and Maxwell (proven vets)....and I hope and expect to see Keeney contribute in a significant way once healthy. This year is covered as well as we could have covered it with pitching, IMO.

Pitching help is coming once we are in the SEC with Top 5 Talent in Lowrey, Bordi and Zache (which I assume will take a little time to coach-up and season on the field). Stack that talent! Looking good!! Back in solid business, IMO.

I am aware of how the offense and defense can place an out-sized weight on the scales of victory; especially if both aspects are the best in the country. I am also cognizant of the synergy that this 'whole team' excellence can have on each group feeding off the energy of the other. And it is not like we will have shabby pitchers when we kick the dirt with an SEC patch on our sleeve for the first time!

No worries overall for me. I think I am just pre-grieving the leadership and comfort of that super-class of superstars that will graduate after this year: Coleman, Jennings, Hansen, May, Brito, and Boone. OUSB has faced this Rubicon many times before and crossed it with triumph.

Don't forget Alyssa Parker she's a pitcher in 25 also

[1KCSoonerFan]

Thanks for the reminder about Alyssa Parker, Sooneryankee13. She is a dual-threat talent, and ranked quite highly in both pitching and fielding. I think I have it in my head that she will more likely play in the field than in the circle - though it would not hurt my feelings if she can do both at a high level. Ella Parker was/is a similar talent, though I think she has chosen to go the hitting and fielding route and not pitch.

For me, it is not the amount of pitching talent that we have or will have but the amount of pitching experience carried over from 2024 to 2025. The cupboard will not be completely bare in terms of experience for 2025 since Deal, Geurin, and perhaps Monticelli will have a solid year under their braids by then. Granted, experience isn't everything....but it isn't nothing, either.

I really think we will be fine in all respects.

All the new faces arriving in the near future, as talented as they may be, just have me a little off-balance. Not in a bad way. The best squad ever may be on the horizon! And if the rankings have any real meaning, we have an uber talented group headed this way very soon.

Can't wait to see them play!

[OUBeliever56A]

Impressive recruiting by the Sooners! You bring the receipts, 56!!

I am curious about what you think tipped the balance of power toward Oklahoma - a state with no beaches nor palm trees, nor winter warmth....in the middle of fly-over country. Seems to me like there are these tipping point moments that happen with a program that ripple through history. Once OUSB punched through, it changed things. When do you think we finally landed that 'right cross' that knocked out the rest of the contenders (for awhile, at least)?

To me it was a buildup of things. The WCWS ws won by a team from California or Arizona from 1982 to 1999 (except for two years when A&M won the tournament in the earlier years) until Oklahoma shocked the college softball world and won over UCLA in 2000. that really helped the WCWS going forward with the tournament being held in OKC. That pretty much cemented a fan base for the Finals and the expansion of the sport IMO.

But from 2001 to 2011 the domination of California (really UCLA in all but one year) and Arizona returned to college softball. But in 2012, I think the drama that played out in the Finals with OU and Alabama playing great games and the rain delays and the controversy over that drama captured college softball. Then those Sooners with Ricketts and Chamberlain and Pendley returned to win in 2013 over Tennessee did much of the same with that HR in the end. That set everything up IMO.

Then the Florida Gators dominated for two years and suddenly it had been 4 years without California or Arizona in the finals. The Sooners winning in 2013 I think set in motion the things that took place with the Sooners Class of 2014 with Parker, Arnold, Pendley and Wodach to join OU followed by the Class of 2015 with Romero, Knighten, Clifton, Aviu, Rogers and Lundberg. All 10 of those players were 4 year stalwarts for OU from 2015 to 2019. The Sooners of 2016 with 4 freshman and 4 sophomores captured Oklahoma and then the country I think as they won two-in-a-row.

That groups quest to in a third in 2018 and 2019, while being a huge disappointment to Sooner fans, kept the fams interest as they wanted to watch from all around the country, IMO. But Florida State and then UCLA once again were worthy champions. It is pretty amazing that UCLA went from 2011 to 2018 without winning the WCWS but their 2010 and 2010 win did somewhat reset their championship pedigree. The way they defeated the Sooners in Game 1 was a blow to the Sooner Program I think. The grit that the Sooner showed the next night was instrumental though in telling the world, the Sooners were not done, not yet.

I think the Sooners got a break in 2020 from COVID. the Sooners were 20-4 when the season ended. They had lost to Long Beach State, Wisconsin, badly to Washington and North Texas. The loss of Boone to injury and the struggle to get Juarez back in the circle left gaps for the Sooners to fill. The pitching was not going to be Sooner Strong. The offense was likely not going to be deep either. That season could have killed the momentum that OU had. Replacing those Class of 2015 Sooners were proving to be very tough. But it was soon forgotten.

The 2021 season opened up with a fifth year of players on teams and the Sooners blew out the opening week with an offense that had never been thought about let alone seen. That offense just kept churning out runs all the way to the WCWS championship with some timely pitching from Ms. Juarez to defeat those UCLA Bruins in a rematch of 2019. That captured the rest of the would-be softball world. OU repeated in 2022 with almost the same offense and much better pitching with the phenom named Jordy Bahl in the circle until her injury when Trautwein and May stepped up in the circle and enabled OU to win back-to-back WCWS for the 2nd time. The team was even perhaps better in 2023 with the same great pitching and an offense that was potent enough to win 61 of 62 games and end the season on a 53-game winning streak. It is stiff that legends are built upon.

During this 3-season run the recruiting rules were changed. No longer could 12 year olds commit to a team and coach that might not be any good by the time they got to college. No longer did a coaching staff had to try and project what the 12-year old would be when she was 18. The guesswork of recruiting was now "for the most part" gone. Players committed now after their sophomore year when they were 15-16. They could see the strong teams and the weak teams to choose from. The parents could trust what they saw in the programs. The coaches could see players and more easily project them to be freshman and what they could be. This all worked well for the Sooners because they offer something unique as a program. Parents send their young ladies to OU and they emerge as proud, strong women as demonstrated over and over again. The Sooner program is family. It is a belief in a higher being and a more than winning. But they still win, amazingly well.

The recruiting for the Sooners have been good for a while, but it has jumped off the charts lately. Top 10 recruited players couldn't play their way onto the field due to the five-class teams in 2021 thru 2024 at OU. Recruits that were not intimidated by that saw opportunity at OU for more than a softball career and signed on.

The Sooner recruiting changed also. For many years, the Sooners recruited California and Arizona for 90% of their players along with some Oklahoma players. Suddenly the Sooners were recruiting everywhere. Look at their Classes of 2024 and 2025. There is four players from California/Arizona. The other 10 are from Washington to New Jersey. Many do have ties with the OC Batbusters, but that is an effort to learn the Sooner way before the player gets to OU, I think. When did an OU fan ever think that 10 recruits in two years would not be from Cal/Zona?

Certainly not I.

It was that 2012 and 2103 back-to-back WCWS appearences in the WCWS that cause this. IMO. It leads to everything. The 2020 Covid stoppage of play, aided the Sooners also.

Boomer Sooner!

[oufanforever]

I think the portal is also helping OU with HS recruiting. The top players can come to OU and try their best, and they can leave via the portal to find playing time elsewhere easily if it doesn't work out at OU. The opportunity cost of coming to OU and compete is much lower now.

[TN Sooner]

I think one more factor is the Home Run queens - first Lo Chamberlain and the attention that she attracted, including her Title. Then along comes Jocy Alo and she matches Lo as a freshman. Then her senior year gets suspended and she comes back and the entire softball world is watching her AB’s. That was several years (combined) of outsized audiences watching OU softball.