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Griz finish 5th in Big Sky; face PSU in tourney opener

grizzlyjournal

Well-known member
Montana finished fifth in Big Sky conference play after dropping their home finale to Sac State. It was the only game I saw this season where the team looked out of sorts. Hoping they can put that behind them. I fully believe this team has the goods to compete for the tourney title. But, they'll need some offensive production to do so.
Their 5th place finish seems a bit misleading. Why? Montana finished conference as the #1 defensive team in the Big Sky with a .971 fielding percentage, slightly better than Sac State (.968) and clearly better than every other team. In addition, Montana finished as the conference 2nd-best team in pitching ERA (3.10), second to Sac State's 2.90 ERA and, again, well ahead of the rest of the conference. All that despite the absence of sophomore Michaela Hood (2.78 era) over the final month of play. Junior pitchers Colleen Driscoll (2.91) and Maddy Stensby (3.38), joined Hood among the Big Sky's Top 10 Big Sky pitchers in ERA, while freshman Tristin Achenbach (3.70) was 12th.
Offensively, Griz seniors Delene Colburn (.359) and Ashlyn Lyons (.344) had the league's 5th and 7th best batting averages in conference, while Colburn was the league's 3rd best home run hitter, with 9. The problem: Montana as a team finished conference play with the 6th ranked batting AVG (.246). The Griz simply left too many runners on the base paths in winnable games. Their team batting average, interestingly, is the most accurate statistical gauge of how they finished in league play.
But a double-elimination tourney is a different challenge. Teams with the deepest pitching staffs usually do well. As a result, I've got high hopes that Montana's young pitchers can keep them in games. I've also got hopes that the Griz can push a few more runs home. The tourney bracket is below. I'd love to see this senior-laden team put it all together this weekend. Go Griz!
[tweet]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizSB/status/993237956637802496[/tweet]
 
Thanks GJ.

Still confused why not all the teams get invited to the softball tournament. I had understood from the league office that all athletes "deserve a championship experience". Or perhaps that only applies in the sports where those athletes can be used to drive revenue for the league....

In any event, GO GRIZ!!!
 
grizzlyjournal said:
Montana finished fifth in Big Sky conference play after dropping their home finale to Sac State. It was the only game I saw this season where the team looked out of sorts. Hoping they can put that behind them. I fully believe this team has the goods to compete for the tourney title. But, they'll need some offensive production to do so.
Their 5th place finish seems a bit misleading. Why? Montana finished conference as the #1 defensive team in the Big Sky with a .971 fielding percentage, slightly better than Sac State (.968) and clearly better than every other team. In addition, Montana finished as the conference 2nd-best team in pitching ERA (3.10), second to Sac State's 2.90 ERA and, again, well ahead of the rest of the conference. All that despite the absence of sophomore Michaela Hood (2.78 era) over the final month of play. Junior pitchers Colleen Driscoll (2.91) and Maddy Stensby (3.38), joined Hood among the Big Sky's Top 10 Big Sky pitchers in ERA, while freshman Tristin Achenbach (3.70) was 12th.
Offensively, Griz seniors Delene Colburn (.359) and Ashlyn Lyons (.344) had the league's 5th and 7th best batting averages in conference, while Colburn was the league's 3rd best home run hitter, with 9. The problem: Montana as a team finished conference play with the 6th ranked batting AVG (.246). The Griz simply left too many runners on the base paths in winnable games. Their team batting average, interestingly, is the most accurate statistical gauge of how they finished in league play.
But a double-elimination tourney is a different challenge. Teams with the deepest pitching staffs usually do well. As a result, I've got high hopes that Montana's young pitchers can keep them in games. I've also got hopes that the Griz can push a few more runs home. The tourney bracket is below. I'd love to see this senior-laden team put it all together this weekend. Go Griz!
[tweet]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizSB/status/993237956637802496[/tweet]

Good assessment. I also found it interesting that we led the league in at bats and finished dead last in slugging percentage. We need some fresh faces to step into some big offensive roles next year.
 
alabamagrizzly said:
grizzlyjournal said:
Montana finished fifth in Big Sky conference play after dropping their home finale to Sac State. It was the only game I saw this season where the team looked out of sorts. Hoping they can put that behind them. I fully believe this team has the goods to compete for the tourney title. But, they'll need some offensive production to do so.
Their 5th place finish seems a bit misleading. Why? Montana finished conference as the #1 defensive team in the Big Sky with a .971 fielding percentage, slightly better than Sac State (.968) and clearly better than every other team. In addition, Montana finished as the conference 2nd-best team in pitching ERA (3.10), second to Sac State's 2.90 ERA and, again, well ahead of the rest of the conference. All that despite the absence of sophomore Michaela Hood (2.78 era) over the final month of play. Junior pitchers Colleen Driscoll (2.91) and Maddy Stensby (3.38), joined Hood among the Big Sky's Top 10 Big Sky pitchers in ERA, while freshman Tristin Achenbach (3.70) was 12th.
Offensively, Griz seniors Delene Colburn (.359) and Ashlyn Lyons (.344) had the league's 5th and 7th best batting averages in conference, while Colburn was the league's 3rd best home run hitter, with 9. The problem: Montana as a team finished conference play with the 6th ranked batting AVG (.246). The Griz simply left too many runners on the base paths in winnable games. Their team batting average, interestingly, is the most accurate statistical gauge of how they finished in league play.
But a double-elimination tourney is a different challenge. Teams with the deepest pitching staffs usually do well. As a result, I've got high hopes that Montana's young pitchers can keep them in games. I've also got hopes that the Griz can push a few more runs home. The tourney bracket is below. I'd love to see this senior-laden team put it all together this weekend. Go Griz!
[tweet]https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizSB/status/993237956637802496[/tweet]

Good assessment. I also found it interesting that we led the league in at bats and finished dead last in slugging percentage. We need some fresh faces to step into some big offensive roles next year.

Griz have 15 position players and 7 of the 15 ended up hitting under .200 this year.
 
I'm sorry but I'm not very impressed from the obvious drop off we've seen since Pink left. It's really the same core of kids, and I thought they'd be dominant. I've seen some blatant coaching blunders that need to be called out, too. It's mainly around bunting runners over....when to do it, when not to, etc. I'm not convinced Mel has that dialed in at all and it has cost the Griz games. Coaches calls on that stuff have huge impact. Pink was the Jedi master with it. Mel has a lot to learn.
 
HookedonGriz said:
I'm sorry but I'm not very impressed from the obvious drop off we've seen since Pink left. It's really the same core of kids, and I thought they'd be dominant. I've seen some blatant coaching blunders that need to be called out, too. It's mainly around bunting runners over....when to do it, when not to, etc. I'm not convinced Mel has that dialed in at all and it has cost the Griz games. Coaches calls on that stuff have huge impact. Pink was the Jedi master with it. Mel has a lot to learn.

She definitely has a lot to learn when managing the game and I’m sur she will over time. Up until this year, pitching has been her area and I’d say it does pretty well. As for the same group of players, your way off there. The extremely dominant 2016 team had Lexie Brenneis at catcher, a very healthy MaKenna McGill, Fr of the year Sydney Stites, and OBP wizard Bethany Olea, not to mention Delene Colburn and Ashlyn Lyons. This years team only has Colburn and Lyons left and a repaired McGill who’s obviously not as potent as she was. That’s a lot of bats to take out of the equation. McAlister is going to become a star but losing Voyles, the other star offensive power recruit before the year even began really hurt in replacing some of those bats. Next years big recruiting class has some promise but it will take some time for these girls. Not everyone is a Delene Colburn, Tekesha Saltern, or Suzy Brookshire.
 
alabamagrizzly said:
HookedonGriz said:
I'm sorry but I'm not very impressed from the obvious drop off we've seen since Pink left. It's really the same core of kids, and I thought they'd be dominant. I've seen some blatant coaching blunders that need to be called out, too. It's mainly around bunting runners over....when to do it, when not to, etc. I'm not convinced Mel has that dialed in at all and it has cost the Griz games. Coaches calls on that stuff have huge impact. Pink was the Jedi master with it. Mel has a lot to learn.

She definitely has a lot to learn when managing the game and I’m sur she will over time. Up until this year, pitching has been her area and I’d say it does pretty well. As for the same group of players, your way off there. The extremely dominant 2016 team had Lexie Brenneis at catcher, a very healthy MaKenna McGill, Fr of the year Sydney Stites, and OBP wizard Bethany Olea, not to mention Delene Colburn and Ashlyn Lyons. This years team only has Colburn and Lyons left and a repaired McGill who’s obviously not as potent as she was. That’s a lot of bats to take out of the equation. McAlister is going to become a star but losing Voyles, the other star offensive power recruit before the year even began really hurt in replacing some of those bats. Next years big recruiting class has some promise but it will take some time for these girls. Not everyone is a Delene Colburn, Tekesha Saltern, or Suzy Brookshire.

I agree Stites and Olea were big offensive losses from last year to this year, but other than that their core really all came back (11 seniors mind you).

The bigger issue is lack of execution. I watched the Griz get runners at first and second, no outs, down 1 run in their last at bat...automatic bunt play right? Wrong, Mel didn't put the bunt on and let the hitter swing away. She popped the first pitch up to the first baseman. Next batter struck out and next flew out to left...game over...inexcusable.

Then I watched them live vs Sac St at home in their last game. Same situation....runners at 1 and 2 no outs....batter doesn't square on first pitch gets down 0-1. Mel then decided okay now I'll bunt and player doesn't execute it and gets down 0-2 then strikes out swinging....awful at bat but awful play calling by coach, too. Put the damn bunt on from the get go, get it done, move the runners over, and it's a different ball game. I watched them fail at this a lot. Frustrating.
 
They are down 5 to 0 after Sacramento State's first at bat. Coach Mel finally made a pitching change (way too late in my opinion) and Hood got them out of the inning on two pitches.
 
HookedonGriz said:
alabamagrizzly said:
HookedonGriz said:
I'm sorry but I'm not very impressed from the obvious drop off we've seen since Pink left. It's really the same core of kids, and I thought they'd be dominant. I've seen some blatant coaching blunders that need to be called out, too. It's mainly around bunting runners over....when to do it, when not to, etc. I'm not convinced Mel has that dialed in at all and it has cost the Griz games. Coaches calls on that stuff have huge impact. Pink was the Jedi master with it. Mel has a lot to learn.

She definitely has a lot to learn when managing the game and I’m sur she will over time. Up until this year, pitching has been her area and I’d say it does pretty well. As for the same group of players, your way off there. The extremely dominant 2016 team had Lexie Brenneis at catcher, a very healthy MaKenna McGill, Fr of the year Sydney Stites, and OBP wizard Bethany Olea, not to mention Delene Colburn and Ashlyn Lyons. This years team only has Colburn and Lyons left and a repaired McGill who’s obviously not as potent as she was. That’s a lot of bats to take out of the equation. McAlister is going to become a star but losing Voyles, the other star offensive power recruit before the year even began really hurt in replacing some of those bats. Next years big recruiting class has some promise but it will take some time for these girls. Not everyone is a Delene Colburn, Tekesha Saltern, or Suzy Brookshire.

I agree Stites and Olea were big offensive losses from last year to this year, but other than that their core really all came back (11 seniors mind you).

The bigger issue is lack of execution. I watched the Griz get runners at first and second, no outs, down 1 run in their last at bat...automatic bunt play right? Wrong, Mel didn't put the bunt on and let the hitter swing away. She popped the first pitch up to the first baseman. Next batter struck out and next flew out to left...game over...inexcusable.

Then I watched them live vs Sac St at home in their last game. Same situation....runners at 1 and 2 no outs....batter doesn't square on first pitch gets down 0-1. Mel then decided okay now I'll bunt and player doesn't execute it and gets down 0-2 then strikes out swinging....awful at bat but awful play calling by coach, too. Put the damn bunt on from the get go, get it done, move the runners over, and it's a different ball game. I watched them fail at this a lot. Frustrating.

Yes I agree some of her bunt calls have been questionable. In game 1 today to take the bat out of the hands of arguably your hottest hitter in McAlister aside from Lyons, I didn’t necessarily agree with. You must remember though she is basically a rookie when it comes to managing the team. Is she the best candidate for the job? Probably not but being the #1 assistant coach for Pink and a hometown girl, she had to have a chance. Next year will be a true test of her abilities with only nine girls returning, four of them pitchers, and only two position players with any real starting experience.
 
HookedonGriz said:
They are down 5 to 0 after Sacramento State's first at bat. Coach Mel finally made a pitching change (way too late in my opinion) and Hood got them out of the inning on two pitches.

I agree Stensby shoulda come out after the bean ball off the shin but then again it’s always easy to second guess decisions after the bad stuff happens. Sure would be nice to know what’s kept Hood out so long though...
 
alabamagrizzly said:
HookedonGriz said:
They are down 5 to 0 after Sacramento State's first at bat. Coach Mel finally made a pitching change (way too late in my opinion) and Hood got them out of the inning on two pitches.

I agree Stensby shoulda come out after the bean ball off the shin but then again it’s always easy to second guess decisions after the bad stuff happens. Sure would be nice to know what’s kept Hood out so long though...

Yes always easier to second guess I agree. Stensby threw a lot at Sac St in their last regular season game when they knocked Driscoll out of the first or second inning so I was worried they'd be all over her from the get go. I would have had a short leash due to that alone. I'm with you on Hood....was wondering what the time off was from. Guessing an injury or an arm issue but no idea really.
 
Looks like today’s games are being postponed for an hour. It’s been raining and they just now covered the field. And by “covering” the field, they put a tarp over the batters box and a tarp over the pitchers mound.
 
Weber goes 0-2 on their home turf in the tourney to be eliminated. Maybe they’ll enjoy the change of scenery next year in Sacramento.
 
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