Hey folks time for a little bit of Grizzly Softball talk. Can't say this is perfect, but with a the season starting in a week or two, might as well throw this out there.
Last Year: 10-37, 4-11 in BSC, 0-2 in Big Sky Conference Tournament
Summary: I don't think it took a genius to figure out that the season started off rough and then just spiraled downward from there. The poorest performance by a Montana Softball team record wise and a team that struggled in multiple facets with few ready made answers. A thin pitching staff, a struggling offense and the inability to get the clutch play doomed the team throughout their season.
Pitching: Dana Butterfield broke her ankle weeks for the season started and left a hole in the pitching staff that they weren't fully able to plug. The Lady Griz finished 286th out of 295 NCAA D1 softball programs in ERA with 6.44 record. Allie Brock who was looking to build off of a strong Sophomore campaign, and she struggled with control (65 walks/30 HBP) in just over a 100 innings pitched and saw her ERA hover around 5.5 to 6.5 for much of the season. The rest of the staff struggled with similar issues (Haegele 82 BB/HBP in 87 innings, O'Brien 37 in 41, 46 in 41 IP) and it became a snow ball effect for the program as they struggled to cover innings with increased pitch counts as the the season wore on.
Offensively, the expectation was that the high contact/OBP group that performed so well in the 2022 season would carry over to the 2023 season even with the loss of Maygen McGrath and provide one of the deeper offenses in the BSC. Much like the pitching, the performance never materialized and the team struggled to consistently hit and put runs across the plate. They finished in the bottom NCAA's in batting average, runs per game (277th), Slugging Percentage, and OBP. Ontiveros, Jantzi, Phelps and Klucewich all saw their averages dip, and no one on the team finished above .300 on the season. They had a lot of bad luck, loud outs, and some questionable base running that ended rallies, cut innings short and led to games they lost in excruciating fashion.
Defensively, UM probably didn't perform as close to standard in part because it was over exposed with as much base running traffic they had all year. Long innings and a lot balls put in play led to a team that was supposed to be one of the better defensive units in the BSC finish the season in bottom tier of fielding percentage. Moreover they struggled to control the running game, throwing out less than 10% of base runners all year and teams were commonly able to take extra bases off of mental lapses.
2024 Season
Expectations/Must Win?: After last year, the expectation to win is extremely high for the staff. I'd assume they've been put on notice about seeing significant growth in the program for the 2024 season. I'd don't know if it is truly a must win season for Coach Meuchel and the staff, but it has to be pretty close. Last year was awful and they have to be able to flush the stench of the season and start the 2024 campaign off strong.
The Roster:
Returners: 13: (9 regulars (2SP/7position players)
P: Brock (SR), Haegele (So),
IF: 4 Starters: Saxton (So) , Sweyer (Sr), Jablonski (Jr) and Hardy(Jr). 2 Reserves: Strong (So.), Bonkavich (So).
OF(3) : 2 Starters: Ontiveros (Sr), Jantzi (Jr). Reserve: Stanfield (Jr)
C (2): Stockton (Sr) and Mohl (Jr.)
Newcomers: 6
P(3) : Brinka (So.)-TR, Herndon (FR)-HS, and Rehbein (FR)-HS
C (1): Tarrant (Fr)-HS
IF(2): Eisen (Jr)-TR, Peschek (Fr)-HS
--The roster returns plenty of experience, and yet very few seniors (Ontiveros, Sweyer, and Stockton) and is particularly deep on the corners in the IF with an abundance of talent that can play 1st or 3rd base. The concern is going to be up the middle 2B/SS where players with limited time last year or new to Missoula may see extended run at those positions. There isn't a lot of depth in the OF and it'll be interesting to see if one or two of the surplus of infielders find their way into the line up in the OF. The lineup needs to find some punch and whomever plays LF seems like a good candidate to be a player that might be a rotation of players to find who brings the most at the plate. Stockton is a solid catcher and that allowed the staff to move Mohl to 3rd/DH at times last year as her contact ability allowed her to get more AB as the season wore on. The pitching staff (more below) is essentially an overhaul from last year with three new pitchers to provide much needed innings and hopefully effectiveness.
Key Questions:
Can the Pitching Staff rebound and be competitive? Judging by the fact that Montana added 3 pitchers over the off-season that included Sophomore transfer Brinka from New Mexico, the staff clearly understood the need to improve inside the circle for the 2024 season. Butterfield retired, Joseph graduated and Freshman O'Brien left the program at the end of the season which meant they absolutely had to replenish the pitch staff. So like last year, UM is going to have to depend upon a lot of unproven talent to improve from last years results. The rumor is that Brock may miss the season with shoulder issues and that will leave Haegele as the lone returner with experience returning. The advantage this year is that there might be more depth in the squad on the mound with Haegele and Brinka both have some college experience but pair that with two talented freshmen in Herndon and Rehbein that can provide more innings to back Haegele and Brinka. That wasn't something that was readily available because of injuries and usage all year, so it will lead to less over use and tactical deployment of the staff this year. Haegele by the end of the year started to out run her control issues and has the stuff to lead the staff.
Will there be any punch to the offense? Montana returns most of its every day lineup from last year. They only graduated Phelps and Klucewich, and return several players that could be all BSC offensive players. Elise Ontiveros returns, along with Presley Jantzi (who hit .405 and had a .476 OBP in conference) and Grace Hardy (hit .282 and led the team in RBI's in conference). The lineup should be laden in experience and hopefully it will lead to increased performance. For as poor as the pitching was last year, the inability to score and win close ball games was just as poor. They were 6-12 in close ball games last year and 1-2 in extra innings. They scored 2 runs or less 26 times last year and of those they won 3 games. The offense needs to be better, and the advantage this squad can lean on is the fact that they are going to have an experienced lineup returning with some players at the top who have shown they can be above average BSC hitters in Ontiveros, Jantzi, Hardy and Jablonski.
Who figures to play a key role in a resurgence? Aside from the above mentioned players (Haegele, Ontiveros, etc) the Griz need quality innings from transfer Emmalyn Brinka. The sophomore went 3-7 for New Mexico, but did start 9 games last year and threw close to 50 innings for the Lobos. Obviously her Freshman statistics were a bit rough, but if Block maybe missing the season she is going to have to play a much larger role. Otherwise it falls to true Freshman Nyeala Herndon (Helena) who was one of the best prep-pitchers in AA a year ago or Rylee Rehbein who was an all league pick 3 times in HS for her HS in Battle Ground WA. Offensively, newcomer Riley Peschek may see extended run as a Freshman early on. She not only hit for power in HS, but for average as well. She hit over .600 as a Senior for Gig Harbor and was the 3A player of the in Washington. She plays a key position (Shortstop) and depending how the staff chooses to deploy their infielders, she could slide in to the position that was held by Jaxie Klucewich for much of the year. As for a player that could see an increase in playing time from last year is Makena Strong. The highly rated high school player was stuck behind a long list of personnel last year in the infield and saw limited action and could find playing time in a host of positions.
Looking at the schedule: Last year Montana faced several teams that ended up seeing themselves included in the NCAA softball tournament. That included two teams that made it to super-regionals in San Diego State and Oregon. Montana only played a handful of games at home and struggled to find quality D1 opponents to make the trip to Missoula for non-conference non-tournament games.
This year the schedule is a bit less daunting, only really includes a couple of teams that had post-season experience. Moreover you'll be able to see Montana at home more. That includes their own home tournament where they'll play 6 games over 4 days (TH-Su) and a 3 game series against Summit league opponent North Dakota. They also mix in two non-conference double headers against Montana NAIA schools Providence College (April 1st) and Carroll (April 16th). Maybe most importantly Montana plays 9 of its 15 conference games at home in 3 consecutive weeks (Northern Colorado, Idaho State and Portland State). The schedule sets up well for Montana this year to see some success in the non-conference slate and a conference schedule that sees them playing at home.
Key Non-Conference Matchups:
Mardi Gras Mambo (Nichols State, Southeastern Louisiana, Louisiana Monroe, Montana and Southern
UTEP Invitational: UTEP, Purdue Fort Wayne, Nebraska, New Mexico State and Montana
Purple Classic: Grand Canyon, Montana, Pacific, New Mexico, Toledo
Montana Softball Classic: Montana, Holy Cross, and Northern Illinois - This is Montana's first home games of the year and about as early as Montana can host a tournament. Holy Cross was 15-36 last year and Northern Illinois was 26-25. That they were able to get two teams to come to Missoula and play 5 or 6 games over 3 days is huge. As a reminder, Montana didn't not host a D1 non-conference foe at home last year.
University of North Dakota Series: This is rare three game set non-conference game at home against a D1 opponent. While UND struggled last year, it is a quality opportunity to provide a conference type series (3 games in 3 days) that allows the team the ability to see success and then jump into conference play the following weekend.
Conference
Conference Tournament:
Last Year: 10-37, 4-11 in BSC, 0-2 in Big Sky Conference Tournament
Summary: I don't think it took a genius to figure out that the season started off rough and then just spiraled downward from there. The poorest performance by a Montana Softball team record wise and a team that struggled in multiple facets with few ready made answers. A thin pitching staff, a struggling offense and the inability to get the clutch play doomed the team throughout their season.
Pitching: Dana Butterfield broke her ankle weeks for the season started and left a hole in the pitching staff that they weren't fully able to plug. The Lady Griz finished 286th out of 295 NCAA D1 softball programs in ERA with 6.44 record. Allie Brock who was looking to build off of a strong Sophomore campaign, and she struggled with control (65 walks/30 HBP) in just over a 100 innings pitched and saw her ERA hover around 5.5 to 6.5 for much of the season. The rest of the staff struggled with similar issues (Haegele 82 BB/HBP in 87 innings, O'Brien 37 in 41, 46 in 41 IP) and it became a snow ball effect for the program as they struggled to cover innings with increased pitch counts as the the season wore on.
Offensively, the expectation was that the high contact/OBP group that performed so well in the 2022 season would carry over to the 2023 season even with the loss of Maygen McGrath and provide one of the deeper offenses in the BSC. Much like the pitching, the performance never materialized and the team struggled to consistently hit and put runs across the plate. They finished in the bottom NCAA's in batting average, runs per game (277th), Slugging Percentage, and OBP. Ontiveros, Jantzi, Phelps and Klucewich all saw their averages dip, and no one on the team finished above .300 on the season. They had a lot of bad luck, loud outs, and some questionable base running that ended rallies, cut innings short and led to games they lost in excruciating fashion.
Defensively, UM probably didn't perform as close to standard in part because it was over exposed with as much base running traffic they had all year. Long innings and a lot balls put in play led to a team that was supposed to be one of the better defensive units in the BSC finish the season in bottom tier of fielding percentage. Moreover they struggled to control the running game, throwing out less than 10% of base runners all year and teams were commonly able to take extra bases off of mental lapses.
2024 Season
Expectations/Must Win?: After last year, the expectation to win is extremely high for the staff. I'd assume they've been put on notice about seeing significant growth in the program for the 2024 season. I'd don't know if it is truly a must win season for Coach Meuchel and the staff, but it has to be pretty close. Last year was awful and they have to be able to flush the stench of the season and start the 2024 campaign off strong.
The Roster:
Returners: 13: (9 regulars (2SP/7position players)
P: Brock (SR), Haegele (So),
IF: 4 Starters: Saxton (So) , Sweyer (Sr), Jablonski (Jr) and Hardy(Jr). 2 Reserves: Strong (So.), Bonkavich (So).
OF(3) : 2 Starters: Ontiveros (Sr), Jantzi (Jr). Reserve: Stanfield (Jr)
C (2): Stockton (Sr) and Mohl (Jr.)
Newcomers: 6
P(3) : Brinka (So.)-TR, Herndon (FR)-HS, and Rehbein (FR)-HS
C (1): Tarrant (Fr)-HS
IF(2): Eisen (Jr)-TR, Peschek (Fr)-HS
--The roster returns plenty of experience, and yet very few seniors (Ontiveros, Sweyer, and Stockton) and is particularly deep on the corners in the IF with an abundance of talent that can play 1st or 3rd base. The concern is going to be up the middle 2B/SS where players with limited time last year or new to Missoula may see extended run at those positions. There isn't a lot of depth in the OF and it'll be interesting to see if one or two of the surplus of infielders find their way into the line up in the OF. The lineup needs to find some punch and whomever plays LF seems like a good candidate to be a player that might be a rotation of players to find who brings the most at the plate. Stockton is a solid catcher and that allowed the staff to move Mohl to 3rd/DH at times last year as her contact ability allowed her to get more AB as the season wore on. The pitching staff (more below) is essentially an overhaul from last year with three new pitchers to provide much needed innings and hopefully effectiveness.
Key Questions:
Can the Pitching Staff rebound and be competitive? Judging by the fact that Montana added 3 pitchers over the off-season that included Sophomore transfer Brinka from New Mexico, the staff clearly understood the need to improve inside the circle for the 2024 season. Butterfield retired, Joseph graduated and Freshman O'Brien left the program at the end of the season which meant they absolutely had to replenish the pitch staff. So like last year, UM is going to have to depend upon a lot of unproven talent to improve from last years results. The rumor is that Brock may miss the season with shoulder issues and that will leave Haegele as the lone returner with experience returning. The advantage this year is that there might be more depth in the squad on the mound with Haegele and Brinka both have some college experience but pair that with two talented freshmen in Herndon and Rehbein that can provide more innings to back Haegele and Brinka. That wasn't something that was readily available because of injuries and usage all year, so it will lead to less over use and tactical deployment of the staff this year. Haegele by the end of the year started to out run her control issues and has the stuff to lead the staff.
Will there be any punch to the offense? Montana returns most of its every day lineup from last year. They only graduated Phelps and Klucewich, and return several players that could be all BSC offensive players. Elise Ontiveros returns, along with Presley Jantzi (who hit .405 and had a .476 OBP in conference) and Grace Hardy (hit .282 and led the team in RBI's in conference). The lineup should be laden in experience and hopefully it will lead to increased performance. For as poor as the pitching was last year, the inability to score and win close ball games was just as poor. They were 6-12 in close ball games last year and 1-2 in extra innings. They scored 2 runs or less 26 times last year and of those they won 3 games. The offense needs to be better, and the advantage this squad can lean on is the fact that they are going to have an experienced lineup returning with some players at the top who have shown they can be above average BSC hitters in Ontiveros, Jantzi, Hardy and Jablonski.
Who figures to play a key role in a resurgence? Aside from the above mentioned players (Haegele, Ontiveros, etc) the Griz need quality innings from transfer Emmalyn Brinka. The sophomore went 3-7 for New Mexico, but did start 9 games last year and threw close to 50 innings for the Lobos. Obviously her Freshman statistics were a bit rough, but if Block maybe missing the season she is going to have to play a much larger role. Otherwise it falls to true Freshman Nyeala Herndon (Helena) who was one of the best prep-pitchers in AA a year ago or Rylee Rehbein who was an all league pick 3 times in HS for her HS in Battle Ground WA. Offensively, newcomer Riley Peschek may see extended run as a Freshman early on. She not only hit for power in HS, but for average as well. She hit over .600 as a Senior for Gig Harbor and was the 3A player of the in Washington. She plays a key position (Shortstop) and depending how the staff chooses to deploy their infielders, she could slide in to the position that was held by Jaxie Klucewich for much of the year. As for a player that could see an increase in playing time from last year is Makena Strong. The highly rated high school player was stuck behind a long list of personnel last year in the infield and saw limited action and could find playing time in a host of positions.
Looking at the schedule: Last year Montana faced several teams that ended up seeing themselves included in the NCAA softball tournament. That included two teams that made it to super-regionals in San Diego State and Oregon. Montana only played a handful of games at home and struggled to find quality D1 opponents to make the trip to Missoula for non-conference non-tournament games.
This year the schedule is a bit less daunting, only really includes a couple of teams that had post-season experience. Moreover you'll be able to see Montana at home more. That includes their own home tournament where they'll play 6 games over 4 days (TH-Su) and a 3 game series against Summit league opponent North Dakota. They also mix in two non-conference double headers against Montana NAIA schools Providence College (April 1st) and Carroll (April 16th). Maybe most importantly Montana plays 9 of its 15 conference games at home in 3 consecutive weeks (Northern Colorado, Idaho State and Portland State). The schedule sets up well for Montana this year to see some success in the non-conference slate and a conference schedule that sees them playing at home.
Key Non-Conference Matchups:
Mardi Gras Mambo (Nichols State, Southeastern Louisiana, Louisiana Monroe, Montana and Southern
- Saturday February 10th: Southeastern Louisiana (2:30 MT)- SELA was 47-14 last year.
- Saturday February 10th: Eastern Illinois (4:30 MT)- EIU was a NCAA qualifier in 2023
UTEP Invitational: UTEP, Purdue Fort Wayne, Nebraska, New Mexico State and Montana
- Saturday February 17th: Nebraska (9:00AM) - Nebraska was a tournament qualifier last year and boasts SP Jordy Bahl
Purple Classic: Grand Canyon, Montana, Pacific, New Mexico, Toledo
- Friday March 1st: Grand Canyon (7:00pm MT)- GCU was a national qualifier last year
Montana Softball Classic: Montana, Holy Cross, and Northern Illinois - This is Montana's first home games of the year and about as early as Montana can host a tournament. Holy Cross was 15-36 last year and Northern Illinois was 26-25. That they were able to get two teams to come to Missoula and play 5 or 6 games over 3 days is huge. As a reminder, Montana didn't not host a D1 non-conference foe at home last year.
- Thursday March 7th Holy Cross (12:00) DH
- Friday March 8th Northern Illinois (12:30pm)
- Saturday March 9th Northern Illinois (2:30pm)
- Sunday March 10th: Northern Illinois (10:00am)
University of North Dakota Series: This is rare three game set non-conference game at home against a D1 opponent. While UND struggled last year, it is a quality opportunity to provide a conference type series (3 games in 3 days) that allows the team the ability to see success and then jump into conference play the following weekend.
- March 22nd Game 1: 2pm
- March 23rd Game 2: 1pm
- March 24th Game 3: 12:00pm
Conference
- March 29-30: @ Weber State (Double header Friday/Single Game Saturday)
- April 6-7: v. Northern Colorado (Double Header Saturday, Single Game Sunday)
- April 12-13: v. Idaho State (Double Header Friday, Single game Saturday
- April 20-21: v. Portland State (Double Header Saturday, Single game Sunday
- April 26-27: @ Sacramento State (Double Header Friday, Single Game Saturday
Conference Tournament:
- May 8th-11th: Pocatello, Idaho (Idaho State)
