Fall 2023 Preview of 2024 GrizSB

[grizzlyjournal]

With this post and my add-on post below, I give a brief general overview of the 2024 Montana Griz Softball team.

As a longtime Griz sports fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the GrizSB doubleheader vs. Carroll College, in which the team split games with the Saints... losing the first 4-3 in eight innings and winning the second 9-1.The games were watched by 418 fans at the same time as 700+ fans watched GrizSOC beat Idaho State on the adjacent field.
I am aware of the opinions of many on this board regarding Montana softball, so I'll be clear: I'm a season-ticket holding fan and fully support the Montana teams I regularly follow each season. Following are a few observations from a diehard fan... for those interested:
1 -- Though there are four returning seniors (pitcher Allie Brock, catcher Riley Stockton, CF Elise Ontiveros and DB Kelly Sweyer) this team had the aura of youth, especially with its addition of three young pitchers to a 5-pitcher staff.
2 -- All five pitchers logged innings and, if all remain healthy, signify a major roster improvement over the past two seasons. I didn't see enough to make any predictions for the upcoming 2024 season. The frosh especially were pretty nervous, but displayed Big Sky level talent.
3 -- Strengths: Ontiveros is, I believe, a potential All Big Sky outfielder. She's now playing CF and today was the leadoff hitter (with two perfect leadoff bunt singles) and had two line-drive doubles, I believe. Catcher Riley Stockton returns and is a very solid receiver. She'll be platooned with jr.Kynzie Mohl... possibly the best power hitter on the team. Kynzie hit a 2-rbi homer to right field today. Allie Brock will assume the role of Montana's pitching ace. She appears fully recovered from an injury she suffered last Februrary... which affected her over the full season. Sweyer returns as Montana's DP and has good power and today batted fourth.
4. -- The full defensive lineup: A guess on my part at this point. 2023 transfer Jessica Stanfield looks solid defensively in LF while 2024 transfer jr. Jocelyn Eisen (UNLV) looks to be competing with jr. Grace Hardy (Missoula Sentinel) at 3B. Juniors Presley Jantzi in LF and Hannah Jablonski at 1B appear to be locks at their positions. The best defensive play of the day (by far) was Jablonski's unflinching snare of a low liner down the 1B line. Sophomore Chloe Saxton and frosh Riley Peschek look to be competing for playing time at SS. Both are solid defenders with good range. Montana played both games without commiting a fielding error. I really believe this team has the potential to be the best all-around defensive Montana unit I've seen in at least 4-5 seasons.
5. -- Hitting could be a concern once again. Montana hitters were pretty well shut down by Carroll sophomore pitcher Kennedy Venner (Billings Senior) who -- in my opinion -- pitched at a solid mid-D1 caliber game vs. the Griz. She has two very nice changeups & had Griz hitters on their heels for the entire game. A Montana 2-run base-running error probably sealed the loss for the Girz though. At this juncture, hitting appears to -- once again -- leave several questions unanswered.
6. -- All that said, I like the makeup of this team. I believe it has the ability to compete defensively in the Big Sky. I look forward to seeing how this fairly young team can develop offensively. I plan to watch their next two outings of the fall & might add info as I deem necessary. Go GrizSB.

 

[westsider]

UM can’t sweep NAIA Carroll College this fall and the head coach is still employed after the year they had last year? When will Haslam move the program in the right direction?

 

[grizzlyjournal]

With this post and my add-on post below, I give a brief general overview of the 2024 Montana Griz Softball team.

As a longtime Griz sports fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the GrizSB doubleheader vs. Carroll College, in which the team split games with the Saints... losing the first 4-3 in eight innings and winning the second 9-1.The games were watched by 418 fans at the same time as 700+ fans watched GrizSOC beat Idaho State on the adjacent field.
I am aware of the opinions of many on this board regarding Montana softball, so I'll be clear: I'm a season-ticket holding fan and fully support the Montana teams I regularly follow each season. Following are a few observations from a diehard fan... for those interested:
1 -- Though there are four returning seniors (pitcher Allie Brock, catcher Riley Stockton, CF Elise Ontiveros and DB Kelly Sweyer) this team had the aura of youth, especially with its addition of three young pitchers to a 5-pitcher staff.
2 -- All five pitchers logged innings and, if all remain healthy, signify a major roster improvement over the past two seasons. I didn't see enough to make any predictions for the upcoming 2024 season. The frosh especially were pretty nervous, but displayed Big Sky level talent.
3 -- Strengths: Ontiveros is, I believe, a potential All Big Sky outfielder. She's now playing CF and today was the leadoff hitter (with two perfect leadoff bunt singles) and had two line-drive doubles, I believe. Catcher Riley Stockton returns and is a very solid receiver. She'll be platooned with jr.Kynzie Mohl... possibly the best power hitter on the team. Kynzie hit a 2-rbi homer to right field today. Allie Brock will assume the role of Montana's pitching ace. She appears fully recovered from an injury she suffered last Februrary... which affected her over the full season. Sweyer returns as Montana's DP and has good power and today batted fourth.
4. -- The full defensive lineup: A guess on my part at this point. 2023 transfer Jessica Stanfield looks solid defensively in LF while 2024 transfer jr. Jocelyn Eisen (UNLV) looks to be competing with jr. Grace Hardy (Missoula Sentinel) at 3B. Juniors Presley Jantzi in LF and Hannah Jablonski at 1B appear to be locks at their positions. The best defensive play of the day (by far) was Jablonski's unflinching snare of a low liner down the 1B line. Sophomore Chloe Saxton and frosh Riley Peschek look to be competing for playing time at SS. Both are solid defenders with good range. Montana played both games without commiting a fielding error. I really believe this team has the potential to be the best all-around defensive Montana unit I've seen in at least 4-5 seasons.
5. -- Hitting could be a concern once again. Montana hitters were pretty well shut down by Carroll sophomore pitcher Kennedy Venner (Billings Senior) who -- in my opinion -- pitched at a solid mid-D1 caliber game vs. the Griz. She has two very nice changeups & had Griz hitters on their heels for the entire game. A Montana 2-run base-running error probably sealed the loss for the Girz though. At this juncture, hitting appears to -- once again -- leave several questions unanswered.
6. -- All that said, I like the makeup of this team. I believe it has the ability to compete defensively in the Big Sky. I look forward to seeing how this fairly young team can develop offensively. I plan to watch their next two outings of the fall & might add info as I deem necessary. Go GrizSB.

I watched Montana's double header 13-9 and 7-4 wins over Providence of Great Falls. Frankly, it's too early to make any solid opinions of this relatively young team. Consider my oberservations below as ADD-ON impressions to my points above.

1 -- 2024 Lineup: Sunday's Griz games with Providence largely confirm that -- as things stand now -- Montana's starters are likely to be:
Catcher -- Riley Stockton, Sr. possibly alternating with Kynzie Mohl, Jr. Stockton is a solid defensive catcher with outstanding receiving skills. Sunday, however, Providence base runners had several steals of 2nd bse. Mohl is a valuable power hitter, so I can envision her getting more playing time, whether as a starter or pinch hitter, but most likely as a backup to Stockton.
First Base: Hannah Jablonski, soph. An outstanding defender with quick reflexes, Hannah is also a solid receiver of off-target throws to first base by other infielders. She appears as a lock at 1b.
Second Base: Makena Strong, soph. Makena has 2B locked up, in my opinion. Makena has outstanding lateral range, especially to the left, and is fundamentally Montana's best infield defender. Makena has exceptional field vision and gets early jumps on most balls hit in her territory, including popups down the first base line. The combination of Strong and Jablonski on the right side infield is -- in my opinion -- one of the two strongest Montana defensive coverage areas.
Third Base: Grace Hardy Jr. Transfer Joscelyn Eisen -- who alternated with Hardy in previous games -- did not play today.
Short Stop: Soph Chloe Saxton and fr. Riley Peschek alternated and both struggled defensively. Hugely. Shortstop is the position with the biggest question-marks in my opinion. Both players had decent SS range, but fielding and throwing are concerns.
Left Field: Jessica Stanfield played very well defensively and has potential with solid bat power, to be one of Montana's best hitters. I can't speak to her range at this point.
Center Field: A no-doubter, Sr. Elise Ontiveros was -- in my opinion -- one of the best outfielders in the Big Sky last year. She has outstanding range, a solid & accurate throwing skills and will provide Montana a leadoff batter who can hit for power with the speed for leadoff drag-bunting, which she did several times today. Ontiveros' range and skill make center field and the gaps one of Montana's two most solid defensive areas.
Right Field: Presley Jantzi, Jr. Presley has limited defensive range, but has a very solid glove and is especially solid attacking flies or liners in front of her. She also has potential as a left handed hitter in the 4-5 hole and has the potential to be among the top 3 Griz hitters for average.
Designated Player: Kelly Sweyer sr. will start most games batting in the 4-5 slot as a hitter with solid power potential. She rarely plays defensively. Though she strikes out quite a bit, when she connects, she has home-run power. When not playing DB, Kelly will often pinch hit.
2 -- Pitching: This was Montana's greatest weakness last season. Senior Allie Brock carried the team last season... as far as she could. The addition of three young pitchers (two frosh and a sophomor transfer) should solidify the lineup and the team. However... Casey Stengel's great quote about a team only being as good as its next starter, is very appropriate for Montana. Sunday, Brock struggled against Providence. Montana's three first-year pitchers carried the team on Sunday. Encouraging, but tough to ask of young pitchers vs. D1 hitters (which Providence is not.... The 13 runs allowed against Providence is a bit misleading, since 6 of those runs were unearned. Nonetheless, Montana's young pitchers allowed 7 runs, which indicates that those young pitchers are probably going to have some tough games in February & March. Sunday's outing by those young pitchers:
-- Sophomore Emmalyn Brinka -- a contact pitcher -- gave up 2 runs over 6 innings. Brinka pitched with exceptional control in the lower strike zone. I believe she walked only 1 batter. She gave up one 2-run homer on an elevated pitch, but otherwise any hits off her were usually grounders in the gaps. No predictions yet, but I believe she has the potential as a 2nd or 3rd starter.
-- Frosh Rylee Rehbein. A Washington h.s. all star in 2023, Rehbein is also a contact pitcher, but has a deceptive changeup and a riser that got her several strikeouts. Of her 5 runs allowed, only 1 was earned... though one unearned run was due to her misplay on a stolen base by Providence. Rehbein, like Brinka, has exceptional control of the strike zone. Rehbein has a very deceptive inside pitch that, as she perfects it against D1 hitters, could earn her considerable innings as a frosh.
-- Frosh Nyeala Herndon, from Helena Capital. Herndon is a power pitcher with a high ceiling. Though she pitched only 1+ innings of relief, she struck out three batters in commanding fashion. Herndon didn't have the control of Brinka and Rehbein, but one of her key pitches is a rising fastball that is located in the top of the strike zone and often just out of the strike zone. Right now I see her as a reliever in 2024, but believe she has the potential to be a staff ace in the future.
-- Sophomore Grace Haegele returns as a potential second starter. A power pitcher, she struggled with control for the Griz in 2023. Sunday she entered as a reliever, but walked two and gave up 2 runs relieving Brinka and was replaced by Herndon, who got the save.
3 -- Player of the Future: I got to see frosh catcher Madison Tarrant for an inning plus. She's currently #3 in the lineup of Montana catchers, but -- from what I saw, when she caught Nyeala's pitching over one+ innings I was impressed, and -- believe she's got exceptional skill at the position, including a strong & quick arm release and the accuracy capable of limiting opponents' base-stealing. It will be interesting if coach Meuchel uses Herndon and Tarrant in combo as a late-innings relief battery.

My general thoughts about Montana's 2024 pitching staff is that the potential is there. If everyone stays healthy, Montana's fortunes could hinge on the success of any one or two of the young pitchers. That's a lot to ask of young collegiate pitchers, but the good thing is that Montana has four pitchers with the potential to succeed. That's better than the Griz had over the past two seasons.
Without making any predictions, I'm thinking that this will be a team that may take some time developing. I'm a fan and think they'll be fun to watch. If the pitchers stay healthy & improve game by game, this team could have an impact in Big Sky competition. Go Griz SB

 

[maroonandsilver]

Brock's only inning (the first in game #1) was absolutely horrible. 4 runs, two doubles, and a homer against NAIA Providence, inspired no confidence.

 

[HookedonGriz]

It’s going to be a very long and losing season for the Griz softball team. Haslam has gone with a coach and staff for too long and it has dug a hole they can’t get out of. A few good players on the team, but this staff holds them back greatly. I will be amazed if they play better than last season, and we know how awful that was. I have very little expectations unfortunately.