Time to turn the Page -

So long Odicci, Madison, & Kate - good luck!

Moving to 2022.

My Big Questions:
- Will we still have the respect to get an invite to the St.Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational?
- Will Alissa take a step up from her Freshman year?
- Is Linsey coming back? I know she's was only a Junior, but I think she had a story like was attending another school last year or something????
- Can this team finish in the regular season top 25? Will they start in the top 25, after ending #4?

Key Returning pieces:

Position Players:
Sara Jubas (r-sr) - Highest batting average, and 2nd in HRs
Logan Newon (r-sr) - 3rd highest BA
Linsey Meeks (r-sr) - 5th highest BA, and key to clubhouse
Emily Phillip (r-so) - started every game and batted .268
Lauren Bernett (so) - As catcher started all but one game, and really worked well with pitchers
Hannah Shifflet - (r-jr) Struggled on the offensive side, but started 34 games.

Pitchers
Alissa - (so)'nuf said
Alexis Bermudez - (r-jr) At this point looks to be the #2. 9-1 last year with 2.13 ERA



What "I" believe to be key recruits from recruiting notes:
Isabelle Fishman (IF/Pitcher) Named to the 2021 Extra Innings Top 100 Athletes List…2018 On Deck Jamboree…2017 USSSA Elite Select 30…Member of USA Athletics Team in Long Beach, CA…Member of the Distinguished Honor Roll and Honor Roll

Jasmine Hall (IF) Three-year softball varsity letterman…ranked 74th in the class of 2021 nationally by Extra Innings

Morgan Mesaros (IF) Recorded a batting average of .480 with .550 OBP in 2020…Played for PA Chaos 18U Gold team since eighth grade…Ranked sixth in the country by US Club Rankings and tenth by FloSoftball in 2019 (does this mean she's a top 10 recruit?) Maybe her team was ranked in the top 10?

I'd guess key transfers are certainly a possibility.

And the Key - Loren LaPorte - even keeled leader, and nationally respected Head of the JMU Softball Program.

Jubas, Newton, and Meeks are all graduated also. Pretty much the entire core of the team has moved on. Next year may be a rough one. I wouldn't count us out, but we're losing 7 starters.

https://twitter.com/JMUSoftball/status/1...48/photo/1

(07-22-2021 03:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  Jubas, Newton, and Meeks are all graduated also. Pretty much the entire core of the team has moved on. Next year may be a rough one. I wouldn't count us out, but we're losing 7 starters.

https://twitter.com/JMUSoftball/status/1...48/photo/1

Good enough for the CAA, but will be a tough road to get any further.

(07-22-2021 03:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  Jubas, Newton, and Meeks are all graduated also. Pretty much the entire core of the team has moved on. Next year may be a rough one. I wouldn't count us out, but we're losing 7 starters.

https://twitter.com/JMUSoftball/status/1...48/photo/1

JMU roster lists them as Juniors last year.

https://jmusports.com/sports/softball/roster

Perhaps they all received another year due to Covid and did not take it, or they are not utilizing their redshirt years?

If none of them are coming back Loren should consider any offers she gets.

(07-22-2021 04:18 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(07-22-2021 03:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  Jubas, Newton, and Meeks are all graduated also. Pretty much the entire core of the team has moved on. Next year may be a rough one. I wouldn't count us out, but we're losing 7 starters.

https://twitter.com/JMUSoftball/status/1...48/photo/1

JMU roster lists them as Juniors last year.

https://jmusports.com/sports/softball/roster

Perhaps they all received another year due to Covid and did not take it, or they are not utilizing their redshirt years?

If none of them are coming back Loren should consider any offers she gets.

Meeks was already in school in Ohio during the tournament so she's gone. I thought someone said Jubas got into grad school at UNC. Not sure about Newton.

Sarah Jubas is in Pharmacy School at UNC and I also heard nothing about Logan Newton what she is up to.

Hope they all do well is whatever the future brings!!

Brian

I believe I saw a post Logan had put up on Twitter thanking softball for all the opportunities it brought her. Definitely sounded like she's done playing. I think we lose 7 or 8 from this team next year.

We had talked about it some in another thread but yeah I'd imagine that most, if not all, of them are only on partial scholarships so a lot more likely to see them move on even if they have eligibility left than it would be with a football or basketball player.

It's pretty hard to do what JMU softball did last season and even more difficult to duplicate it... especially as a mid major. If LaPorte enjoys a challenge, it will be getting JMU back into the WCWS and showing it was not a fluke.
That being said, the current breakdown of the team is going to make it incredibly difficult, but not impossible.
We are going to need a lot of players to step up.
What we don't know is how good the players are behind the starters. Perhaps we have a really strong class of players ready to go and just couldn't get the time due to the quality of players that were ahead of them.
I think if this team wants to make a run next year, LaPorte is going to have to bring in some transfers to fill in some spaces.
There should absolutely be interest. The question is will those of interest fit in with the team.
LaPorte has really done a fantastic job of making them a TEAM.
I'm excited to see what the future brings.

I think y'all are correct about everyone you've listed as moving on. Also, Michelle Sullivan graduated but has a year of eligibility left and is playing for Duke next year. (I presume that, like the other players listed, the decision to leave JMU is based on real life factors not softball.) She started every game the past two seasons.

There will be a lot of new faces in the lineup this year, but I expect the Dukes to make it work.

This is a rebuild like softball has not seen.

Alissa, if plays as well as last year, is enough for us to win the CAA. How the new players contribute will be key, but it's hard to believe we won't take a significant step back in run support. Obviously experience will also take a big step backwards. Freshman will need to contribute significantly.

A reasonable goal might be top 50, and a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Going to have to be patient with next year's team. It's looks more like a rebuild, that reload to me.

Question to the group: based on what we know right now, what would the Dukes need to do next year for it to be a successful season?

Because they are losing so many pieces next year, I think making it to the Super Regionals would be a huge success. I think making the playoffs would be too low of a standard based on the CAA as a whole.
If we are unseeded, I think making it to the final day of the region would be a success.
If we are seeded, we need to win our region.

(07-23-2021 03:09 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  Question to the group: based on what we know right now, what would the Dukes need to do next year for it to be a successful season?

Because they are losing so many pieces next year, I think making it to the Super Regionals would be a huge success. I think making the playoffs would be too low of a standard based on the CAA as a whole.
If we are unseeded, I think making it to the final day of the region would be a success.
If we are seeded, we need to win our region.

Finals of a regional would be a successful season to me. That would position our self one step away from a super regional the next year. That said, I think my best guess for next season is a 3 seed, that might get to a regional final.

I don't see this team getting to a super regional.

This will be a young team that should improve the following two years, but not next year. If a bad season in softball is a real #3 seed, that ain't too bad.

(07-23-2021 03:09 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  Question to the group: based on what we know right now, what would the Dukes need to do next year for it to be a successful season?

Because they are losing so many pieces next year, I think making it to the Super Regionals would be a huge success. I think making the playoffs would be too low of a standard based on the CAA as a whole.
If we are unseeded, I think making it to the final day of the region would be a success.
If we are seeded, we need to win our region.

I would say that making the regional finals would be a very successful season, all things considered. Virtually our entire offense has to be replaced and we have to find a solid (or better) #2 pitcher.

In my mind, this is an extremely important season for us. We need to keep our name relevant to capitalize on our CWS run. Even if it means losing more OOC games than usual. Need to show the recruits that JMU is willing to schedule the best. Remember, the dividends of this past CWS success will be shown in the next couple of recruiting classes.

(07-24-2021 06:25 AM)olddawg Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 03:09 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  Question to the group: based on what we know right now, what would the Dukes need to do next year for it to be a successful season?

Because they are losing so many pieces next year, I think making it to the Super Regionals would be a huge success. I think making the playoffs would be too low of a standard based on the CAA as a whole.
If we are unseeded, I think making it to the final day of the region would be a success.
If we are seeded, we need to win our region.

I would say that making the regional finals would be a very successful season, all things considered. Virtually our entire offense has to be replaced and we have to find a solid (or better) #2 pitcher.

In my mind, this is an extremely important season for us. We need to keep our name relevant to capitalize on our CWS run. Even if it means losing more OOC games than usual. Need to show the recruits that JMU is willing to schedule the best. Remember, the dividends of this past CWS success will be shown in the next couple of recruiting classes.

Will we be able to get back to scheduling like we were pre-Covid? Is playing Oregon, Michigan, Arizona, and the Ohio State's of college softball now gone?

Well the St. Pete tournament is coming back next February. Hopefully JMU gets an invite and we can have a few games against top notch competition.

(07-24-2021 03:57 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  Well the St. Pete tournament is coming back next February. Hopefully JMU gets an invite and we can have a few games against top notch competition.

I hope the same, perhaps due to last year's run. But if they decide it based on what teams have coming back, we might not be selected.

Might be nothing, might be something, but....

Madison Inscoe, an all-everything softball player and pitcher from Chesapeake, VA, just decommitted from Auburn and re-opened her recruiting. She's a rising senior this year, so her freshman year would be Spring 2023. Also, one of her travel team teammates (KK Mathis, who Madison describes as "one of the best teammates & players I have had the privilege to play with") committed to JMU a couple days ago. She seems like she can not only pitch at a high level, but hit as well.

(08-11-2021 07:32 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  Might be nothing, might be something, but....

Madison Inscoe, an all-everything softball player and pitcher from Chesapeake, VA, just decommitted from Auburn and re-opened her recruiting. She's a rising senior this year, so her freshman year would be Spring 2023. Also, one of her travel team teammates (KK Mathis, who Madison describes as "one of the best teammates & players I have had the privilege to play with") committed to JMU a couple days ago. She seems like she can not only pitch at a high level, but hit as well.

Man - that would be a huge and needed get. Fingers crossed!!!!

That Mathis kid sounds like a player too. Good stories on her online.