melina livingston

The last time we saw Michigan Softball, well, it hurt. A lot. The Wolverines were out in the Seattle Regional in the deciding game three against host Washington, with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals. Michigan held a 5-1 lead heading to the bottom of the third, just 15 outs from their first ticket to the Supers since 2016. They had their ace, Alex Storako, in the circle and had to love their position. Then it all fell apart. Storako gave up two in the bottom of the third, and then the fourth saw seven Husky runs and a solid Michigan lead turned into a heartbreaking Washington blowout, 10-5. Season over. 

The good news is that a new season means new beginnings. A fresh start. Rebirth. Much of last year's core has returned for another shot at a deep NCAA Tournament run, but there are plenty of new pieces too. And if the preliminary reporting from The Michigan Daily is to be believed, this iteration of Michigan Softball is hungrier than ever to return to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series. Do they have the parts? And what would reaching this team's goals require? I have you covered with the 2022 Michigan Softball season preview: 

The Roster  

Pitching 

The strength of this Michigan team, as it has been for so many years now, is pitching. Michigan has a pair of senior aces returning, Alex Storako and Meghan Beaubien. Beaubien's storied Michigan career is well documented, a superstar pitcher from the time she arrived in Ann Arbor during the 2018 season. She's never had an ERA above 2.00 and last season was a classic MB year, 1.24 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, with 9.3 K/7 innings. Beaubien is dependable and strikingly consistent, and the question is whether the BeauBot has one last gear to reach in her 5th season. She has grown much less over her career than her counterpart Storako, so it does feel a little unlikely that Beaubien suddenly gets a lot better, but here's for hoping. What she is now is enough. 

2021 was the story of Alex Storako, who made The Jump. In 2019 and 2020, Storako showed flashes via her high strikeout numbers, but was also inconsistent and highly vulnerable to scalding hard contact. In 2021 she transformed into a monster who passed Beaubien on the depth chart to become the #1. Her 1.05 ERA and 22 wins are impressive enough before you see the strikeout numbers: 270 Ks in 146 innings (!). That 12.9 K/7 clip led the NCAA and helped make her the unanimous B1G Pitcher of the Year and a 2nd team All-American. Storako fixed her hard contact problem and mowed down the competition with ease the whole season (including Washington in G1 of that Regional Final) until it unraveled against in the aforementioned G3. That should provide enough motivation for Storako to put together another dominant campaign as a senior. 

Meghan Beaubien and sunglasses, name a more iconic duo [JD Scott]

Together, Storako and Beaubien should give Michigan elite pitching in every single big game. In NCAA softball, you need two aces to have a shot to reach the WCWS, and ideally you should have a third pitcher who may not be an ace, but can help you out in a pinch. Michigan didn't have that last year, as Sarah Schaefer was never able to develop into a reliable arm over her four years with the Wolverines, and former 5* Chandler Dennis massively disappointed due to injuries and inconsistency. Both have opted to exit the program. 

Hope for a reliable #3 thus comes from the freshman class that boasts three arms. Lauren Derkowski and Emerson Aiken are both freshmen who are elite recruits. Derkowski was the #16 national recruit by Extra Innings softball, while Aiken was the #26 recruit and a High School All-American in 2021. Fellow freshman Annabelle Widra is an elite recruit and a two-way player who can hit and pitch, but I would expect Michigan to use her primarily as a hitter (a la young Tera Blanco). Lauren Esman is also a two-way player but has thrown just two innings in her Michigan career. 

Derkowski, Aiken, and Widra are the future of the Michigan rotation starting in 2023 and so it'll be crucial to see one of them step up. Between three 5* prospects, the odds at least one of them is ready to be an impact arm seems pretty high. Michigan doesn't need any of them to be an ace so long as Storako and Beaubien are healthy, but they need one of them to give them 60-80 quality innings (or I suppose the three could combine for that many). I feel pretty comfortable about the probability that it comes to fruition. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Much more preview!]