Thank you Team 40 seniors
This great quartet of seniors leaves Michigan with-
- 2 NCAA Women's College World Series appearances
- 2 NCAA Super Regional Championships
- 3 NCAA Regional Championships
- 3 B1G Championships
- 1 B1G Tournament Championship
- 202 wins
- 80-12 B1G record
- 20-2 combined against OSU and MSU
#3 Megan Betsa-
- 2x NFCA All-American (2015, 2016)
- 3x NFCA All-Region First Team (2015, 2016, 2017)
- 2x B1G Pitcher of the Year (2015, 2016)
- 3x First Team All-B1G (2015, 2016, 2017)
- 1x Second Team All-B1G (2014)
- 2015 All-B1G Tournament Team
- 6 No-Hitters thrown
- 4th pitcher in program history with 100 wins (102-24)
- 3rd pitcher in program history with 1200 Ks (1201 Ks, 3rd on all-time list behind Jordan Taylor and Jennie Ritter)
- #7 overall pick in NPF Draft
#18 Lindsay Montemarano
- Came to Michigan as a preferred walk on and started 219 of 226 career games played in.
- 2016 All-B1G Second Team
- 2016 B1G All-Defensive Team
- 2014 All-B1G Tournament Team
#1 Abby Ramirez
- 4-year starter in the middle infield, starting in every single one of her 241 games played
- 3x NFCA All-Region (2015, 2016, 2017)
- 2x All-B1G Second Team (2015, 2017)
- 2014 B1G All-Defensive Team
- 2x Academic All-B1G (2015, 2016)
#21 Kelly Christner
- 2015 First Team NFCA All-American
- 2x First Team NFCA All-Region (2015, 2017)
- 2x First Team All-B1G (2015, 2017)
- 2015 B1G All-Defensive Team
- 2x Academic All-B1G (2015, 2016)
- #20 overall pick in NPF Draft
There are still some more accolades to come for this group as Spring Academic All-B1G and NFCA All-America lists are still to be announced later on.
Whether it's pro softball or career goal aspirations like Monte has of being a writer for SNL some day, I think I speak for all Michigan fans wishing the best of luck and greatest thank you to this senior class.
They played a great part in that amazing 2015 season. 2014-15 was a pretty dark season for the Big 3 sports here and Softball was a shining beacon of light that captured the attention of practically the entire fanbase, bashing over 100 home runs as a team and making pizza along the way.
That season is why Alumni Field continues to be the toughest ticket to get in town during the spring season and why next year's incoming freshman class is the highest rated top to bottom that I've personally seen.
Nice post, WD.
But great post WD.
Fuck the haters, you're a great asset to the site.
nice to have it all organized and ready to go like that.
Thanks for posting WD.
Haters gotta hate - not sure if the softball players understand that the downvotes are not meant for them.
No one stepped up into Romero's shoes.
That's part of it. Hitting did drop off, but not just because of Romero. Sierra Lawrence was a fantastic lead off and never got as much credit as she deserved. Even Susalla was better than her replacement.
However, hitting was the main reason we lost in the WCWS last year, so it's not like we were perfect in that department to start.
The other half of it is that we didn't have two top tier pitchers. Back in 2015 when we were national runners up, we had both Wagner and Betsa who could start and finish games. Blanco and Driesenga weren't quite there. And, while some teams can rely solely on one pitcher, Betsa had some limitations. Namely, she was a high strikeout, but high free pass type pitcher, and the latter always would come in large waves. It's helpful to have a reliable backup to come relieve her in those situations and that just hasn't existed.
just didn't have the lineup top to bottom that could consistently get on base and drive in runs.
Betsa had a great year, but isn't a 6-4 lefty throwing 69-73 like Monica Abbott was (or Cat ostermann) - someone that would dominate almost any lineup and hold even top lineups to 1-2 runs/game.
Pretty simple answer. We've had good pitching over the last few years, but we've had a great or even elite lineup. This year we had good pitching and just a good lineup.
If you dropped the first couple of sentences.
4 great years of softball, and even better representation of the University of Michigan.
On a separate note, who would downvote a piece like this? Can we find out who it is and ban them on general principles?
to see. That said, they are entitled to their opinions.
Regarding downvotes, as mentioned, you can see who downvotes a post.
The reality is that there are mgobloggers who downvote WD as a matter of principle,. I actually have a number of those myself. You have to have a thick skin, and just let it go. (I didn't even bother looking at the downvotes on my last OP . . . I knew there would be a bunch.)
Another often unknown quirk of mgoblog is that downvotes and upvotes of an OP don't record. They let mgobloggers know the feelings of the mgocommentariat, but the reality is that they don't record either up or down. I suppose that is one thing that might be changed if and when Brian and programmers make updates to the system. Downvotes and upvotes only record in the body of a thread.
It's been an absolute privilege to provide a little coverage here on MGoBlog for this group. They brought a lot of Ws and a lot of class to Ann Arbor. All 4 will be sorely missed.
Great run by a great group of ladies. My daughter has this group for years and Betsa was her favorite player (and pitcher especially). Christner could rake. Rameriez and Monte were cold hearted base hit assassins in the field.
Always sad to see the softball season end - just when the weather turns the playoffs come and it's over by June. Let's hope the men can pick up where they left off.
ladies who had some stellar careers at UM. Good luck in the future!
Cannot wait to see the girl from Monroe St. Mary's pitch next year. I hear that she is unhittable at the high school level.
To those in the know...
Do we have hopes of regaining a nationally-dominant team in the next few years? The past 3/4 we were all but guaranteed a CWS appearance, and came very close to a national title in 2015. Have we recruited well enough to get back there?
I gotta admit, seeing the younger sister of our GOAT Sierra Romero hitting a walk-off for OU (after winning a title last season) is very tough. I wish she was playing for us...
Absolutely. This was always a rebuilding year after losing 1 of the greatest hitters in softball history in Sierra Romero along with Sierra Lawrence and Kelsey Susalla. That's a lot of offensive production to replace in 1 year, and understandably, they struggled to do so. Hutch has recruited very well and they should be fine going forward. The underclassmen, while clearly not ready this year, showed flashes of what they can be. Hopefully, Blanco continues to improve in the circle and our incoming stud pitcher can establish herself against college lineups. But overall, Hutch has had this team in the mix her entire career. They'll be fine.
Standards are always high for this program and not getting to the World Series has to hurt. Here's looking to next season.
GO BLUE!
Will miss these 4 seniors from Team 40, and best of luck to them. Should be interesting next year to see who takes their place at #1 pitcher, 3B, SS and CF.