Archive for May 2007
Scout.com has put up some ridiculously early bowl projections. It’s fun to think about.
FSU will welcome Mississippi State, Bethune-Cookman and Stetson to the Tallahassee Regional for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. FSU earned a national seed, which means they’ll host a Super Regional, provided they get through the Regional this weekend. That’s not a gimme, considering FSU’s pitching rotation is in shambles.
Let’s hope Mike Martin realizes, that Danny Rosen closing ballgames does FSU no good, if they’re losing and can’t get to him. Start Rosen, and do the bullpen-by-committee thing. It’s worth a shot to see if anybody else can come up big.
I’ll comment more on this later, but the Noles were ousted from the ACC Tournament by Clemson today, 5-1. I’m not all that surprise, the bats went cold, and the Noles have lived on offense all year. More later, leave your thoughts in the meantime.
By Bill Kristoph
It was another up-and-down season for Seminole Softball. 2007 saw a streaky FSU team win games big against even or lower competition, and lose a lot of close games to the Top 25 teams. FSU fell in two straight games, a loss to Cal and a loss to #5 Alabama, in the Tuscaloosa Regional. The Noles ended on a sour note, after rebounding late in the season with a 7 game win streak.
Is it disappointing? Yes. Should anybody really be surprised? No. The 2007 Seminoles are very young, but they are talented and should be even better next year. Granted, Veronica Wootson and Yuruby Alicart have made their last throw in a Seminole uniform, but youngsters waiting on the bench are ready to step up. Rumor has it that Wootson will be back as a graduate assistant next year, which will help the new Seminole middle infielders.
Let’s focus on the positive though, and hand out some ScalpEm.com 2007 Awards (for which nobody receives anything, we’re way too cheap for that).
The I Didn’t Know You Before, But Now I Do Award: Monica Montez. It looks like there’s another All-Everything in FSU’s stables. Monica Montez crushed the ball when given the opportunity. She’s only a freshman. Expect big things over the next few years from her.
The I Can’t Get Any Run Support Award: Tiffany McDonald. I’m always shocked when the Noles score more than two for her. She’s the workhorse for the Noles, and has been for her entire career (yes, even when Casey Hunter was finishing out her Seminole career, McDonald was throwing plenty of innings). Maybe for Tiffany’s senior season, the Noles can dig up a bunch of runs for her. She deserves better than the endless supply of 2-1 losses she receives. Seriously, it’s criminal to have a 17-15 record with a 1.62 ERA.
The We’re Ready To Shine Now Award: It’s a tie between Melissa May and Terese Gober, FSU’s other aces on the pitching staff. May’s 1.70 ERA and Gobers 2.02 are great. They’re ready for prime time. (Don’t forget about Kayla Collins either, who also turned in a sub 3.00 ERA performance this season in limited action.
The Watch Me Drop Bombs Award: Yuruby Alicart. 14 Home Runs, some of which landed on the ramp to the parking garage in left. ‘Nuff said.
The “Hey Can I Get An At Bat” Award: Another tie, this time for Robin Petrovich and Amanda Moore. Seriously, JoAnne, would it kill you to let them get 1 AB during a season? What’s the worst that could happen? I realize Moore did a fair amount of pinch running, but Petrovich busts her rear end in the pen all year. Give her some PT!
Best Intro Music: Robin Ahrberg, who used “Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Connection. I still think a pirate song is in order though, and she should be announced as “Ahhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrberg.”
ScalpEm.com MVP: Veronica Wootson. She did everything she was supposed to do and more from the day she laced up her cleats for FSU. This season, the Noles went as Wootson went. Her bat was amazing, her speed was amazing and Seminole Softball fans should hope that she returns as a graduate assistant. Her knowledge of the game will help future Noles.
In all seriousness, thank you Seminoles for another entertaining season. ScalpEm.com wishes the seniors the very best as they head on to the next step of their lives. For the returning players, work hard! 2008 is free for you to write, however you wish!
The Florida State Baseball Team swept the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over the weekend, and now head to the ACC Tournament in Jacksonville this weekend. For in depth reviews of the GT series, check out SectionB.com or Seminoles.com. For the short version, it goes like this: FSU continues to hit the ball, and their pitching is mediocre after Bryan Henry. Is that enough for the ACC Tournament and the NCAA tournament?
We’ll soon find out.
By Bill Kristoph
Yep, I’m just some loser with a blog that writes about other people’s careers. Well, at least that’s what Jay Mariotti and Colin Cowherd would say. Of course, they do the same thing, but get paid handsomely for it. So would I like former FSU strength coach Jon Jost, who has been “reassigned” to another position at FSU, to comment on my job at ScalpEm? Sure, which gives me the right to comment on his reassignment by FSU.
Over at Tomahawk Nation, they’re talking about Offensive Line Coach Rick Trickett basically telling Jost to stay away from his lineman. In all fairness, the lineman are fitter and faster thanks to Trickett’s conditioning in less than six months, compared to numerous years for Jost. From the Warchant Message Boards once the new coaching staff showed up, “The tempo of the weight room workouts was increased and music turned off - but not the concerns or criticism. New coaches - most notably offensive line coach Rick Trickett - focused on the need for better conditioned athletes.”
That’s right Seminole fans, FSU has been soft under Jost.
At tailgates for the last few years, Jost has been a topic of discussion with my friends as yet another problem within the program. Sure, Jeff Bowden took most of the heat, but often enough, player injuries, lineman’s lack of strength and the fact that many of the Noles looked to be “gassed” by the 4th quarter (when FSU used to pull out the close victories), turned the conversation to a need to replace FSU’s strength and conditioning program. All it took was for the Jeff Bowden domino to fall, and now the rest go too.
Does it mean that the Noles are suddenly MNC contenders next year? No. An ACC title is still a realistic goal. But what it does mean is that the Jimbo Fisher offensive staff, and the return of Chuck Amato to the defensive staff want FSU having a no BS attitude. Soft doesn’t cut it in an ACC that has vastly improved over the last ten years. Soft doesn’t cut it when the game is on the line in the 4th quarter. Soft doesn’t cut it, period.
To be fair to coach Jost, I’m not sure how much control he had over player weights. A lot of times the position coaches control that, and the S&C Coach just executes it. I don’t know if he went to bat for the players, saying that adding some extra weight might not be the best of ideas. And, I don’t know if he But in reality, Jost is another one that takes a fall. The full cleansing of the FSU Football Program needed to happen, and Jost is part of an era at FSU that we all hope to forget.
By Bill Kristoph
It was a tough weekend for FSU Baseball and Seminole Softball. The FSU Baseball team lost 2-of-3 to the Clemson Tigers in their final regular home series at Dick Howser Stadium. Saturday’s game was a heartbreaking loss, as FSU blew a 6-1 lead late in the game. The Seminoles completely blew up on Sunday in an 11-6 loss to the Tigers. This was the first three game series that the Noles dropped this season. It’s not exactly what FSU was hoping for, heading into the final regular season series against Georgia Tech and then the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
FSU needs to figure out their 3rd starter quickly, and they need to hope that Tucker’s Saturday performance was a fluke. Sending Rosen back to the pen will spell disaster for FSU.
Seminole Softball was disappointing in the ACC Tournament. Coach JoAnne Graf didn’t feel like they played their best ball, at a time when they needed to, and it even appeared that ace pitcher Tiffany McDonald “ran out of gas” in the eliminating loss to Georgia Tech. FSU had worries about making the NCAA Tournament after the disappoint ACC Tournament, however those concerns were unwarranted. FSU is the #2 seed in the Tuscaloosa regional and will face the Cal Bears for the first time since the 2004 WCWS.
8-0 in 5 innings over UNC. They’ll play top seeded Virginia Tech at 3PM today. More at Seminoles.com.
Monica Montez was named the ACC Freshman Softball Player of the Year! You can read more about it at Scott Carter’s Tampa Tribune Blog and at Seminoles.com. Don’t forget that the ACC Tournament starts today at JoAnne Graf Field!