D 3 softball

[justafan12]

My quick observations of the bracket:

9 of the 16 host schools were Pool C selections.
UMHB gets a host site and TLU does not.
SCAC gets 2 teams into the playoff (TLU and St. Thomas).  Just saw it was 2010 when this happened last.
Berry is #1 seed in their regional but does not host.
SUNY Geneseo traveling 1,300 miles to a regional.  That has to be some kind of a D3 record for travel.
I don't follow D3 like I use to but this is the first time I remember D3 releasing regional rankings the day before the selections released.

[WLCALUM83]

5/16/23 weekly honors (the last of the season) are now up:

https://nfca.org/divnews/ncaa3/carpenter-moran-claim-final-louisville-slugger-wilson-division-iii-weekly-honors

[Ron Boerger]

My quick observations of the bracket:

9 of the 16 host schools were Pool C selections.
UMHB gets a host site and TLU does not.
SCAC gets 2 teams into the playoff (TLU and St. Thomas).  Just saw it was 2010 when this happened last.
Berry is #1 seed in their regional but does not host.
SUNY Geneseo traveling 1,300 miles to a regional.  That has to be some kind of a D3 record for travel.
I don't follow D3 like I use to but this is the first time I remember D3 releasing regional rankings the day before the selections released.

Ah, no.  Just earlier this season the Trinity(TX) women's basketball team was shipped to Tufts for regionals, a little over 2,000 miles by car, 1750 point-to-point, and I'm certain there have been west coast teams flown further back east (or vice versa, but the latter is historically much more likely).

[justafan12]

My quick observations of the bracket:

9 of the 16 host schools were Pool C selections.
UMHB gets a host site and TLU does not.
SCAC gets 2 teams into the playoff (TLU and St. Thomas).  Just saw it was 2010 when this happened last.
Berry is #1 seed in their regional but does not host.
SUNY Geneseo traveling 1,300 miles to a regional.  That has to be some kind of a D3 record for travel.
I don't follow D3 like I use to but this is the first time I remember D3 releasing regional rankings the day before the selections released.

Ah, no.  Just earlier this season the Trinity(TX) women's basketball team was shipped to Tufts for regionals, a little over 2,000 miles by car, 1750 point-to-point, and I'm certain there have been west coast teams flown further back east (or vice versa, but the latter is historically much more likely).

Should have qualified my statement as being a softball record.  I don't follow D3 women's basketball very close.
Also, I noted that in the 16 softball regionals it appears that no conference has 2 teams in the same regional.  So any conference match up will not happen until super regionals if then.  I think that  might be a first for softball.

[TUAngola]

Trine's standout freshman P/DP Debbie Hill has won the 2023 NCAA Division III Freshman of the Year Award.  See link for story.

https://nfca.org/divnews/ncaa3/tucci-diii-freshman-of-the-year-2023

I didn't want to predict a winner before the announcement, but in my mind if there was a better Freshman in the nation she'd have to be really, really special as Hill is the 'lead dog' on this team both on the mound and at the plate.  In addition to being Freshman of the Year, she might be good enough for Player of the Year regardless of class.  I knew that Trine was getting an outstanding hitter when she committed to the Thunder, but where Hill has been key to this team's success this year is in the circle.  With Adrienne Rosey, Trine's best pitcher last year, out all year long, Debbie stepping in has been crucial.  Not many DIII teams can go 3 deep in quality starters with Hill, Anna Koeppl, and Alexis Michon.  This will be key if Trine is to make some noise in the World Series as you could be playing up to 7 games.

[TUAngola]

Trine softball pitcher Alexis Michon has entered the transfer portal.  I beleive she has one more year of eligibility.  I don't have any inside information as to the reason, but it's not a total surprise as her next school will be her fourth stop.  With the projected return of pitcher Adrienne Rosey to Trine's pitching rotation next season, it could be she wants to end her career where she can get more innings, or possibly play up a level or two.  Trine has another good class coming in next year along with a few transfers as well.  Last year's freshman class was outstanding which included 4 regular starters in Hill, Jo Trine, Tranter and Lee.  Key losses will be Woods and Ellie Trine from the outfield and Prather at shortstop.  Prather was a 4 year starter at short for Trine and was an outstanding defensive player.  Two other Trine players are also in the portal from what I can tell, Ruvalcaba and Kohut.

[Ron Boerger]

After four years in charge, Trinity(TX) coach Abby Hurley-Martin has left to take on the same role at the University of Rochester.  Hurley-Martin took over an oft-struggling program at Trinity and led it to its first winning season in five years in 2021, then to a twenty-win season the following year, but could not break the stranglehold perennial national contender Texas Lutheran had on the SCAC.  This year's team took a step back (15-28) but managed to deal then fifth-ranked TLU its first defeat in SCAC tournament play since 2016.  In Rochester she takes over a team that went 38-9 and came within one game of the super regional round in 2023. 

[phil]

Four schools in four years... in Division III... are you kidding me!? I wonder if she has – and will use a fifth year of eligibility from Covid. She'll probably need a fifth year just to get up to speed with the credits she'll need for graduation after all the transferring.

Trinity will always have a tough road in the SCAC with TLU down the road from them. Besides the difference in academics, TLU has in its employ several former coaches of the largest select/travel softball program in the country – the Texas Bomber organization. They also employ the head of the organization as the batting coach. They know what kids in Texas they can go after before these kids even realize they won't be playing for A&M or Oklahoma.