re: Remove

Yea, Petty will most likely start at 2nd, also can play 3rd, then still had Peterson ahead of her

(posted this on Robocoach, wanted to get yall's opinion too)

Well Beth Torina, this is the year you have been waiting for. Last year was absolutely awful for LSU softball. Torina has more pressure on her than ever. HOWEVER, if there was a year for LSU to make the WCWS, this year would be it.

IMO, LSU's down fall did not start last year, but right when COVID started. Remember, that 2020 year LSU started 21-3 with both the offense and pitching staff looking great. They were a top 5 team entering the conference season. Torina had just signed the number 2 class to come in that fall.

And Boom. COVID hit. LSU was never the same. Wickersham seemed like she was becoming the next big pitcher at LSU, was never the same. Gorsuch became uneffective. Sunseri was solid but never became the star we thought she was going to be. Tidwell and Cummins went from solid power bats to not being able to hit anything. And quietly that top 2 class couldn't participate in their senior year of high school softball or their last year of club. If you take a look at that class now, the only players who are still on the team are Coffey, Newland, and Cassanova (who doesn't pitch much). Those top recruits in Hayden Brown, Presleigh Pilon, Laney Roos, Morgan Smith, Emari Frazier, and Kennedi Houshmanzadeh have all transferred out after never being able to get roles on the team. IMO, LSU struggled with having such a large roster and it really hurt the development of these players.


You can dog Torina for her struggles, but you can't deny that she has an excellent team culture. Because after the end of the season, I was expecting some transfers out. The fact that not one STARTER from last year transferred out showed how strong that locker room is.


LSU has went from 27 players to 22 players. But more importantly take a look at the roster. LSU quietly added two vets in Karli Petty and Hannah Carson in the transfer portal. Second base and Catcher, two positions that have been an absolute roller coaster for LSU these last few years.

This is a very veteran group of position players. I expect a lineup such as

1.) 3B Coffey (Jr.)
2.) CF Briggs (Jr.)
3.) SS Pleasants (Jr.)
4.) 1B Clark (Gr.)
5.) LF Newland (Jr.)
6.) C Carson(Gr.)
7.) RF Redoutey (So.)
8.) DH Bergeron (Fr.)
9.) 2B Petty (Gr.)

LSU brings back their top 5 averages from 2022. Dobson gets a lot of heat, but this was a pretty solid offense hitting .292 with 65 homeruns. They do lose a big power bat in Sunseri, but Newland has gotten better every year and coach Torina raves about Redoutey. We will see what top freshman Maci Bergeron does offensively. She has a chance to be a big part of this offense, but I love that LSU doesn't have to depend on her to produce from day one.


Now to the pitching side LSU brings back there only dependable pitcher in Kilponen. Despite starting out as the biggest project on the staff, Kilponen is the only one who has truly developed. LSU loses both Wickersham and Sunseri, but they both became uneffective towards the end of the season. It got to the point where Kilponen was the only one you could depend on.

Coming into this year LSU also returns Chaffin who got her feet wet in SEC play last year, expect a larger role for her. LSU brings in three freshman pitchers in Berzon, Johnson, and Strood. It will be interesting to see the development of each pitcher.

LSU has a bit easier non conference schedule this year, some solid teams, but not many top notch teams early. I actually think this schedule is set up perfectly for LSU. They take on Oregon St(x2), Utah(x2), UL (x2), Michigan, Minnesota early. So mixed in with some cupcakes, LSU will take on tournament level teams, allow the offense to maybe carry early as the freshman pitchers get their feet wet.

Then comes the beginning of conference play. LSU avoids playing both Florida and Arkansas, arguably two of the top three teams in the conference. They start by going to South Carolina and then their first big challenge in conference is Tennessee and they get them at home. They then travel to a solid Ole Miss team before having a non conference tournament at home against some solid programs in NC State, BYU, and La Tech. Solid teams, but LSU should be favored in all of the games. Then they take on a solid Mizzou team at home.

OK. As you can see, the only top maybe 15 team LSU even faces is Tennessee at home. Its a schedule that allows LSU to grow their young pitchers, let a veteran offense lead and its senior ace lead.

Then uh oh here comes April. Its time to prepare this team for the tournament. What better way to see how your team has grown up and developed than a game against Oklahoma. Big home game to see if your team is ready for a super regional atmosphere against the best team in the country. Then you finish with a series at Auburn who should be very good, home vs a solid Miss State, at Alabama, and then home verses Georgia.

That means In April they will be challenged. IMO Oklahoma (obviously), Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia, will all at the very least be fighting for a chance to host a regional. I think this schedule is easy enough early so LSU racks up wins and confidence for their young players, but also late in the season challenges them to be ready for the postseason.

This team struggled with finding an identity last year. To be frank, they really did nothing well. Despite that they went 35-23 and 13-11 in conference. You can argue that was the worst year of the Torina era at LSU. I may be biased, but I cant see LSU being as bad as they were last season. I watched the games, And they were so fustrating at times because despite how bad they were at times, they finished tied for the 4th best record in the league. And after the way the season ended I think it made them go back to the drawing board, reevaluate what they were doing, and I think they will be better because of it. Torina knows her seat is getting hot, but I think she is confident in this team, that's why she isn't really saying much about the team. I think she just wants to let it play out and let them answer the questions. This is a very veteran team with a good mix of young talent. Ready to see how this season goes.

Back to the top for a sticky

I came across the Reveille article about the end of last season and a quote by Beth stuck out to me. She said:
“Obviously, this year did not go how we had planned,” Head Coach Beth Torina spoke after the game. “I think our team is talented, but we just could not overcome some of the distractions and some of the things that happened throughout. It’s not always about talent. This is not where we want to be, or where we plan to be, and we plan to use our off-season to find ways to improve so that we’re not in this spot again.”

It got me thinking about the state of the program and what "distractions" coach was talking about. Obviously we don't know what she was referring to, but having personally played on a very good team whose season was absolutely derailed by off the field issues before, it sounds a little too familiar. By my quick count there are 13 players gone from last years team through graduation/retirement/transfers so hopefully whatever the issue was in the locker room is either gone or has been fixed.

With four years left on coach Torinas contract (including this year), hopefully we will see a team on the field that warrants that hefty salary coach is making. Especially when you compare it to the pay some coaches across the country who have actually won a world series before are getting.

It seems awfully quiet so far this year. Does anybody have any connections or been to practice that can give us an update about how the team is shaping up so far? Season is just 11 days away!

Hown can anyone not be distracted by the one man cheering squad behind home plate. I give him applaudes for being a fan, but scaling it back would help the team focus on softball.

No way I was putting words in your mouth. My observations are my own. Just my opinion that is a distraction or the women like that kind of fan support.

No worries... since I've barked so much about him in the past, I was assuming that you were thinking I was calling him a distraction.

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since I've barked so much about him in the past, I was assuming that you were thinking I was calling him a distraction

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I was hoping that when Shemiah left that would be the end of him. That shite aggravates me listening to him on the TV when I’m watching