Softball Love

No this post isn't about men's softball, but instead, is going to so a little love for the UT Women's softball team. For those that don't know, the Lady Vols played Michigan in Knoxville this weekend for a chance to go to the Women's College World Series. I watched the team play last year when they made it to the WCWS, but hadn't seen any games this year. I had planned on trying to go to the first game on Saturday, but woke up late and wasn't able to attend so I watched it on ESPN. I was kind of glad I didn't go looking at the crowd as it was a huge overflow crowd in that little stadium. I guess it's a good thing they are getting a new stadium. Anyways, the UT-Michigan matchup was basically a WCWS matchup since UT probably deserved a higher seed and Michigan was definately a WCWS candidate, especially since they won the title last year. I'm still trying to figure out how a team (UT) can have the nation's #1 defense, #1 offense, and one of the best pitchers and not be #1. Oh well, the mysteries of life. And the uniforms from Saturday were awesome. The white sleeveless, with orange shirt and orange socks were awesome. I really think the baseball vols need to get some of those. But anyways.

So on to the games. I really have to give props to all the softballers out there, as you really can't make any mistakes out there. Basically if you bobble the ball, the runner is going to be safe. That's a lot of pressure on a person. Speed also puts a lot of pressure on the fielders. That was seen by Michigan, as Tennessee might also be the fastest team in the country. They have a really tough lineup, with Fekete, the nation's leading hitter, leading off followed by India Chiles, possibly the nation's fastest runner. If you get a chance to watch these girls, watch Chiles run, cause that girl can fly. She might possibly be one of the fastest girls I have ever seen. And she is a really good slider. She had some awesome slides that she scored on that otherwise she would have been out. But onto my new favorite softball player of all time, Lindsay Schutzler. She is just a great all around player. She hits over .400 for the season, is fast, and plays shortstop with a cannon of an arm. She made some amazing plays over the weekend. Some of the plays she made over the weekend were just mind boggling. And she is clutch at the plate. She hit in the game winning run on Saturday, and just seemed to be involved in everything over the weekend. Needless to say, if you want to see a great player, watch the softball team in the WCWS. They play #1 UCLA at 9ET on ESPN2 on Thursday night to start the tourney for both teams. If there is any team that can win this, it's UT. As stated earlier, they have offense and defense covered. If they get some great ptiching in the WCWS, then they could definitely come back to Knoxville with the title. Go Lady Vol Softballers!