Rounding Third Softball

Stony Brook has added longtime LIU Post head coach Jamie Apicella to their coaching staff as volunteer assistant. Apicella compiled 826 wins in 21 seasons at the DII powerhouse. LIU Post eliminated their program after the 2019 season when Long Island University merged its Brooklyn and Brookville-based athletic programs.

As was expected, the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee has now extended the recruiting Dead Period for Division I through April 15, 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The current dead period was set to expire on January 2, 2021. Although DI Softball Coaches cannot regularly be off-campus during this stretch due to the established recruiting calendar other than for scholastic contests until after the WCWS in June, they will still be restricted from bringing recruits on campus for visits and conducting camps now through April.

Northern Vermont University-Johnson has named Anya Adams head coach. Adams spent the 2020 season coaching the Ghajnieslem Redcoats club team in Malta. Prior to her time overseas she was the owner and director of operations at Pure Performance Inc. located in Fairfax, Virginia.

RTS has learned Cal State Northridge has dwindled their candidates for their open head coaching position to two; San Jose State assistant coach Letty Olivarez and Cal State Fullerton volunteer assistant coach Charlotte Morgan. Both had just joined their current programs this fall. Olivarez joined the Spartans after being on staff the last two seasons at Texas Tech, while Morgan had been pitching coach most recently at UT Arlington before joining the Titans.

Information started to surface over the weekend indicating the Big 10 will go to a conference only schedule for the 2021 softball season. The news leaked that both softball and baseball will make the move to cut down on travel and expenses for the 2021 season as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. Numerous sources have indicated to RTS that “regionalization” of 2021 schedules will be made by most Division I Conferences. It is also expected most conferences will push the start of the 2021 season to March or even as far as April.

It looks as if NCAA will extend the current recruiting dead period for Division I to April 15, 2021. They are expected to approve the move brought to the NCAA Council by the Football Oversight Committee by vote next week on November 18. The extension is expected to encompass all sports RTS has learned from numerous sources. The current dead period was set to expire on January 2, 2021. Although Division I Softball Coaches cannot be off campus due to the established recruiting calendar other than for scholastic contests until after the WCWS in June, they will still be restricted on bringing recruits on campus for visits and conducting camps.

Information emerging earlier this evening has indicated all Ivy League institutes have made the decision to cancel winter sports and fall sports that had been previously been moved to spring, while also pushing spring sports season starts until at least the end of February due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. This move could indicate the distinct possibility that spring sports like softball could be a conference only schedule with the timing of practice and first competition dates. The Ivy League were also the first conference to cancel sports when the pandemic hit this past spring.

Bic Camera Bee Queen defeated Honda Reverta on Sunday 1-0 to claim their second consecutive Japanese Softball League Championship. Arguably the greatest softball pitcher in the world, Yukiko Ueno, pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 14 to lead her team to the title. The JSL Championship was the 13th in history for Bic Camera Bee Queen.

Former Japanese Olympic Softball catcher Emi Inui has become the first woman to be hired as a scout for a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club. She joins the scouting department of the Orix Buffaloes after working in player development at the club’s Youth Academy. Inui was a catcher on the Japanese National Team that earned a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

New Texas Tech Head Coach Sami Ward has completed her initial staff it was announced today. Both Randy Ward and Brittany Miller will be joining Ward in Lubbock after working on her staff at Loyola Marymount. Randy Ward, husband of head coach Sami Ward, will serve as associate head coach working with infielders and hitters. Miller will work as the pitching coach for the Red Raiders. Both coaches held similar roles at LMU.