Rounding Third Softball

RTS has learned from sources that Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Head Coach Eric Neel is no longer with the program. It’s unclear to the reason of the early season departure and there has been no release or comment from MGCCC. Neel was in his second season coaching the Bulldogs. Danielle Barton and Ally Raines are still listed on the athletic department website on the coaching staff page as assistant coaches.

Southern Arkansas has held on to the top spot in this weeks NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. SAU opened the season last month 2-0. The Muleriders collected 15 of the 16 first place votes while No. 2 North Georgia collected the other vote.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Record	Last Poll
1	Southern Arkansas (15)	399	2-0	1
2	North Georgia (1)	385	6-0	2
3	Augustana	363	0-0	3
4	UT Tyler	353	2-0	4
5	Young Harris	327	5-1	6
6	Saint Leo	318	0-0	7
7	Texas A&M-Commerce	311	3-1	9
8	Rollins	292	0-0	8
9	Angelo State	271	1-1	5
10	Valdosta State	233	2-1	12
11	Concordia Irvine	231	0-0	11
12	Oklahoma Christian	220	2-0	13
13	Winona State	188	0-0	15
14	Saint Anselm	185	0-0	14
15	Lenoir-Rhyne	176	0-0	16
16	Southern Indiana	167	0-0	17
17	UAH	149	5-1	20
18	Rogers State	134	0-0	18
19	Indianapolis	115	0-0	21
20	Lincoln Memorial	106	3-0	22
21	West Chester	69	0-0	24
22	Tampa	50	0-0	24
23	Texas A&M-Kingsville	45	2-0	RV
24	Grand Valley State	43	0-0	25
25	Lubbock Christian	19	5-2	19

Receiving Votes: Minnesota State (17), Metropolitan State University of Denver (8), St. Cloud State (6), Francis Marion (5), Saginaw Valley State (5), Adelphi (4), Central Oklahoma (3), Biola (2), West Liberty (1).

RTS will enter the Atlantic Coast Conference “Pod” in Atlanta tomorrow to start the second weekend of Division I action in 2021. Georgia Tech with host ACC foes Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Clemson as teams face off at one site in conference play. Follow RTS all four days on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for real-time in game updates.

Schedule

Thursday 2/18

2 pm Georgia Tech vs. Florida State

4 pm Florida State vs. Georgia Tech

Friday 2/19

1 pm Georgia Tech vs. Florida State

Saturday 2/20

11 am Florida State vs. Virginia Tech

1 pm Virginia Tech vs. Florida State

4 pm Clemson vs. Georgia Tech

Sunday 2/21

11 am Florida State vs. Virginia Tech

1 pm Georgia Tech vs. Clemson

4 pm Clemson vs. Georgia Tech

The NCAA Division I Council is meeting today and sources have confirmed to RTS are expected to take action today or in the next scheduled meeting in March to extend the current recruiting dead period through May 31. Football, men’s basketball and women’s oversight committees as well as the SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) all support an extension. The current dead period which restricts DI institutes from recruiting off-campus, hosting recruits on-campus, or working camps, was set to expire on April 15. Division II and III are not restricted by this dead period and had all restrictions lifted last year.

Legendary Wayne State Coach Gary Bryce has announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Bryce has coached WSU for 40 seasons. The 2008 Hall of Fame inductee currently sits at seventh on the NCAA All-Time Wins list with 1,317 victories. During Bryce’s tenure the Warriors have made 23 appearances in the NCAA DII Championship tournament.

UCLA kept the top spot in this weeks USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll. The Bruins were only able to play one game last week starting the season 1-0. UCLA received 31 of the 32 first place votes to stay No. 1. No. 3 Oklahoma received the other vote after their record setting 4-0 opening weekend.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	UCLA (31)	799	1-0	1
2	Washington	749	5-0	2
3	Oklahoma (1)	732	4-0	4
4	Arizona	704	0-0	3
5	Alabama	639	4-0	8
6	Florida	620	2-0	7
7	Texas	602	0-0	6
8	LSU	559	2-1	5
9	Louisiana	539	0-0	9
10	Oregon	504	5-0	10
11	Oklahoma State	484	2-0	11
12	Kentucky	418	3-0	13
13	Florida State	408	3-1	12
14	Virginia Tech	351	3-0	15
15	Arizona State	336	4-0	16
16	Georgia	283	2-1	14
17	Michigan	261	0-0	17
18	Duke	223	4-0	25
19	South Carolina	221	0-0	19
20	Arkansas	212	0-1	18
21	Missouri	181	3-1	23
22	Mississippi State	174	2-0	20
23	Baylor	127	0-0	22
24	UCF	100	3-1	21
25	Minnesota	60	0-0	24

Receiving Votes: Utah (32) Tennessee (24), Stanford (22), Liberty (7), Northwestern (7), Oregon State (7), Texas Tech (7), Clemson (6), James Madison (1), Notre Dame (1).

New staff contributor Kris Caldwell brings her Legends of the Game interview segment to RTS. She recently sat down with members of the first Olympic Softball Team. The squad captured Gold at the first games to feature softball in Atlanta in 1996.

LOTG presents the 1996 Olympic Softball TeamLegends of the Game (LOTG) host Kris Caldwell chats with the 1996 Olympic Softball Team – catch up with where they are now, there favorite memories, how they…youtu.be

The Yellow Jackets had a perfect 5-0 opening weekend at their home event and was impressive in all facets of the game. The offense hit .421 as a team and looked like a squad that could not only work base-to-base in producing runs, but can play quick strike and the long ball having 10 homers through five games. Junior Kennedy Cowden stood out in a team full of offensive standouts hitting .545 on the weekend with a whopping 14 RBI and 3 home runs. The youngster, freshmen Emma Kauf, led the team hitting .692 and an equally impressive 4 doubles and 7 RBI. Even more impressive than the offense is the pitching staff.

Tech pitchers left the weekend with a 0.50 ERA and held opposing hitters to a meager .115 average. The staff was lead by what could be one of the best young pitchers in the country, Blake Neleman. The freshmen was 3-0 herself against the Buzz Classic Field with a 0.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts. New Georgia Tech pitching coach Marty McDaniel has his fingerprints all over this potential stud. The longtime Tennessee pitching coach seems to finally be doing (and being allowed) to do what he does best, making young pitchers into potential All-Americans. The Lady Vols loss seems to be the Yellow Jackets and Head Coach Aileen Morales’s gain and could prove to be a huge a factor on the programs upswing nationally.

Although the competition opening weekend can’t be a good long-term measurement on how a full season will go; the preseason pick of a ninth place finish in the ACC could prove to be a underwhelming prediction if this team continues to develop.

Desiree Ybarra has joined the coaching staff at George Mason for the 2021 season. Ybarra most recently worked as the pitching coach at Bradley. After her playing days at Cal State Fullerton she played professionally in Australia and Italy and was also on the Venezuelan National Team.

Oklahoma playing catch up on the mostly missed 2020 season and setting the tone for 2021. The Sooners demolish UTEP on opening day in El Paso 29-0 in five innings shattering a few records including 13 home runs in one game.