Rounding Third Softball

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.

USA Softball has announced a new evaluation method and system for consideration and inclusion to the National Team Program. The launch of the High Performance Program (HPP) will focus on player and sport development within the United States. The HPP will consist of four levels: local area identifiers, local area invitational tryouts, regional team events and USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT) age-specific tryouts.

The NCAA Division III Presidents Council has approved a blanket waiver on eligibility in 2020-21 sports season for all student-athletes as a result of the affects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The one-time waiver allows DIII athletes to compete this sports season without being charged a year of eligibility. In essence this grants all athletes in DIII an additional year of eligibility.

Alabama-Huntsville has announced that assistant Melanie Carter has been promoted to associate head coach. Carter joined Coach Les Stuedeman’s staff in 2010. Since joining the UAH staff, the Chargers have posted a 396-144-1 record while making nine NCAA tournament appearances. Prior to her time in Huntsville she was head coach at Shorter University for four seasons.

Letty Olivarez will be returning to the coaching staff at San Jose State the program announced. Olivarez worked as pitching coach for the Spartans in 2017 and 2018. She spent the past two seasons on staff at Texas Tech and also had stops at Arizona State, Stanford, and Cal State Northridge.

The Argentina Softball Confederation has announced it will launch a Women’s National League in 2021. The Liga Nacional Femenina will be made up of 16 teams split into four regions. The winner of each regional tournament will advance to a four team payoff. The winner of the final four will be crowned as LNF Champion.