Rounding Third Softball

A Lone Star Legend will take her place in the state’s Hall of Fame.

Former Texas Longhorn and U.S. Olympian Christa Williams will be enshrined in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame next spring. Williams starred at UCLA on their National Runner-up squad in 1997 before transferring home to Texas for her final two seasons. She was an All-American for the Longhorns in the both 1998 and 1999. Williams would also play for USA Softball winning Gold Medals in 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney.

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Ceremony will be April 13 in Waco.

The NAIA has released their 2024 Preseason Top 25 Poll. Oregon Tech topped the poll with all 19 first-place votes. Defending National Champion Southern Oregon is surprisingly in the second spot garnering no votes for No. 1.

1. Oregon Tech [19] 54-10

2 Southern Oregon 50-12

3. Cumberlands (Ky.) 49-5-1

4. Georgia Gwinnett 45-12

5. Marian (Ind.) 52-9

6. Science & Arts 42-15

7. Our Lady of the Lake 51-8

8. Central Methodist 42-12

9. Oklahoma City 48-11

10. Midland (Neb.) 41-15

11. Baker 47-12

12. Mobile 40-15

13. College of Idaho 49-10

14. Indiana Wesleyan 40-15

15. Northwestern (Iowa) 47-10

16. Middle Georgia State 43-14

17. Ottawa (Kan.) 42-11

18. Coastal Georgia 42-12

19. Hope International 41-16

20. Freed-Hardeman 27-15

21. Reinhardt 37-13

22. Southeastern 33-18

23. William Carey 39-14

24. (tie) Saint Xavier (Ill.) 37-14

24. (tie) Eastern Oregon 33-19

Receiving Votes: Campbellsville (Ky.) 96, Bellevue (Neb.) 60, Truett McConnell (Ga.) 60, Grand View (Iowa) 52, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 43, Concordia (Mich.) 41, Friends (Kan.) 36, Indiana Southeast 22, Madonna (Mich.) 21, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 21, Arizona Christian 9, Indiana Tech 7, St. Francis (Ill.) 6, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 5

Softball could soon be coming to South Beach.

University of Miami Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich has acknowledged softball will be the next women’s sport added to the Hurricane Athletics offering. “Now the timing, as it relates to a lot of things, is a little bit up in the air still, but it’s part of our initiatives to kind of move that along as quickly as we can.” Radakovich stated.

Miami is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the eventual addition of softball would bring the conference membership for softball to 16 (counting the future additions of California and Stanford).

“We have some folks who are very, very interested in being benefactors of the softball program, so we’re putting proposals in front of them to get some of the dollars necessary to build a stadium and start a program. I’ve kind of done that before, so I understand the timing of how that all works. Really excited about that opportunity.” Radakovich explained.

Softball is returning to the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Programme Commission (OPC) and Executive Board (EB) officially voted the return of the sport at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting on Monday in Mumbai, India. Softball was last included in the 2020 Tokyo Games, and was excluded in the upcoming 2024 Games in Paris. Softball along with baseball, cricket, lacrosse, and flag football were all approved for inclusion in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Abingdon High School Softball will be (Jelly) rolling their way to Florida for Spring Break.

The high school squad from Abingdon, Virginia was recently selling pizza to fundraise at the Country Thunder Music Festival in Bristol, Virginia when they got a little push to the Sunshine State. American rapper and multi-genre singer/songwriter Jelly Roll (Jason Bradley DeFord) not only bought the teams whole supply of pizza, but also contributed $6,000 to cover the teams flights to compete in their tournament next spring in Orlando, Florida.

Northwestern Coach Kate Drohan has signed a multi-year contract extension. Drohan has led the Wildcats since 2002 amassing 745 victories. Northwestern has made 16 NCAA Postseason appearances in her tenure, including a Super Regional appearance along with a Big 10 Championship last season.

University of Maryland Eastern Shore has named Aaron Robinson their new head coach. Robinson had recently joined the staff at University of Maryland Baltimore County as an assistant coach. He came on with the Retrievers after spending two years as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Team hopping just got a little tougher.

The NCAA Division I Council has approved legislation that will limit the time student-athletes can enter the Transfer Portal. The rules change will allow for 45 total days throughout the year moves to enter the portal can be made.

The exact windows for adding a student-athletes name to the Transfer Portal will be decided and divided up differently by each respective sport.

Maile Deutsch has been promoted to Associate Head Coach at Ottawa University in Kansas. Deutsch has been part of the Braves Coaching Staff since the fall of 2021. The move is the first step on her way to leading the program, as longtime Head Coach Jay Kahnt will be retiring at the conclusion of the 2024 season after 23 years leading the program.

The Oklahoma Sooners new facility is already getting an expansion. The $42 million Love’s Field project initially with a set seating capacity of 3,000, will now expand to 4,200. This will include 3,543 in fixed seating and an additional 657 in standing room. The state-of-the-art facility for the seven-time National Champion Sooners will open for the 2024 season.