We’re going to have to make do without the British accents in the booth, but it’s already time for more World Cup. Less than a week after the end of the quadrennial soccer extravaganza in Germany, the annual softball event begins in Oklahoma City. Obviously, this one isn’t quite as big a deal, serving as one of several international rendezvous before next year’s World Championship in Whitehorse (yes, that Whitehorse, the one for which the 700-mile drive to Anchorage could be considered a short commute), but it’s still a chance to see the new-look Team USA, right?
Anyway, it’s July and I remain sweltering in Connecticut, instead of where I’d rather do my sweltering: Oklahoma City.
So please allow me some five-part softball ramblings.
1. Brittany Schutte is Alex Morgan
Excuse the soccer crossover, but it’s difficult to get the Women’s World Cup out of the brain. If it isn’t already, what should gradually become apparent as all the chatter about the final loss against Japan, the sustained drama, the painful penalty kicks and Hope Solo’s burgeoning (and deserved) mainstream acclaim recedes from post-WWC high tide is that the United States has a world-class striker in the making in former Cal star Alex Morgan. Lauren Cheney, Amy Rodriguez and a host of others will continue to have major roles, but if that isn’t the last major international tournament for a long time in which Morgan comes off the bench, then Pia Sundhage has some explaining to do.
Wait, I was talking about softball, right? Sorry.
Anyway, the point is that what you saw from Morgan in Germany? Brittany Schutte is ready for the same kind of showcase in Oklahoma City. Come to think of it, Schutte is used to putting on a show at Hall of Fame Stadium, given her penchant for home runs in the Women’s College World Series, but this could mark her arrival on the international stage. Make no mistake, just as Morgan had the benefit of Abby Wambach alongside side on the pitch, Schutte is well served by having Katie Cochran ahead of her in the Team USA order. Cochran is the offensive anchor of pretty much any lineup in which her name appears, as she showed hitting .519 with seven RBIs in 10 games in the Canada Cup. But Schutte’s three home runs led the team in British Columbia, and her 11 RBIs were second only to Stacey May-Johnson. Cochran hit almost exclusively singles in the tournament, but teams are going to have to come after her with something easier to drive if Schutte keeps going over the fence in response to teams going around Cochran.
I am a big believer in statistics and objective analysis, not as gospel but certainly as indispensable tool. But I’m also of the belief that some truths reveal themselves in more subjective ways. And when it comes to softball, one of those things is the sound a ball makes coming off the bat and the reaction a swing produces in the observer. When Schutte makes contact and you’re close enough to hear it — really hear it — your head perks up. It’s as true on a clean single to the outfield as a blast over the fence. She’s one of those gifted few who has it, whatever it is.
Now, all that praise aside (and trust me, I’m holding back), it will bear watching how she handles her at-bats. She struck out eight times and walked once in Canada. Without seeing the at-bats, that’s obviously too small a sample size from which to discern much, but while she’s been a relatively high-strikeout hitter at Florida, she also works counts well and swings at what she can do something with.
She struck out twice against Ueno hitting fifth behind Cochran in the final in Canada. A rematch in Oklahoma City might be the perfect opportunity to pull a Morgan. And if not now, then soon.
2. Shouldn’t you have started at the beginning?
Probably. Such are the perils of not having an editor.
But speaking of the beginning, losing Natasha Watley and Caitlin Lowe in one fell swoop is going to slow down any lineup. The good news is that’s about the only race Michelle Moultrie and Rhea Taylor might lose — and bet on even that being a photo finish. Moultrie and Taylor topped the order for Team USA six times in the Canada Cup, including the team’s final four games. The two combined to hit .333 in those games (13-39), and while those numbers suffered in four games against Australia and Japan (5-for-27 with one walk), it will be interesting to see if they remain in those spots and are allowed to develop in the roles. That isn’t to say Kelly Grieve or someone else won’t emerge as a better option for one of the spots, but Moultrie and Taylor just has a certain ring to it.
Taylor’s power numbers were a mild disappointment in her senior season at Missouri, at least given the development she seemed to show the season before, but nobody is going to complain if she hits .406 for Team USA by going one base at a time, as she did with 12 singles out of 13 hits in Canada (she also stole three bases).
3. Who is the ace?
Don’t count on getting an answer to this one. The team split pitching duties in Canada relatively equally between Whitney Canion, Keilani Ricketts, Jordan Taylor and Chelsea Thomas, and there’s no reason to change that equation here. Even if you believe the team needs a clear pecking order for Whitehorse next year, there’s plenty of time for that, not to mention an entire college season for three of the four to continue showcasing their stuff. Ricketts started the final against Japan in the Canada Cup, and while that didn’t go there, it’s reasonable to think she might get a similar call on Monday in Oklahoma City — emphasis on the Oklahoma City part of that, considering that a Ricketts-Jessica Shults battery might help fill up some of those seats on a weeknight.
Nothing tests a pitcher quite like heat and humidity (although Japan’s lineup might come close), so count the weather as an opponent to be reckoned with for the Team USA staff.
For what it’s worth, Taylor allowed just six hits and four walks and struck out 33 in 21 innings in Canada.
4. Welcome back, Jessica Shults and Valerie Arioto
Last we saw Oklahoma and California, fans were out of luck in getting to watch two of the best players in college softball at their best, Arioto out because of an injury at the beginning of the season and Shults missing for all but one game in the World Series because of an illness diagnosed late in the campaign. Both are back on the field, Arioto in a more extensive role in the tournament in Canada.
Admittedly, watching Cochran and Arioto in a walk derby might not make for the most compelling television, but it would go down to the wire. (I’ve already used the photo finish bit, right? Drat.) Before the injury, Arioto was my pick for USA Softball Player of the Year, and the two things I’m most eager to see are Ashley Holcombe picking off a runner and Arioto working an at-bat.
5. What’s it going to take to mention Stacey May-Johnson?
Sorry, my bad. Admittedly, for reasons of employment, I’m drawn toward the travails of the players on Team USA with college eligibility remaining, but one of the best stories of the weekend will likely be someone who coached in college last season. An assistant at Iowa during the spring, May-Johnson is the elder stateswoman of this team at the advanced age of 27. (Did I mention that I nearly choked to death on my morning coffee today after realizing in the course of writing an email that “Glory” came out 22 years ago? I’m old.) And with experience, apparently, comes the ability to hit the bejeezus out of the ball. The master’s degree in physics probably doesn’t hurt, either.
Your USA schedule
July 21: USA vs. Czech Republic, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
July 22: USA vs. Australia, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
July 23: USA vs. Canada, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN, tape delay)
July 23: USA vs. Japan, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
July 24: USA vs. Great Britain, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
July 25: Championship game, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Graham Hays 