The Ducks have been a perennial softball power and have made the College World Series 5 of the last 7 seasons.

However, in June ,Texas came after Coach Mike White with an open checkbook, offering him a reported $450,000 per year for 5 years, a huge increase over the $237,000 that Oregon was paying. Oregon declined to match those dollars and White left. Reportedly 4 players immediately decided to follow him to Texas.

A short while later, Ducks hired Oklahoma Assistant Melyssa Lombardi for a reported $345,000. A rift developed with some of the players, apparently because Lombardi started checking on their class attendance (gasp) and instituted a dress code (she says she simply expects her players to be "presentable" when they are out in public).

Regardless, more upheaval followed, and several more players transferred. At one point, I don't even think they had a catcher on the roster. Another pitcher quit this team this past weekend. Certainly this opened the door for Jordan Dail and she made a positive impact, although I worry that she may be quickly overworked. I think she is the "ace" of the staff with a 10-8 record and a 3.77 ERA.

I'm not sure how all of this affected Kaylee Hewitt's decision to sign with VT instead of Oregon, but I'm sure glad she did!

Below is a preseason story on the Oregon soap opera.



[Post edited by VTChip at 04/02/2019 7:59PM]