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VTChip

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Here are some of the transcribed highlights


Here are some of the highlights of the Podcast. I certainly didn’t capture everything - and I used some of the information in my preview story, but hopefully I hit the most interesting points.

Coach D'Amour:
This is a totally different spring than the past years and from the fall. We have had some really good practices. The majority of kids got better during the break. Coach like to be very structured and send our practices plans each week, but COVID has forced the team to operate on the fly more than he would like. They almost have to take it day by day.

Three words to describe this year’s team: “Hard-working, business-like, and focused”Also “hungry.”
Best description the girls came up to describe the team “Silent but Deadly” SBD will be the theme for the year

Three words to describe the coaching staff: “Hard-working, they care, and are innovative.”
Preseason polls: Rankings don’t matter, but “you’re being recognized as having a respectable program. But that’s where it ends. Now it’s over. Let’s get better today”

The ACC has gotten better and continues to get better. Florida State put the league on the map by winning the national championship. Everybody took notice and had to up their game. It’s good for the league. It helps everybody.

Jayme Bailey: “It’s easy to coach her. You tell her once and she gets it. She works hard, but knows when to have fun. She’s a good example of what our program is – one of many.”

Kelsey Bennett: “Good off-season. She’s playing lights out defense, like normal. Had a break through with her swing yesterday. Other players saw it and noticed it. She’s still working. Not flashy, but gets the job done.”

Keely Rochard: “Her pitches are spinning better than last year, which is saying something. She wants to be great and when you want to be great, you put the work in to do it. She’s still doing it. Last year is over for her…Sometimes when a player gets a bunch of accolades, they think they’ve arrived – not Keely. She came into the office yesterday and said ‘last year is over, it’s a new year – my job is on the line’ … I said, “yeah, right.” But she want to get better and that’s all you can hope for with one of the best players on your team…when she wants to get better, everyone else sees that and it ups everyone else’s game.”

Keely is mentally tough. She wants the ball. When she gives up a hit, it doesn’t matter… The best pitchers have several pitches and you can’t sit on anything. Keely is not just a rise ball pitcher any more…you just can’t sit on her rise. That’s what makes her so dangerous.”

It’s been a real team effort during the off-season. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better defensive outfield than this one. This team just goes and gets it. Good arms, good reads. The infield has the potential to be a really good infield defense. Behind the plate, Mac and Alexa is back there – Alexa’s are has gotten much stronger - she’s had a really good spring. Hitting-wise, there’s no one in our lineup to sleep on – we’re just hitting the crap out of it. I hope it continues. I don’t want to single anyone out, but Cana is back and is hitting the crap out of it. Grace is doing her thing.

Defensively and offensively, we’re pretty stout. And when Keely is on the mound, we have a chance against anybody. At the end of the fall, I thought we have some kids that could go and not only be innings eaters, but also compete. Now, some days we have that and some days we don’t. ….The question mark is who wants the innings after Keely.

We have some freshmen that have the potential to do it. And I think they can do it. You just never know with freshmen. Bennett and Bailey came in here and were fine. But that’s not true of everybody. The biggest thing for freshmen is to compete is not just physically, but mentally. The game is faster. I try to remind them - you’re here for a reason. You’re part of Hokie softball, now – you’re good. Just by default. But to have the players to believe that is the key.

The schedule was basically done for us. ACC said 38 conference games with no ACC/Big 10 challenge. So you have to play UVA twice, Radford, Longwood, and Radford takes you to 49 games. It really wasn’t too big of a challenge. Originally the pods had all 6 games at Georgia Tech, but the Clemson coach called and suggested that we just stop there and play 3. We wanted to save some wear and tear on Georgia Tech’s field.

Playing good competition early. You’re throwing them into the fire early and hopefully that hardens them for the rest of the year. I remember the first game at Clearwater last year – we weren’t ready for it. We had a lot of kids that were just young and never in that position. Their eyes were open to that level of competition. They learned that had to get used to it.
Normally I like to play a lot of players early just to see who can win a spot. You try different lineup. I’m not going to do that as much this year. We’ve got to go right away. I don’t think the lineup will be much different from week 1 to week 4 like it was last year. There’s more on the line earlier this year.

It will be nice to be home in early March, but there are more distractions at home. We play good on the road, but we’re looking forward to playing at home. Looking forward to the wind blowing out. Don’t necessarily what the fan situation will be, but if we have fans, pack the place. It might be 250, if that’s the case, we’ll pack it pretty easily. Just ready to go play.

[Post edited by VTChip at 02/10/2021 4:03PM]

(In response to this post by VTChip)

Posted: 02/10/2021 at 12:10PM



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Current Thread:
 
  
New Softball Podcast is Up -- VTChip 02/09/2021 3:52PM
  Here are some of the transcribed highlights -- VTChip 02/10/2021 12:10PM
  Away -- HokieMama18 02/10/2021 4:04PM
  I think you're correct -- VTChip 02/10/2021 4:07PM
  Games -- HokieMama18 02/10/2021 4:16PM
  Thanks for the information as always ** -- Jbohokie63 02/10/2021 12:40PM
  That SBD description stinks :) ** -- ronvpi 02/10/2021 12:14PM
  Why the substantial difference in the number -- GCHokieof91 02/10/2021 11:52AM
  It's a bit misleading because of the pod games -- VTChip 02/10/2021 12:19PM
  Do the pod games... -- HokieJack 02/10/2021 3:27PM
  Schedules -- HokieMama18 02/10/2021 4:09PM
  Gotcha. Thanks. ** -- GCHokieof91 02/10/2021 1:29PM

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