Which sleeper team (outside of the current top 10 rankings) do you think has the best chance to have a deep run in the WCWS?


Smith: I believe that No. 16 Missouri, No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 21 Cal could all do damage in the postseason! They are teams to watch for sure!

CalFanatic said:

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Especially if players like Acacia Anders stay hot. Congrats to Acacia on winning Pac-12 POW honors!

https://pac-12.com/videos/cals-acacia-anders-earns-pac-12-player-week-presented-rawlings

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Definitely but don't think hitting will be our problem unless we face a pitcher like Canady. Who are some of the other pitchers in our conf that might be just a step below her? I'm more concern with our pitchers. We need to be able to keep the scores low so that our bats will have a chance.

I expect Roelling to settle back into her groove. I think she had her confidence shaken a bit after the Oregon walk-off.

I happened to visit Utah's website yesterday and their scheduled Tuesday game was snowed out. The entire field was covered with the white stuff. I hope that Cal will be able to get their five games in but I would not be shocked if some are cancelled. I have not checked the weather forecasts for Ogden or Salt Lake City.

I checked out why Utah has been struggling and it's similar to Cal's early conference schedule. The Utes lost three straight at UCLA, salvaged one victory vs Oregon at home, and were swept last weekend in Palo Alto vs Stanford. Utah stands 1-8. Before last weekend's series vs Arizona, Cal stood 1-5. Then they lost the opener to the Wildcats and fell to 1-6. Then the Bears rallied to take the final two games and the series. Both wins were squeakers. Cal is now 3-6. Utah lost their hitting star Bonstrom and their #2 pitcher to graduation. Most of their players return from last season's successful season so they likely will be tough this weekend.

GO BEARS!

Cal bunts and runs themselves out of a potential big inning in the T1st. Bears get two runners on with nobody out vs Weber State and Chelsea Spencer has Kaylee Pond sac bunt for initial out. Then Tianna Bell grounds the ball back to the pitcher who throws home to get Acacia Anders for the second out. Then with runners on 1st and 3rd with two out, the Bears attempt to employ a delayed double steal. However, Tatum Anzaldo fails to score before Tianna Bell is tagged out. If Bell would have gotten into a run down, the Bears would have a 1-0 lead. Every game is another example of how not to play offensive softball.

Weber State will likely score runs off of Ryann Orange so I don't know why Cal plays so conservatively.

Acacia Anders is carrying the team on her back with both a double and a home run this afternoon. Weber State
is playing even with Cal so far.

I don't mind the bunt call. And to that, it was a beautiful bunt. If Pond didn't have the brace on... she might've beaten that out.

The base running is where my issues lie.

Anders takes a low pitch out of the park to tie the game 1-1. That was a tough ball to hit!

She's on fire.

Cal's infield defense is shaky. Errors committed by both middle infielders put runners on first and third w/ two out.
The batter bunts back to the pitcher but Ryann Orange slips and falls on her butt. Fortunately, she throws from her sitting position to get the final out of the B3rd.

Cal's two freshmen catchers have been a key to the offense this season. Herrera is clutch and Quiroga has bigtime power (9 homers already). Bears up 4-1!

Cal wins in 5 innings, 10-2, due to mercy rule. Offense woke up in the 3rd innings and scored 10 runs over three innings (3-4-5). Hope Alley homered to centerfield for her 1st Cal round tripper (I believe). Three more HRs!
Ryann Orange gets the victory, going four innings and allowing 2 earned runs. Ashanti McDade went the final frame to close out Weber State.

Game is blown wide open. Great job, Bears!

HOME RUN HOPE! 💥

First career long ball for @hopealleyy and we've blown it open in Ogden!

📺 ESPN+ #GoBears pic.twitter.com/uLkGB6HHWr

— Cal Softball (@CalSB) March 27, 2024

spring is coming to utah
https://bearinsider.com/forums/2/topics/110786/replies/2318631

Cal's game is postponed today. DH against Utah starting at 12:00pm tomorrow. Go Bears!

Good Friday game #1 has started with the Bear batters out in order against southpaw starter Sarah Ladd.

When is the last time that Cal has started fast and jumped out to a lead? Arizona possessed 3-0 leads in every game in Berkeley last weekend. Bears did not score until the 3rd or 4th inning vs Weber State on Wednesday.

Kaylee Pond was robbed of a double or triple by the Ute's CF.

Haylei Archer in the circle in the opener. GO BEARS!
Utah had lead-off single and the 2nd batter safe of an error by 1B Tianna Bell. Good defense plays executed the Mike Lee in CF and C Lagi Quiroga (threw out base stealer) helped escape trouble.

Cal answers my request with four right-handed hitters in a row giving the Utah lefty problems. Two singles and a sac fly score one and a wild pitch scores a second run. The fourth batter, Herrera, doubles in the LC gap. Todd, a LHH, hits a deep sac fly to RF to make it 3-0. Amazing-Bears jump out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

3-0 early lead in the 2nd. After many games of falling behind early, i'll take it! Great job Bears!

These bunts are killing me. Acacia Anders is out bunting with the top of the order due up and a 3-0 lead. Bears fail to score in T3rd with only a single by Tatum Anzaldo.

Cal's left-handed hitters are 1 out of 9. The right-handed bats are key to today's offense. The score is still 3-0 heading into the B4th.

Archer is doing what she does, throwing the ball hard and down. All 3 outs in the 3rd are by groundout. If it isn't broke...


Livestream: https://pac-12.com/live

It's broke. In the B4th, she yields three hits and a walk while retiring nobody. Utes tally 2 to make it a one run game with zero outs and two runners on. Cal brings in Randi Roelling to pitch. I hope that she has it this afternoon. I do not have a good feeling about this game. Bears scored in only a single inning and they're now using their #3 pitcher, Raci Miranda.

RR doesn't have it, currently. She faced three left-handing hitters and could not strike any of them out. One bloop hit by the #9 hitter and then three hard hit balls in succession. Utah had one hit until the fourth and now has taken control of the game, 6-3.

Absolute disastrous 4th as Utah bats around. The good news? No lead is safe against our hitters! The bad news? It seems no lead is safe with our pitching staff.

Time to battle.

Roelling has walked four batters in 1 2/3 IP. I was never aware of her control issues but she's walking people on four straight pitches. She survives the free passes and the score is still 6-4. Bears have six outs remaining to pull this game out.

Bears had three hard hit balls but Quiroga, Herrera and Todd are out. Todd hit the ball off of the CF fence and got thrown out at second. She's credited with a single. Base-running is a weakness of this Cal team. If she stayed at first, Bears would have had the tying run at the plate.

RR gives up another run in the B6th. She pitched three innings, yielding 3 runs on five hits and five walks! She failed to strike out anyone. She led the state of CA in high school strikeouts?

Acacia Anders has gone 0-4 and has not made decent contact the entire game. Two dribble grounders to infielders, a bunt of of her leg in fair territory and called out on strikes. No home runs hit by Cal in the opener.
Hopefully, the Bears rebound offensively in the nitecap.

Maybe Cal should pitch Ashanti McDade in game #2. I believe that Anna Reimers is injured. Annabel Tepperson has hardly pitched in conference play. I don't have confidence in Randi Roelling right now.

The pitching staffs for both teams each struck out one batter in the first game. I have a feeling that lots of runs will be scored in the second game of the DH.

The nitecap appears to be going Utah's way. Mariah Lopez, their southpaw ace, struckout Acacia Anders on three pitches and Tianna Bell on a called third strike. Kaylee Pond worked a walk. These southpaw starters are doing a number on Cal's left-handed hitting lineup (5). In the second, Lopez struck out Kylie Todd swinging. Elon Butler blooped a single to RF. Mika Lee fans. Anzaldo singled to LF but got thrown out stealing. Then AA walked and Kaylee Pond got an infield hit. Cal could have had bases loaded with one out but goes down with nothing. Tianna Bell strikes out for a 2nd time and strands two base runners. Lopez has 5 K's in three innings.

Haylei Archer is pitching strongly. She overcomes another infield error (Anzaldo). After three innings, Utah has only two bunt singles against HA.

Cal scores in the T4th on a double by Elon Butler and a single by Lagi Quiroga on an 11 pitch AB.

Lopez toys with the majority of Bear LHs. In the top of the 5th, Anzaldo grounds out to 3B, Anders takes strike three & Pond rolls out to 2B. Mariah has 7 Ks with 5 being against left-handed hitters.

The bottom of the 5th, Haylei Archer walks the Ute's #9 hitter to lead-off the inning. This could be the tying run with the top of the order coming up. Nope. Archer gets a strikeout, ground out & line out to third base. Runner is stranded at third.

Cal had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the T6th, but Quiroga & D'Auna Johnson popped up on rise balls.
This failure to cash in an insurance run could come back to haunt the Bears.

Does anyone know why the second run was wiped out in the top of the 7th inning? I'm lost.

Best game pitched by Haylei Archer this season! Split double-header shutout victory. Quiroga drove in only run.

Archer has had the best month of any Cal pitcher: 41IP 3CG, and 2 shutouts. She's the ace of the staff going forward AFAIC. I think for now, RR should just pitch the OOC games. She's pitch 44 innings with 29 er. Too many walks! 9 in her last 2 appearances. Reimers hasn't pitched since 3/17, so I don't know who can back up Archer. Maybe Teperson, who's only pitched 7 innings this month. I just think there's something wrong with RR, and looking at who can replace some of her innings.

Furds lost 11-3. Outside of CANADY, their pitching is Mediocre. Furds enjoying a 7-1 conference record, and will likely be tough to beat for the title, but there's a trio of teams behind them with 2 losses that they still have to play.

Utah exploits Cal's weak defense for a run in the B1st on a bunt single and running wild on the bases. Elon Butler threw the ball away at third base allowing the unearned run.

Cal institutes bunt mania in the T2nd with every top hitter ordered to give themselves up to sac bunt. Bear base runners seem to have no idea what to do on a sac fly by Todd.

Both coaches "protestest too much". In every inning, one or both are out to contest umpire's calls.

Heading to B2nd, game is tied at 1-1. LHP Randi Roelling attempts to find herself on the mound for the Bears. The majority of her pitchers are high and easy to hit. Few curve ball or screw balls or change ups to throw opposing hitter's timing off.

Tv announcer pointed out that Cal has not taken a softball series in Utah since 2012.

Southpaw RR seems to have no advantage against left-handed hitters. Belarde has singled twice today already. Nelson robbed of extra hit by Mika Lee up against the centerfield fence. Roelling seldom gets a swinging strike because she doesn't fool anyone with a change of speeds and pitches.

Cal takes one run lead (2-1) off of Miranda with back-to-back doubles by Butler & Quiroga. LHP Mariah Lopez enters in relief for Utah. RR retired the side in order with two on strikeouts. She is getting some of her pitches down in the strike zone and then throwing a rise ball which changed the sight lines of the hitter. Maybe Randi is beginning to find herself out there.

Bears had two runners on base vs Lopez by an error and a walk but Tianna Bell strikes out for the third time against the lefty with called strike three on the inside corner. The tv camera shows her smiling as she walks away.

Roelling retires side in order again in the B5th.

Chelsea Spencer-you are killing an semblence of an offense. Elon Butler leads off with a single but gets forced at second on a sac bunt attempt by Lagi Quiroga. OMG. Please try a stolen base rather than giving up one of your couple best hitters who previously doubled in the go-ahead run.

Mariah Lopez has four different pitches that she mixes up plus high velocity on her fast ball. RR should watch how she keeps batters off balance and strikes out a ton.

Here we go, again. RR walks the lead-off hitter, Dayton, and also happens to be their fastest player. Denning follows with a single to left center for two on with nobody out. See that Chelsea-no bunting and now the Utes have an opportunity to not only tie the game but win it.

Actually Roelling got three consecutive ground balls but Quiroga air-mailed another throw into the outfield to cost the lead. She did that yesterday, too. Perhaps, Herrera should be used as the catcher when the game is on the line late.

Roelling loses because of two unearned runs by a weak infield defense. Utah's southpaw pitchers completely shutdown Cal's LH hitters. Acacia Anders never squared up anything in three game against a lefty. She struckout four times and hit a bunch of soft rollers to second base. If she was the hottest hitter last weekend, I would nominate her as the coldest hitter this weekend. Utes were 1-9 in conference until they met the Bears.

Randi Roelling only yielded one earned run on 4 hits (no extra base hits) over 6 IP which is a major improvement.

Cal's long ball prowess has disappeared against Stanford and Utah in three game series. Chelsea Spencer needs to cool her jets on incessant bunting which accomplishes negligible results. Bears are scoring less and less as the season progresses in conference play.