Ccajon2 said:

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A a buddy on Clemson board said that Cal has asked the ACC to cancel their softball season for next year. And yeah I said huh? There's only 12 players on the roster. They have no home field. And the players they recruited for 2026 I believe have all transferred. How can they compete with only 12 players on the roster.?

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Is this a July 15th fool's day? I can't believe this. It can't all because of coach Spencer? They were people transferring out AFTER Spencer was let go.

The way that I count personnel, the Bears should have nine returnees, five signed recruits from the class of 2025 & four transfers from the portal for total of eighteen (18). Any of my numbers could be incorrect. I also don't believe that the six recruits for the class of 2026 can sign with another school yet. The Bears may have a shot at retaining some of them if they can hire an impressive new leader for the softball program.

CalFanatic, what say you regarding this silence that is deafening?

S71. I completely forgot about the four players we got through the transfer portal. So if the five incoming freshmen are still here then you're right we have 18. However I think we only have two pitchers. The Ohio State transfer in Maya McGowan. It's Kiki didn't transfer then she had some innings. I believe this team will have something like 10 freshmen on it.

If Mya McGowan has departed, the team will be short of pitching. She previously signed but must be allowed to re-open her recruitment due to the resignation of HC Chelsea Spencer. In the short run, Spencer has ruined Cal's softball program. It might be the right move to cancel next season.

What a time to have "interim" athletic directors who are probably more focused on where they are going to be next year than in running Cal Athletics this year.

Cal Athletics is an utter calamitous program due to the leadership.

I thought I read they were not interim but hired as co-directors.

Irrespective, from what I understand, leadership knew what the hell was going on at the beginning of the season and did nothing about it. Unacceptable. Are we destined to be the "The Bad News Bears". I just cannot shed always the feeling of how we always manage to F up everything so catestrophacally. If there is/was even a consideration of not playing in 2025/2026 season, this is the ultimate failure. It will be like a 10U travelball team folding because the Manager could not keep it together. What a joke.

I suspect Chancellor lyons is helping with the hiring
Sadly, a good ad would have noticed months before head coach meltdown and maybe got her out of the picture the saving all of the transfers or most of them at least.
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The softball program should be a nice job for an up and comer in the softball community. They are building a new facility. The program has been in 30 something NCAA tournaments. Including the past few. They have a national championship. Cal is in one of the best softball conferences in the country. They are located in a state with great players all around, that is perhaps the most heaviliy recruited state for this very sport.

The University is world class in many ways.But athletic administration is not one of them. This is incompetence and mismanagement of the highest order.

It has been hinted at many times that there was a concern regarding the former HC. I do not know what the issues were but to be totally unprepared to move forward given the new facility and all the program history is impossible to understand.

Now Cal softball will be entering the prime recruiting season for the sport and there is no HC and some speculation that the program will not play the next season as they try and reset.

Softball is an NCAA mandated sport and one of the biggest platforms for women in college sports. This is unacceptable. But I also am not shocked that this department was not prepared to move forward quickly. The young ladies that play this sport here and their families deserve so much better.

I hope to see a new HC announced at any moment. But I suspect that is unlikely.

6956bear said:

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The softball program should be a nice job for an up and comer in the softball community. They are building a new facility. The program has been in 30 something NCAA tournaments. Including the past few. They have a national championship. Cal is in one of the best softball conferences in the country. They are located in a state with great players all around, that is perhaps the most heaviliy recruited state for this very sport.

The University is world class in many ways.But athletic administration is not one of them. This is incompetence and mismanagement of the highest order.

It has been hinted at many times that there was a concern regarding the former HC. I do not know what the issues were but to be totally unprepared to move forward given the new facility and all the program history is impossible to understand.

Now Cal softball will be entering the prime recruiting season for the sport and there is no HC and some speculation that the program will not play the next season as they try and reset.

Softball is an NCAA mandated sport and one of the biggest platforms for women in college sports. This is unacceptable. But I also am not shocked that this department was not prepared to move forward quickly. The young ladies that play this sport here and their families deserve so much better.

I hope to see a new HC announced at any moment. But I suspect that is unlikely.

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Such a sunshine pumper of a post. You must be new to Cal Athletics.

I, for one certainly did not elude to one particular party being the culprit. It alwasys take 2 or more to tango. Altough, when the ship goes down, irrespective of whomever is at fault, the Captain will always be blamed. (not to say the captain is guilt-free).

I can't imagine they wouldn't at least try to hire an interim coach. Skipping out on the season seems crazy.

BearinOC said:

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6956bear said:

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The softball program should be a nice job for an up and comer in the softball community. They are building a new facility. The program has been in 30 something NCAA tournaments. Including the past few. They have a national championship. Cal is in one of the best softball conferences in the country. They are located in a state with great players all around, that is perhaps the most heaviliy recruited state for this very sport.

The University is world class in many ways.But athletic administration is not one of them. This is incompetence and mismanagement of the highest order.

It has been hinted at many times that there was a concern regarding the former HC. I do not know what the issues were but to be totally unprepared to move forward given the new facility and all the program history is impossible to understand.

Now Cal softball will be entering the prime recruiting season for the sport and there is no HC and some speculation that the program will not play the next season as they try and reset.

Softball is an NCAA mandated sport and one of the biggest platforms for women in college sports. This is unacceptable. But I also am not shocked that this department was not prepared to move forward quickly. The young ladies that play this sport here and their families deserve so much better.

I hope to see a new HC announced at any moment. But I suspect that is unlikely.

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Such a sunshine pumper of a post. You must be new to Cal Athletics.

I, for one certainly did not elude to one particular party being the culprit. It alwasys take 2 or more to tango. Altough, when the ship goes down, irrespective of whomever is at fault, the Captain will always be blamed. (not to say the captain is guilt-free).

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Far from new to Cal athletics. How would you describe the situation? Fine and dandy? There is something rotten here regardless of who is at fault.

There are always hints to possible turmoil. This has been suggested many times. It is the responsibility of leadership to be prepared. The situation as I see it suggests they were not prepared.

Cal softball should be a good job. There should be numerous folks that would like to be the HC. There are many reasons for this. Some I outlined above. I am not blaming this on coach Spencer. Rather an unprepared administration who has a responsibility and duty to the players and remaining staff. And the many supporters of the program.

If I am wrong and you believe this is a great situation I would love to understand the reasons why you believe it to be so. Coach Spencer resigned. The folks that hire for the program need to move quickly to find a replacement. Good admininistrators have a ready list of candidates and a "rolodex" of folks to contact to gather information/interest on possible candidates.

I suppose what is occurring is the best possible way for what should be a very good program representing a great University to operate. This is not about coach Spencer or her staff and players. It is about Cal athletic administration. They routinely are not up to the challenges facing college sports. This is merely another example.

If only "sunshine pumping" is welcome then there will be damn few posts on this matter. This is a ridiculous situation for the program. My concern for the players and families were about the uncertainty surrounding the program, not the former HC. Players have the ability to transfer now. Many have done so. But if you want to move the program forward you need a HC.

You are right it takes 2 or more to tango. But once a move has been made like the HC resigning, the other party or parties needs to take action. But instead for now this looks like a leadership vacuum and the clock is ticking.

My son played D1 college soccer. His HC resigned after his freshman season. The leadership had a new HC in 10 days. The program was similar to Cal in that they were a postseason program with strong history. But the HC decided to leave. Good leaders are ready. Poor leaders are not. I believe Cal is letting down these women by not being prepared.

There should be strong interest in this job. Coach Spencer brought some winning back to the program. Lets see if the Cal leadership can find someone that can continue to move the program forward.

Coach Spencer resigning may have caught them flat footed. But that is not a reason for the long time to find a replacement. If there is not great interest for the job why is that? Probably not enough sunshine pumping on a fan board. Certainly not incompetence and mismangement by an athletic department where that seems to be SOP.

Go Bears.

Given the talent we have on the roster especially that we only have two pitchers that I know of, we're very likely to only win two to three conference games in the ACC. Probably a 20-35 record next year. It's taking a suspiciously long time to find another coach mainly because they've already looked at the talent on roster, the reality of no home field and took a pass. It's pretty sad if even the Santa Clara softball coach took a pass.

I think there's a lot of jumping to conclusions here. I'd suggest we simply let the process play out. I've only heard one rumor about someone who applied for the job- someone I would fully support and that's all I can say. I'd imagine that coach would likely bring a few players with them.

CalFanatic said:

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I think there's a lot of jumping to conclusions here. I'd suggest we simply let the process play out. I've only heard one rumor about someone who applied for the job someone I would fully support and that's all I can say. I'd imagine that coach would likely bring a few players with them.

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There seem to be some nervousness amongst the Arkansas softball fans pertaining to the Cal opening. Apparently Courtney's husband works for a national company and there's the possibility he can transfer to Bay area. Think that was the only sticking point but according to what I hear from the Arkansas fans is that they're pretty well thinking she's gone. I'll believe it when I see it.

CalFanatic said:

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I think there's a lot of jumping to conclusions here. I'd suggest we simply let the process play out. I've only heard one rumor about someone who applied for the job someone I would fully support and that's all I can say. I'd imagine that coach would likely bring a few players with them.

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I am in no hurry to hire someone. If it takes a month or two, so be it. The upcoming season is a bust. We must play even if we have zero wins. To be a top tier program we must take the beatings if necessary to grow. We don't play just because we can win, we play even if we lose.

I rather wait it out for a good coach than hire someone mediocre and be in a typical Cal athletics situation of being a doormat.

Ccajon2 said:

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CalFanatic said:

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I think there's a lot of jumping to conclusions here. I'd suggest we simply let the process play out. I've only heard one rumor about someone who applied for the job someone I would fully support and that's all I can say. I'd imagine that coach would likely bring a few players with them.

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There seem to be some nervousness amongst the Arkansas softball fans pertaining to the Cal opening. Apparently Courtney's husband works for a national company and there's the possibility he can transfer to Bay area. Think that was the only sticking point but according to what I hear from the Arkansas fans is that they're pretty well thinking she's gone. I'll believe it when I see it.

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Now, this I can get behind if there is any shred of possibility. This would be a major coup.

BearinOC said:

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CalFanatic said:

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I think there's a lot of jumping to conclusions here. I'd suggest we simply let the process play out. I've only heard one rumor about someone who applied for the job someone I would fully support and that's all I can say. I'd imagine that coach would likely bring a few players with them.

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I am in no hurry to hire someone. If it takes a month or two, so be it. The upcoming season is a bust. We must play even if we have zero wins. To be a top tier program we must take the beatings if necessary to grow. We don't play just because we can win, we play even if we lose.

I rather wait it out for a good coach than hire someone mediocre and be in a typical Cal athletics situation of being a doormat.

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Couldn't have said it any better myself, BearinOC.

We have a brand new, beautiful stadium on the way and play in a premier conference. Land the right coach. The emphasis on speedy hiring here is just not how i'm thinking about it.

I agree. Remember what happened with Stanford. Rittman had an altercation with some of the players parents so he was fired. I'm sure bear in OC knows all the dirty details of that, if I'm wrong. Anyway furds made kind of a rush hire. Richelle Hanson was a screamer and way over her head as a coach at Stanford. (45-105), but only like six conference wins over a 3-year span.

Ccajon2 said:

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I agree. Remember what happened with Stanford. Rittman had an altercation with some of the players parents so he was fired. I'm sure bear in OC knows all the dirty details of that, if I'm wrong. Anyway furds made kind of a rush hire. Richelle Hanson was a screamer and way over her head as a coach at Stanford. (45-105), but only like six conference wins over a 3-year span.

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Oh god. She was a horrible hire. I completely blanked her from my memory.

Also, the whole Rittman "altercation" was complete BS in my opinion...stirred up by none other than Chelsea Spencer's mentor, Mike White.

That's a whole other crazy story. But all in all, the focus should be on making the right hire, not just a quick one. I'm hopeful.

I truly hope that the rumors of not playing the 25-26 season is unfounded. Softball appears to be gaining momentum on the professional front (see AUSL's affiliation with MLB) and interest in college softball also continues to build. Would hate to see Cal softball left behind…

I'm in agreement that, while Coach Spencer stepping down may have caught the AD off guard, they should still have had a list of names ready to go (as 6956bear noted). Maybe they had that, but it's not clear. That being said, I do remember when Coach Spencer was hired, it did take close to 2 months before the formal announcement and hiring. Agree with BearInOC that I would rather have them do their due diligence than trying to come up with a quick hire. But I do think there is some need to do it quickly. As S71 noted, with coaching changes, any of our current players, transfer signees and incoming freshmen have the opportunity to back out (I forget the timeframe). Not to mention our 2026 commits can certainly reopen their recruitment. In fact, one of them decommitted from us and verballed to San Diego State. I can only hope that our current coaches are still maintaining contact with them all (the returnees, transfers and incoming frosh).

As for hiring the next coach, I'm also aware of the names of at least 3 coaches being looked at. Like CF, I can't divulge any names, but I would be very happy with any of the names (although I have an order of preference).. Each have their pros and cons. I hadn't heard about Dr. Deifel from Arkansas. If so, I agree that it would be a major coup. Regardless of who they choose, it should be someone who can re-establish the right culture. This was something that was lacking I think. I would also love seeing the involvement of more Cal athletic teams in terms of their support of each other. When my daughter played, she would frequently attend the events of other student-athletes to support other teams but rarely saw other teams supporting Cal softball (confirmed by me when I went to watch her games). This is something that both the HC and the athletic dept could help with…

I wouldn't necessarily say that next season is a bust certainly with many challenges. But with the right leadership, it could jumpstart the program to greater heights (yes, I know I may sound like I'm pumping sunshine but I think it's important to maintain perspective). I would love to see something like this from the next year's team. There certainly will be some challenges no home field next year; lack of practice facilities; seven known returners with none who were regular starters (I know S71 mentioned 9 but I'm aware of 2 who are unlikely to return but have not made it official). But there are many positives as many have mentioned new field with practice facilities; locker room/team room in close proximity (as opposed to having to go to Memorial Stadium for their locker room), we have 5 transfers coming (4 known; 1 hasn't made it official yet but is primarily a catcher) as well as 5 incoming freshmen, outstanding academics, location, etc...

CCajon2 mentioned the Stanford situation I don't know all of the background information but I agree that their handling of it with their hiring of Hanson did not appear to be great which contributed to some down years for them. They're doing well now. Hopefully we can get to where Stanford currently is (or beyond) without having to go through the challenging years.

Ccajon2 said:

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CalFanatic said:

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I think there's a lot of jumping to conclusions here. I'd suggest we simply let the process play out. I've only heard one rumor about someone who applied for the job someone I would fully support and that's all I can say. I'd imagine that coach would likely bring a few players with them.

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There seem to be some nervousness amongst the Arkansas softball fans pertaining to the Cal opening. Apparently Courtney's husband works for a national company and there's the possibility he can transfer to Bay area. Think that was the only sticking point but according to what I hear from the Arkansas fans is that they're pretty well thinking she's gone. I'll believe it when I see it.

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Dreifel would be an absolute home run hire for us. That said, it would seem unlikely we could come close to her current situation in terms of $$/cost-of-living factors. Let's hope she really loves her alma mater and the California lifestyle.

In the interim, Coach Deering nabbed Natalie Marshall from Kansas. Welcome!

Grand slam first weekend back after being cleared pic.twitter.com/XN5OfunGKx

— Natalie Marshall (@Natalieam18) May 15, 2025

Is Marshall a catcher or what's her position? GO BEARS!

Schroeder71 said:

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Is Marshall a catcher or what's her position? GO BEARS!

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Catcher. From Huntington Beach matter Day high School. Hasn't played much over her four years at KU. Missed herr entire junior year. Hit .259/2/9.

FWIW- We're definitely playing next season and actively recruiting additional players.... so the chatter on the Clemson board is absolutely wrong.

How many of the 2025 & 2026 recruit classes remain w/ Cal?

CalFanatic said:

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FWIW- We're definitely playing next season and actively recruiting additional players.... so the chatter on the Clemson board is absolutely wrong.

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THAT is good to hear. Are we playing conference home games at the Furds?!

Still need to find out where we're playing our conference home games. Furds?

Ccajon2 said:

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Still need to find out where we're playing our conference home games. Furds?

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To say nothing of who wi;;be playing them!

Just announced in an email by Cal Athletics - Steve Singleton will be our next softball coach. Good hire! Seems to know his stuff! Will be interested to see how he recruits. Go Bears!

BearinOC said:

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Seriously, it's time for CAL to step up, invest some real cash, and snag a proven head coach.

I dont know but I am very optimistic about our softball future. Perhaps I am an optimist.

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I must admit, I had a good gut feeling on how long it took to hire the new coach. I remained very optimistic about our softball program's future. I am pleased with the development, as he appears to be a highly qualified coach, and it seems we made a significant investment to bring him on board. If this is a preview of what's ahead for our football and basketball teams, I am thoroughly satisfied.

BearinOC said:

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BearinOC said:

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Seriously, it's time for CAL to step up, invest some real cash, and snag a proven head coach.

I dont know but I am very optimistic about our softball future. Perhaps I am an optimist.

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I must admit, I had a good gut feeling on how long it took to hire the new coach. I remained very optimistic about our softball program's future. I am pleased with the development, as he appears to be a highly qualified coach, and it seems we made a significant investment to bring him on board. If this is a preview of what's ahead for our football and basketball teams, I am thoroughly satisfied.

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Excited to see who he brings in for his staff. On the Softball America podcast yesterday, he mentioned he was just waiting on a confirmation call for the position (same day). Sounds like an announcement could be coming very soon.

CalFanatic said:

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BearinOC said:

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BearinOC said:

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Seriously, it's time for CAL to step up, invest some real cash, and snag a proven head coach.

I dont know but I am very optimistic about our softball future. Perhaps I am an optimist.

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I must admit, I had a good gut feeling on how long it took to hire the new coach. I remained very optimistic about our softball program's future. I am pleased with the development, as he appears to be a highly qualified coach, and it seems we made a significant investment to bring him on board. If this is a preview of what's ahead for our football and basketball teams, I am thoroughly satisfied.

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Excited to see who he brings in for his staff. On the Softball America podcast yesterday, he mentioned he was just waiting on a confirmation call for the position (same day). Sounds like an announcement could be coming very soon.

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Apparently my source does not trust me as much as I thought. My source knew Sunday morning and didnt tell me. lol