gdot

sure we've had many/any that improved as much as she did in her time at VT. Looking back to her freshman season and comparing that to what she did this year and now at the professional level is a remarkable success story. Reading what type of person she is outside of softball, I couldn't be more proud of her, and very thankful she chose to be a HOKIE.

expectations for our teams. This team probably overachieved if you want to go back and evaluate where we were in February. This team was young by many comparisons. A sophomore who only played sparingly and a freshman in the outfield, a sophomore at 3rd and no experienced pitchers that didn't have major issues. Thankfully the kids rose to the occasion and performed admirably. Hate to think where we would have ended up without the emergence of our 2 freshmen pitchers. In hindsight that's one of my few criticisms of this staff. Pitching is such an integral part of college softball one could question why we didn't bring in 1 or 2 proven and experience pitchers to bridge the gap. Can we second guess other decisions made, sure, that's part of what fans do. But looking at the positives the program is pretty darn lucky. Because of the weather we have to play 2/3 of our games on the road, need some facility's upgrades and maybe some additional NIL $$$$. But we have a team full of great kids who give it all and probably hate to loose more than the rest of us. They come to Blacksburg from all over to play for a coach who they seem to both admire, respect, and play hard for. Some coaches seem to just exploit the great players they have, some like Pete seem to try to make each kid a better version of themselves. So for me I'm going into the fall with pride and anticipation regarding the potential of VT softball 2027. To the players, thanks for all you have done and for being great HOKIES.

Walks have been an issue all year and we've been fortunate to have for the large part minimized their damage. But you can't have 5 walks the first two innings against a host team and expect to be successful. The best analytics are worthless if the pitching staff can't throw strikes. The pitching coaches need to prioritize consistency before we have a chance to break thru to the next level.

credit for not only how well they played but for how they represented VT. The only negative was our couple of flaws surfaced again during the game. Walks and wild pitches that weren't blocked by the catcher were costly. Regardless, it's been a great year and hope the team can make it to Oklahoma.

solid as a lead off hitter as well as a terrific CF. Plus seems to be a fantastic teammate!!!!

key pitchers are freshmen and a junior; outfielders are freshman, sophomore and junior; and infielders are sophomore, senior and 3 juniors. with pitchers coming in this team truly has a bright future. My only criticism the last couple of yeas is the amount of walks we surrender each game. I would guess its the biggest single contributing factor to our losses. I don't pretend to know why it continues to happen but would have thought with the pitching coaches we have on this team, walks given up could have been drastically reduced.

is it that Virginia Tech is one of only two power schools who have never one a national championship in any sport???? Is it money, facilities, location, coaching, low expectations, apathy, or something else. It was mentioned this weekend that us and I think Kansas State are the only two without a Natty. I can only think of one (football) that we played for. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts.

ready when the game starts. A lot of early walks and yesterday several wild pitches. Just curious.

before he made a change. Very few teams could overcome al the walks and wild pitches. Plus the HR came with bases loaded and Mazz was forced to throw a strike.

one would think our pitchers would be more consistent. They haven't in my opinion. And sadly Mazz has been one of those having the most control issues. Coach said last season he even had a talk with her and told her to slow the speed to regain control. Still broke and seems like she has more trouble with left handed batters. Not sure if the statistics support that or not. Seems worse at the beginning of the game or inning.

1st inning Mazz has been lucky so far this season but something needs to change.

* fun to watch but just seemed not to have the intangibles required to win close games * Neo's style of offense seemed to be polar opposite to the offense of Coach's choice. Neo liked to probe the defense with his back to the basket and took way to many fall away shots. Seemed to seldom attack the basket or shoot pull up jumpers. The offense stood around when he had the ball and as coach said the ball got stuck. Once film was out on Neo, I think defenses had his number. Hedge the screens and collapse on him once he turned his back. *Our defense was admirable on three point shooters at times but seldom could defend the big man rolling to the basket *Tobi was really fun to watch but was far from a polished BB player. Made tons of mental mistakes, left his feet early on close outs and had no business shooting as many 3's as he did. * Hammonds was the star if there was one but yet he left several games on the table with mental mistakes in late game situations, possible trying to do too much * Others members were too inconsistent from one night to the next. Shoot the eyes out one night and go 0 - ever the next * I always heard the difference between good and great players is great ones can produce night after night and in clutch situations If that is true, this team didn't have any great players. *Finally I really like the Coach but it seemed like it took him most of the season to install a decent out of bounds play for the end of the game *Don't pretend to know the answer or how to solve our basketball woes; only know this year was frustrating for one and all.

that's insane.

last triple against Auburn. I have never seen a more efficient softball player. The way she rounded the bases on that hit was textbook. VT is lucky to have both Chatfield and Lynch

* This is really a good team and they've consistently proven it * It seems the returning players have all improved their hitting and their patience, kudos to Rohs, Aldridge, and Yaeger as examples * The incoming freshmen have been a pleasant surprise, Gabby is hitting like an upper classman and the young pitchers have made huge contributions * We haven't seen a lot of the players Pete brought in from the portal but he hit a Home Run with Foster * Chatfield is seeing a beach ball when she's in the box and seems to be getting better each week and may break Peck's HR record before she leaves VT * Castine has shown flashes of herself before her injury, she was amazing before she got hurt, had more grand slams in a month than most kids get in a career * Lynch is a phenomenal player, she's a great fielder at the corner, a consistently clutch hitter and maybe the fastest baserunner we've had, she was amazing to watch going around the bases yesterday for her triple, she had no wasted motions and was trucking, be a great video study for all baserunners * Mazz is amazingly unflappable and seems to be able to get out of any situation she finds herself in, she seems to be more focused after runners are on base * Bree proved today she's human but boy has she been great on the mound. She's come in the game into some tuff situations and basically been unhittable ***Always heard people say the difference between a good team and a great team is consistency. If that's indeed the milestone then this team through 4 weeks has been great!!!! Hope the team's success continues as they are truly enjoyable to watch and support. Go Hokies

should have won 4-5 additional games where we had late game leads and then couldn't score and couldn't stop the other team. Unfortunately, flaws seem to show up under pressure and it's no different with this year's team. This team has a BB prodigy that for some reason is not aggressive on offense and is not great on defense. He's slow to help from the weak side and results in easy baskets; and plays tall on defense which allows shorter quicker players to get by him. On offense while he probes the defense everyone else is mostly standing around (excluding one possible screener). He very seldom attacks the basket and most of his shots are falling away which personally I feel effects his accuracy. We have a freak athlete who is fun to watch when he's in the air but is prone to gaff's on both sides of the ball. He's often the first to leave his feet which results in him unnecessarily fouling his man or allowing an uncontested shot. Last night he seldom hedged on the guard coming off the screen which resulted in a career night for that player. One of the exceptions was at the end when he committed his final foul. On offense the same flaw often results in his shot getting blocked around the rim. We have our forwards/post who want to shoot threes at the seemingly worst times in the game when their % is abysmal. We have one of our best shooters come in and nails two threes in a row and then can't find him anymore for long periods of time. We go to our bench to save our starters but instead of helping costs us 2-3 possessions a game. Coaches need 3-4 losses before the team has a decent inbounds strategy. Players still don't know the cost of fouling a 3 point shooter. Many on this board rationalize that this team is basically young that it needs time to grow. Most of this team will be gone next year. And if our budget is as bad as everyone says, we will be back here again with a similar young team. We have to figure out how to emphasize BB IQ and cut out the stupid, game costing mistakes we are now making. Both the coaches and the players need to play to their individual and team strengths and they should all know what they are by now. Granted you can't teach athleticism, but you can teach against the repetitive, stupid mistakes we now make.

poor defense poor rebounding, poor foul shooting cause it really doesn't matter. We are going to do something self-inflicted to loose the game. And I left out how we find a way to make a star or super hero out of a player on the other team.

an annual problem with us. And coach's pitching philosophy didn't last long. If you ride a pitcher who's having control issues you will lose more times than you win.

to have a commemorative cup/mug, t shirt, hat or something for the first football game that says "The future starts now!" or "The Franklin era begins" or something like that, that is catchy. I would think those in attendance would consider the purchase along with many fans and alum who can't make it to the game. It could be a Hokie collectible for fans and raise a lot of money for the football program. Any thoughts?

against good opponents by walking batters, hitting batters and throwing wild pitches. And hope the coaches have a short leash with who's on the mound. As coach said you can always put the pitcher back in if you choose. But what you can't do is always recover when you spot a team 5-6 runs.

Hokie sports. I posted something similar a week or so ago, most of our sports have a similar problem that Franklin found with football. Simply we are not talented, athletic and deep enough to compete at the highest level. He quickly sought to upgrade the talent level on the field and on the bench for competition. Many of our other programs are in the same or even worse shape. WBB is no different. I truly believe CMD has done an admirable job with the group she has, but to compete with Duke, Louisville, and ND we need a major upgrade. The difference between great players and good players comes down to one factor and that's consistency. Our kids are good and can play great on certain nights but they are not consistent night after night or even quarter to quarter. Hope success in football gives us the revenue to invest in our other sports. It would be exciting to see a competitive soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf, swimming, baseball, or basketball team with a VT logo on their jersey ** Edited by gdot at 2/11/2026, 2:09:47 PM

predicted. I was just drawing an analogy to football in that if we are truly going to compete at the top of the conference, we need a major upgrade of talent and athleticism at every position including the bench. Not a criticism of anyone just a fact of where we are at VT sports wise.

Franklin found the football team didn't have the talent nor depth at any of the positions to be a major competitor. I think both basketball teams need an upgrade in talent and athleticism at every position plus competition on the bench. Top teams in the ACC have better ball handlers, better and more consistent and athletic shooters, and a bigger and more talented post game. Love watching the kids we have but we need major investments in both programs to compete at the top of the conference. And off the subject I can't understand why Nelson comes out for long periods of time. It seems the offense runs more efficiently with her at the helm. No one else can bring the ball up the court or run the offense without killing their dribble and killing any momentum.

She struggled her freshman year but has gotten much better each year after. Congratulations

How the officials allowed that will never be understood or acceptable

shooting team. I think he was right. They are just inconsistent in that regard. Also love Tobi but please quit shooting the 3 and take your unique skills closer to the basket. I'm not sure what's going on with Neo. He has all the skills in the world but his shooting efficiency is abysmal and seems to make several really dumb decisions during the game. His pass across court to the corner that went out of bounds was a head's scratcher. Still time for this team, but it's evaporating quickly. ** Edited by gdot at 1/31/2026, 2:25:29 PM

the rest of my life. They were discussing people he had met and coached and the interviewer asked him if he could judge people's character by how they treated him. He responded by saying, you can't tell one's character by how they treat people they need, but you can tell who they are by how they treat those they don't need. Most profound thing I've ever heard a coach say.

plays and late game press situations. At times they act like they've never done it before. And way too often they catch the inbounds pass at the baseline where they can easily be double teamed. This aspect of the game has to improve or their post season possibilities will end quickly.

three point range. It seems the ACC coaches have taken his European game away from his and he hasn't been able to adjust. He has great vision and is a above average passer. He's not great defensively and doesn't seem quick in any aspect of the game. Hope he can adjust and find a grove here at the end of regular season.

their percentage is bad plus it takes them away from rebounding. If we are to have a chance down the stretch each player has to play to their strengths.

she able to work out with the team or completely shut down? ** Edited by gdot at 1/16/2026, 3:20:11 PM

out of bounds and then the missed front end of 3 one and one situations. And finally a 1 in a 100 half court shot by SMU. You just can't do that on the road playing a good team and expect to win. Truly a shame! Can't wait for football!!!!!!!!!

he has basically brought in a top 25 class for this year (26), plus brought in a top 25 class from last year (25) through the portal additions. And he said in an earlier interview that his 2027 class that he was recruiting was even more impressive. So that would be the equivalence of three straight recruiting classes ranked in the top tier of classes. So he's giving himself a chance to be really good in 2026 and then get better and better in each of the succeeding years. By his 3rd year and maybe even his 2nd year, if he can keep it up and his coaches do their jobs, the Hokies have a chance to be something most of us have dreamed about since the Vick era. It's taken a long time but I'm proud and thrilled of the position we are in and the what the future may offer.

won a national championship. It was terrible today how tight they called fouls but Liz got pummeled and there were no calls. It was a shame what they allowed back then.

free throw giving us a 2 point lead, I'd foul one of their worst players. They were in 1 and 1 situation. If they missed either and we got the rebound we win. If they made both we'd have about 10 seconds to take a last shot for the win. Did not have want to give them a chance to win with a three with no time on the clock which is exactly what happened.

the wrong direction.