Softball: It’s the CIF-Southern Section championship game. Bottom of the seventh, two outs, full count, bases loaded. Who do you want holding the ball and why?

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  • Anonymous

    O’Leary no question. She has proven through out the season that she can get you out with a drop, rise, curve, screw, or change at any pitch during the atbat. She is also a leader and a team player with big game experience and it doesn’t get any better than that.

  • Anonymous

    The obvious problem with that is by that time in the game, La Canada has brought in their closer.

  • chkyrslf

    These are all solid options for that situation, but I would say O’Leary holding the ball at that point because she has more pitches to beat good batters with. La Canada does employ a closer, Cox, because of her speed, so if they are in the game she will probably be in, but the better the batter the more vulnerable she will become to the long ball.

  • Anonymous

    Changing the question to, “If I were the Batter in that situation, who would I rather face”?

    1. Floyd – Speed, young, emotional and has a mindset of blowing it by you.

    2. Clancy – Great curve but she’ll need to bring it or else.

    3. O’Leary – Ice in her veins, good variety, decent speed but a little vanilla. Tires easily.

    4. Cox – Speed, Curve, Rise and Screw. No Drop and 50/50 Change-up but wouldn’t throw it. Fresh after three or four.

    5. Forillo – Speed and experience. It’s a one pitch game and she can pass it right by you, hit you or get hit but unemotional.

  • Great Question

    Depends on the score (and probably also depends on who the batter is). If the visitors are ahead 10-5 pitching to the home team, who cares? If the game is tied, and a walk loses the game, then the pitcher has to scrape some portion of the strike zone with her pitch. In that situation, the answer is Cox. She doesn’t just have speed – she has speed with movement. It may start out looking like a hittable pitch, but that’s not where it ends up. O’Leary is great also, but if the pitch has to hit the strike zone, she loses a few weapons. Floyd has 24 walks this season vs O’Leary and Cox combined who have 13. Clancy has allowed 55 hits and Forillo 44 hits against worse competition than LC plays. O’Leary + Cox have allowed 47 hits, including some tough upper div non-league teams. Still, all very good pitchers (should add in Seidel from Village Christian), and it’s great there is such talent in our area.

  • riohondo fan

    you would get the win with either of the La Canada pitchers, they are both outstanding, but O’Leary is mentally unbeatable and does have ice in her veins!

  • Hands Down

    Cox, I would agree. History of closing after O’Leary. Tough act to follow. . Tough alone but better together. O’leary start and Cox finish. Best combo around.

    Seriously, try that with any other team around:

    Fourillo and ???
    Floyd and ???
    Clancy and ???

  • http://Curious Curious

    I found it curious when I read Great Questions comments as to why the hits stats were mentioned for the other pitchers but not for Floyd, so I looked it up. According to MaxPreps, Floyd has given up 23 hits, which is well below the other pitchers. Why was this stat not given when comparing the pitchers?

    La Canada clearly has the best pitching combo, however, the question was who would you want holding the ball not which two would you want. Forillo, Clancy and Floyd are all pitching complete games. La Canada has a working/winning strategy, however, you must be careful when comparing girls who are constantly going 7 innings with girls who are splitting games.

    Totally agree with Great Questions that is terrific to have great talent in the area.

  • Anonymous

    Being able to close out a game with strike outs and no hits is critical. However, even more critical at that point of the game, is not giving free passes with walks or wild pitches at that do or die point of the game. Overall pitch command is most important at that point. Moreover, emotional control is critical too. O’Leary would clearly be my choice especially against the better batters.

  • Experience Counts

    Well, I guess the question for me is are we bringing in this pitcher fresh off the bench, or is this the pitcher that loaded the bases and got two outs in the 7th already. Forillo is the only one of these pitchers that has been in a CIF championship game, so in my book that would give her an edge.

    I would think that the defense on the field would be most confident with the pitcher that got them to that point in the first place. So that could be any one of these pitchers.

    Let’s hope we see some championship play this year out of some of these teams – it is great that we can field quality teams from this area, and personally if we get to this point I think any one of the pitchers in this discussion could get the job done.

    I don’t know why there is no picture of Cox up in the blog, maybe the camera wasn’t working that day.

  • chkyrslf

    Curious,

    Good point, but it does say 26 hits on maxpreps (not 23), but still a good point. I think there is no doubt that Michelle floyd will eventually be the best pitcher in the area and probably of all times, but as a freshman I don’t think she has taken the crown yet. But, she is very impressive none the less.

  • Stat Check

    Michelle Floyd is an awesome pitcher, but whoever is keeping her stats is not helping showcase her talents properly. It does say 26 hits on Max Preps, but it shows no hits in the California game. If you look at the box score for that game California is showing 8 hits, and even Floyd’s stats for that game show 3 earned runs – possible with no hits, but unlikely.

    This is probably just a mistake, but if you want to compare the stats it helps if they are correct. There are probably mistakes in everyone’s stats somewhere, but since this particular stat was part of the discussion, I thought I would point this out.

  • TC parent

    It also fails to recognize Jessica Loicano’s home run off of her.

  • Unbiased

    I find Anonymous’ comments humorous.

    Lets look at the statistics, all from Maxpreps this morning.

    Hits Given Up: Floyd 26 in 303 batters faced; O’leary 29 hits in 264 faced (more hits against fewer batters); Forillo 44 hits in 389 batters faced; Clancy 55 hits in 376 batters faced.

    Earned Run Average: Floyd .54; O’Leary .65; Forillo .75; Clancy .79

    Strikeouts: Forillo 215 in 18 games; Floyd 211 in 18 games; Clancy 160 in 15 games; and O’Leary 110 in 19 games. Even if you add in Lauren Cox, the combined Lauren’s strikeout total is the same as Floyd, but in one more game.

    Anonymous refers to O’Leary’s five pitches, being a leader, and a team player with big game experience as reasons she should be picked. Five pitches… big deal. I bet all the other pitchers have at least that many. As we all know, it is what you do with those pitches that matters. I will also bet that if you asked the coaches of all the other players that they would say all are leaders and team players of the highest calipher. Big game experience? Three of the pitchers play club ball at the elite level so all regularly face batters committed to top division one programs. For them during the club season he next batter is always a serious threat.

    Anonymous chose these traits as reasons to select his anoited one. He should be ashamed of the implications of his statement The fact is that all four, along with Cox, are, from everything I hear exceptional student athletes well liked by their teammates.

    Last, Anonymous goes on to say that the exceptonally talented and knowledgeable La Canada staff would not have his anoited one on the mound. Lauren Cox, as a closer, should have been included on the list but was not. Anonymous is more than willing to throw this talented specialist under the bus in pursuit of his bias.

  • Club Softball

    Unbiased – I am pretty sure 4 of them play Club at the elite level. I think Cox is the only one of the 5 not playing Club.

  • chkyrslf

    unbiased,

    Despite your moniker you sound very biased. Anonymous did nothing but answer the question that was asked. That is what you should do.

  • happy

    Can you say Oak Park

  • Setting the Record Straight

    My catcher on the corner for strike 3

  • Miguel Melendez

    Sorry guys. Tried really hard but couldn’t find a picture of Cox in our archives. She definitely woulda been mentioned.

  • Anonymous

    Strikeouts (K) Complete List

    1. Michelle Floyd – Fr San Marino (CA) 211
    2. Lauren Cox – So La Canada (CA) 111
    3. Lauren O’leary – Jr La Canada (CA) 110

    ERA (ERA) Complete List

    1. Lauren Cox – So La Canada (CA) 0.41
    2. Michelle Floyd – Fr San Marino (CA) 0.54
    3. Lauren O’leary – Jr La Canada (CA) 0.65

  • gimme that keyboard

    With a runner on 3rd and nobody out, that’s when you need a strikeout, but with two outs a ground ball will work as well. But if you want strikeouts, then at least compare percentages, not totals.

    For the math challenged, here’s the complete list of anyone in the area with a strikeout per inning ratio of more than 1. (MaxPreps stats as of today)

    Rio Hondo League:
    Lauren Cox 2.75 (La Canada)
    Michelle Floyd 2.05 (San Marino)
    Lauren O’Leary 1.46 (La Canada)

    Camino Real League
    Allie Forillo 2.09 (La Salle)

    Prep League:
    Denise Van Der Goot 1.75 (Flintridge Prep)
    Katherine Clancy 1.65 (Mayfield)
    Charley Parker 1.03 (Rio Hondo)

    Horizon League
    Nicole Holguin 1.30 (Mission)

    Sunshine Leage
    Yvette Hernandez 1.04 (Ramona Convent)

  • SJC

    San Marino 2
    La Canada 0

  • Anonymous

    Floyd’s 0.54 and O’Leary’s 0.65 is derived from significantly different competition than Forillo’s 0.75 and Clancy’s 0.79. Although there is some minimal overlap in who they all play. La Canada (O’Leary) has played significantly greater competition. San Marino (Floyd) has played relatively some competition. La Salle (Forillo) and Mayfield (Clancy) play significantly weak competition playing in 2 of the very weakest leagues in Southern CA. In fact, both La Salle and Mayfield generally have not come up with wins vs. any teams of noteworthy competition. Forillo and Clancy are good pitchers but neither is of the level of O’Leary or Floyd as pitchers.

    It is way to early to consider Floyd as approaching the same level of pitcher as some area pitchers of recent years. She has the great physical stature, exhibits talant, but emotionally and developmently has a ways to go.

    Could this be the first year that the “Player of the Year” is not a senior or a non-pitcher?

    If it’s a senior, my hands down choice would be Shelby Gogreve. She’s not only a tremendous player, she is a tremendous leader on the field and is a great teammate. It’s obvious when you see her play, it is all about the team (not the least bit all about her)and she is so unbeleivably supportive of her teammates. A non-pitcher is surely more in order this year more than ever before.

  • Anonymous

    O’Leary has my vote for player of the year but it would be interesting to have co-players of the year. Gogrove and O’Leary are on the same travel team and play together year round and both exhibit amazing leadership qualities. Co-players of the year would not be a bad idea, they both deserve it.

  • Anonymous

    Anna Edwards should be the Player of the Year hands down. In all honesty, O’Leary is the third best player on your team. She is a good pitcher whose job is to get her to the fifth inning alive. Good heavens, look at you own team stats!

  • chkyrslf

    La Canada has the best overall team in the area, the best pitching, the best coaching, the best overall talent , and the best team chemistry, but I have to say that San Marino is right on their tail. Allie Forillo should be in the discussion for best pitcher, but this is a team sport and their team, is not doing what these two teams are doing. It will be very interesting to see what these two teams do in CIF. Unfortunately coverage seems to fall off as we get to the end of the season, because that is when it really counts.

    The only thing that bothers me about judging individual performances from La Canada is that they do not keep track of fielding stats. That allows you to present stats in the best possible light because you do not have to account for every play. I understand why you may not want to keep those stats but it does cover some things up. Gogreve, a senior, should definitely be kept in the player of the year discussion, just because her performance is keeping their team in games and she seems to be alone. Look at her teams stats and you will see that she is carrying a heavy load, and her fielding stats are the best in the area.

  • Anonymous

    Having seen three of the pitchers in this discussion play in yesterday’s game, my vote would go to Lauren Cox from La Canada.

  • Cubs Fan

    chkyrslf – So why do you leave Mayfield out of this discussion? I agree they are not as good as either San Marino or La Canada, but they are getting the job done so far. Many will say this is against weaker competition than LC or SM, and that is probably true, but they have as tough or tougher schedule than La Salle.

  • chkyrslf

    I think Mayfield has improved dramatically and Clancy is the reason why along with having a solid coach and some pretty good team hitting. They are strong and on a 9 game winning streak. But in terms of this year, I think Furillo is slightly better as a senior right now than Clancy as a junior, but Clancy is right there and in the discussion. Mayfield proved a lot this year and continues to do so. Both teams have league schedules that are harder than their non-league schedules.

  • Anonymous

    chkyrslf, I assume you meant to say, “Both teams (Mayfield and La Salle) have NON-LEAGUE schedules that are harder than their LEAGUE schedules.”

    I believe La Salle is scheduled to do their every 2 year switch to the other League next season. From Div. 6 to Div. 3 is a huge jump. I don’t think they won a league game last time for the last 2 year stint. They went from CIF Champs one season to I don’t think winning a league game the next 2 seasons and last place in their new league.

    I think the Prep. League (Mayfield) moves from CIF Div. 5 to CIF Div. 6 next season. Probably appropriate.

  • chkyrslf

    Yeah that is what I meant to say, oops.

  • Setting the Record Straight

    The one I want holding the ball. The team with the best fielding %. Overall stat Mayfield .938 29 errors, La Salle .928 34 errors, San Marino .898 28 errors and La Canada does not show errors.

  • SOFTBALL!

    Floyd would never make it in that situation. She gets rocked by every hit. Yes, she has raw natural talent but let’s be honest, she only has a fastball that she throws around the zone. With runners on, her “rise ball” is taken away because her catcher struggles with it. In general, she rubs me the wrong way. Can someone say DIVA?!

    Either LC pitcher would do a superb job of shutting down this scenario. O’Leary keeps her cool and never gets shaken and when Cox has her game face on, you don’t want to mess with her.

    Anna Edwards is a far better player than Shelby. It will be fun to watch them compete in college.

  • ANON

    Floyd would never make it in that situation. She gets rocked by every hit. Yes, she has raw natural talent but let’s be honest, she only has a fastball that she throws around the zone. With runners on, her “rise ball” is taken away because her catcher struggles with it. In general, she rubs me the wrong way. Can someone say DIVA?!

    Either LC pitcher would do a superb job of shutting down this scenario. O’Leary keeps her cool and never gets shaken and when Cox has her game face on, you don’t want to mess with her.

    Anna Edwards is a far better player than Shelby. It will be fun to watch them compete in college.

  • Anonymous

    Bottom of the seventh, two outs, full count, bases loaded, I want O’Leary in there … “O’Leary (17-3) finished the league season giving up no earned runs and no walks.”

    http://www.dailynews.com/preps/ci_15083852

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