Hail To The Victors!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Well, the Rose Bowl this aint, but hey... it's a National Championship. A Womens Softball National Championship in fact.

A big congrats to the Lady Wolverines or the Wolverladies or just plain, old Wolverines. Who knows...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2080662

UCLA falls short of threepeat

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jessica Merchant nudged Grace Leutele out of the way, grabbed the popup for the final out and sprinted across the field to tackle the hero of Michigan's first NCAA softball title. Jessica Merchant and the Wolverines are the first team east of the Mississippi River to win the WCWS. Freshman Samantha Findlay hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Wolverines a 4-1 win over UCLA on Wednesday night. In thanks, she was leveled by Merchant. "I was just so happy," Merchant said. Michigan's rally started when Tiffany Haas reached on shortstop Jodie Legaspi's one-out fielding error and moved to second on Alessandra Giampaolo's infield single before Anjelica Selden struck out Merchant. Findlay, who also hit a tying RBI single in the sixth, hammered a pitch from Selden (29-13) over the left field fence. She raised her right fist in the air after rounding first and leaped onto home plate among a mob of happy teammates. "She did a great job picking me up," Merchant said. "I told her, 'Pick me up. Come on, Sam.' She was huge." Jennie Ritter (38-4) walked five and struck out four in a five-hitter for Michigan, which became the first team from east of the Mississippi River to win the national championship. Oklahoma (2000) had previously been the easternmost team to win it all. Michigan is also the northernmost team to win the title. "We didn't care where we were from," Merchant said. "We didn't care if we were from the East Coast." Ritter, a USA Softball collegiate player of the year finalist, pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth inning by Dedmon to give the Wolverines a chance for the win. After pinch-runner Jaisa Creps moved to third on a sacrifice, Ritter got Ashley Herrera to pop out and Tara Henry to ground out. "She likes to make it interesting," Findlay said. Michigan (65-7), which scheduled its first 33 games on the road because of cold weather in Ann Arbor, overcame the handicap to claim the title that has been dominated by West Coast teams since its inception in 1982. UCLA (40-20) has won 10 titles and had another one vacated by the NCAA for rules infractions; Arizona won six; and Fresno State, California and Cal State-Fullerton also won titles. Only Texas A&M, which won two titles in the first six years, and Oklahoma had broken the stranglehold before. Michigan lost its season opener to Baylor but then won 32 straight -- all on the road -- to climb to the top spot in both major softball polls. The Wolverines, one of only five teams in NCAA history to hit 100 home runs in a season, combined a potent offense with Ritter's dominant pitching. Ritter threw three no-hitters and started the season 22-0. With the most storied softball program in the opposite dugout, the top-seeded Wolverines were still something of an underdog heading into the championship series. "We were ranked No. 1 all year, but I think we we're the underdog when we're playing UCLA in the championship game," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "They know how to win." The Bruins outscored Michigan 7-0 over the first 11 innings of the championship series before the Wolverines rallied for a 5-2 win in Game 2. The Bruins also struck first in the decisive game. Lisa Dodd, the Bruins' eighth-place hitter, hit an 0-1 pitch from Ritter over the left field wall with one out in the second inning to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The Wolverines rallied to tie it in the sixth after loading the bases against Selden with nobody out. Haas singled, Giampaolo drew a four-pitch walk and Merchant singled to bring Findlay, Michigan's top run-producer, to the plate. Findlay scored Haas on a sharp grounder to right, but Selden got out of the jam without any further damage. UCLA third baseman Andrea Duran snagged a line drive from Nicole Motycka and tagged Giampaolo a few steps off the base. Selden then struck out Leutele looking to end the inning. After winning her first title, Hutchins said she had the utmost respect for coach UCLA Sue Enquist and the Bruins' storied success. "I am certain that I will be dead before I do this 10 times," Hutchins said.

[Wolfpack]

Living here in Ann Arbor, I get the impression that it's drawn a collective, "Well, that's nice. Back to the subject at hand...is Gutierrez going to be playing more in the fall to relieve Henne in blowouts?"

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Living here in Ann Arbor, I get the impression that it's drawn a collective, "Well, that's nice. Back to the subject at hand...is Gutierrez going to be playing more in the fall to relieve Henne in blowouts?"

Not surprised at all. Having gone to school there for 7 years and having lived in Ann Arbor for 8, I can't rightly say that I ever really knew we had a competitive women's softball team.

Still, it's nice and the women deserve props.

[SackAttack]

storied...softball...?

Does not compute.

[Solecismic]

Having covered the team off and on since about the time Hutch took over, I'm happy for her. This may not be a huge event in Ann Arbor, but it's a landmark event for the women's sports community at Michigan.

[kingfc22]

What is the stroy with Guiterrez. He's a local kid from De La Salle HS and he has still yet to get action because of his injuries. He's a senior now right? Does Henne even have to worry about competition for the starting spot?

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

What is the stroy with Guiterrez. He's a local kid from De La Salle HS and he has still yet to get action because of his injuries. He's a senior now right? Does Henne even have to worry about competition for the starting spot?

does he have a penis?

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

What is the stroy with Guiterrez. He's a local kid from De La Salle HS and he has still yet to get action because of his injuries. He's a senior now right? Does Henne even have to worry about competition for the starting spot?

Gutz is not going to transfer but there is no way besides injury that Henne will lose his spot with how he played last year.

That said, Kevin Grady is going to steal a lot of Mike Harts snaps.

[Wolfpack]

I see my point is being proven....

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I see my point is being proven....

You mentioned Guiterrez and not being from that area I thought I would ask.

[MJ4H]

Am I the only one that actually watched the dang thing last night? It was a great game. The whole tournament was fun to watch.

[kingfc22]

I watched the Tennessee/UM games and game 2 of the finals, but did not see last nights game.

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Am I the only one that actually watched the dang thing last night? It was a great game. The whole tournament was fun to watch.

I watched some of the games off an on, particularly in the later innings during the close games. What bothers me is that these teams can get by with only one good pitcher. While there may not be reason to be concerned from a physical standpoint, watching the same pitchers over and over is pretty boring.

[digamma]

I watched last night from the 7th inning on. UCLA blew a chance to win in the 9th and then the girl from Michigan just crushed the home run ball in the 10th.

Good game, though.

[Easy Mac]

Michigan had the ugliest softball players I've ever seen, and I went to high school in a small southern town that had a girls softball team... so I saw some ugly girls.