Join me for a jam-packed episode to get you ready and excited for what’s to come in the 2026 WCWS as I give an extensive breakdown each team, some fun stories behind them and, most importantly, how to not just be a FAN while watching, but how to learn THE MOST while watching these prime-time showdowns. And yes, as requested, I share a little bit of my controversial take on the drama that went down at Super Regionals with Texas Tech and Florida. You won’t want to miss it!

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If you liked this episode, check these out, too:

Ep. 146 - Patrick Murphy: Building leaders and a Championship Culture - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/a3d2afbb-4a22-4c85-9ebe-90f384d2e3e7/

Ep. 14 - Part 2 - Softball is More Than Just a Game with HOF Coach Sue Enquist - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/60bc88f1-ff79-4419-aa3e-9949f65ce68a/

Ep. 91 - 5 Ways to Grow Your Game While Watching the WCWS - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/82c8f749-f390-4091-86c9-fe0cb74972d0/

Ep. 186 - 6 mentalities to help you stand out this summer (inspired by the WCWS) - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4d838666-22f9-4bbf-8f9f-a3742c44e0c8/

Ep. 17 - Playing for HOF Coaches and Building a Competitive Fire - Part 1 with 2x All-American and Pro Athlete Kiki Stokes- https://player.captivate.fm/episode/145c73dc-225d-4b5f-9834-b27068f6040b/

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So I really think that we can learn so much as players from watching the best of the best on the biggest stage possible, making mistakes and seeing what they're doing next.

Okay, again, that's where you're going to see a lot of routines pop out.

Hey, I'm Ashley Agle.

Some of you might know me as Ashley Burkhart, and I'm a former D1 and professional softball player who spent a few years coaching in the college game before deciding to put all of my focus into youth softball players and helping them make their dream and their goals happen for them.

It's our job to help them unleash their potential and become the athletes they've always dreamt of.

I come from a small city in the Midwest and didn't let that stop me from making my goal of playing D1 softball a reality.

No matter where you live, you have the tools to help you thrive, and I am hoping through this podcast to help you get there.

On this podcast, you'll learn from Olympians, hall of Fame coaches and elite players what their journeys have been like, and you'll also learn from me and my family and a bit of our journey through the game.

I'm so excited to have you here.

So whip out your notebook and let's learn how we can grow in this game together.

Welcome to when the Cleats Come Off.

Let's get into it today.

I'm going to show you a few things that if you're watching for entertainment, that's great, okay?

But most of you guys that are listening and watching this, maybe on YouTube, you guys are here to learn from the game and there's no better way, in my opinion, to learn the game.

1.

Yes, physically doing it is probably the biggest thing, but also watching it and watching the best in the world do their thing.

Many of these athletes competing in the World Series are going to be playing professionally this summer.

If you don't know that roster, go look at the AUSL stuff.

There is some insane softball can be played this summer, but we get to watch the World Series first.

And literally the day after the World Series ends, pro softball begins.

And we're going to get into that later this season.

But today I thought this would be really fun, especially those listening day this is out is we're going to go over things to watch.

Like I've talked about this on previous episodes.

I'll go ahead and link those in the show notes as well because I go through specifics, but the Biggest things that you can go out and watch and learn the most from.

Go watch these things.

And then I'm going to go over each team, what I love about them and also who my pick is, especially for the first games that are starting on the 28th.

I'm going to give you a little bit of my pick.

Also, many of you have asked me to get into the whole drama from the recent Florida and Texas Tech game.

I'm not going to get into too much, but I do have a few thoughts, and I will be getting into those later as well.

But welcome to the show.

As Jen Schroeder said, this is the year that any team can win the Women's College World Series.

And I agree.

I agree this is the first World Series in a very long time.

Like 10 years since Oklahoma hasn't been in the Women's College World Series.

A lot of you know my love for Oklahoma.

My former coach at Purdue is the hitting coach at Oklahoma, J.T.

Yasso, which is freaking crazy to say, but also his brother DJ is.

He took Arkansas, he and his coaching staff, he's an assistant.

But they are going to the first Women's College World Series ever for Arkansas.

So that is so cool.

And I guarantee you we're going to see Patty Gasso and their entire family in the stands, and that's going to be the weirdest thing for her ever.

But I guarantee you she's going to be there.

Not just because OKC is right down the street from Oklahoma, but because her son is literally going to be coaching for Arkansas.

And, man, I am pulling for them so hard.

So that'll be fun.

Okay, let's actually start with when you're watching these games, what to look out for.

Okay?

And then I'll get into my riff on all of the things that I love about each team.

But first things first, I think we should be watching the tempo, the tempo of the games, okay?

Because you guys know this.

You guys know this.

When things are going absolutely crazy, the game looks and feels, especially when you're in it, like it's moving at a gazillion miles an hour.

And when that happens, you see more errors happen.

You see just like a lot of craziness happen.

But what got all of these teams into the Women's College World Series were athletes that were in those moments, but found ways to make adjustments, found ways to slow the game down and change the tempo so that they could be on top.

Okay?

So every team has dealt with extreme adversity in this area, but this now Is heightened.

Okay, we just came off of a super regional.

Lot of things happen at super regionals.

A lot of drama, too.

But what I thought was really neat is that a lot of these teams were down to the last few outs and they found a way to pull out of it and be able to be standing on this on the stage now.

So there's going to be a lot of really cool stuff, especially from tempo standpoint, that I think we should be watching, especially those of you coaches out there.

Like, look and see when these coaches are calling timeouts, right?

Look and see when the catcher is calling a timeout to talk to their pitcher.

Like, I know this all is just like something that we notice, but, like, are we noticing hard enough?

Are we noticing when the tempo is going a certain way?

Let's say things are getting a little crazy.

When are these coaches coming in to talk?

Is it after a few batters?

Is it as soon as we have one, you know, tough, let's say outing from the pitcher, like, from like one.

Let's say one matchup with the pitcher and the hitter.

Like, did it go well?

Did it not?

Like, if they didn't go well, is a coach coming out there right away?

Are they letting them kind of work through something?

How long are they letting them work through something?

I saw in super regionals a lot of times where coaches didn't make the call soon enough, okay?

And then I saw coaches make calls.

Maybe it was a pitching change where, like, maybe they shouldn't have made that because it felt like the momentum completely shifted, even though they had the momentum.

So, like, this is the stuff, I'm telling you, coaches out there, like, this is the stuff that we should be watching and learning from.

And that's part of the game, right?

Like, I guarantee some of these coaches made some of those calls and they're beating themselves in the foot now, right?

But that's part of the game.

So we can learn so much from just watching tempo when our timeouts being called.

Especially you catchers.

You got to know your pitchers.

You got to know what they look like when they look a little razzled.

What are you going to say to them?

Right?

We obviously can't hear these conversations, but what's really, really cool, you guys, is post game interviews.

A lot of times when you see pitchers that, you know, have an outstanding game, they're going to shout out their catchers and sometimes they share, like, the exchange, like, what did they talk about?

What was she saying to her Good reporters are asking these questions and not enough of Us are watching post game interviews.

So if you guys want to learn the most, watch the game, then watch the post game interviews on the winning side and the losing side.

It tells you so frickin much.

Okay.

The next thing, as someone who's obsessed with hitting, obviously I am so into watching hitters in their routines.

Like truly a hitter, has a great hitter, has the same routine every time.

I actually just posted this on my Facebook page.

I found somebody talk about Ichiro.

And those of you who are OGs have listened to my episode about Ichiro and when he was entered into the hall of Fame, like why I believe he was entered into the hall of Fame.

And one of those things was he did the same routine every single time.

Whether things are going well, whether they weren't, it's like your happy place, it's like your comfort zone that you go find if things are starting to get crazy.

Okay?

This is the craziest call college softball will ever be, is this week.

That's why I'm so excited about it.

That's why you should be excited about it, especially if you're into softball.

Like this is where we're going to see the craziest, craziest things happen.

And great hitters are going to be able to get to their routine and slow things down.

Can I was, I was talking about tempo.

Great pitchers do this.

Great hitters, you don't get to see defenders as often because the camera is not always on them.

But like this is where you can see their pre pitch routine.

And when things don't go well, let's say the pitcher kind of like throws a crazy ball she wasn't expecting or hit, hit somebody, right.

What are they doing between that pitch and the next?

Right.

What are hitters doing when they swing at something like so far out of the zone and it was clearly a mistake on their end.

What are they doing to make sure they're ready for the next pitch?

You'll see physical actions, like deep breaths.

You'll see some of them like undo their batting glove, reset it.

You see that in MLB a lot.

But like, these are all ways where these players are literally going through adversity, doing something physical in a routine, moving on so that they're ready and they're present for the next pitch instead of worrying a ton about what just happened in the last pitch where they looked like, like an idiot, right?

I see a lot of hitters that I work with.

Like that is one of the biggest struggles is that when you look silly, are you able to move on by the next pitch, these athletes that we're going to watch this week have mastered that skill.

Okay?

So that's where we can kind of learn and pick up on routines.

Like, I built a routine, and if I go back 10 years ago is when I played my last game.

I still know my hitting routine from start to finish.

I could.

I could show you it right now.

I'm not going to, but I could tell you how.

How I did it from start to finish.

And these athletes have mastered their routines.

So you guys that are out here, like, learning the game, trying to be the best that you can be at it, watch some of these routines.

I stole some things from hitters that I love to watch, right?

There were some things from Caitlin Lowe that I picked up.

There were some things that I made up on my own, but there were some things that I saw other hitters do, and I'm like, whoa, I love that they do that.

And I did it.

And I think that is.

That is the beauty of hitting, is that you can develop your own routine, and you don't.

You have to copy and paste from somebody else, but pick up things that you like and want to try.

And when you have mastered a routine, people on the outside will notice.

If you're wanting to get recruited, these coaches are going to notice that this.

This chick has mastered a routine.

That is probably one of the things I've never heard somebody talk about, but I know from a college coach's perspective, they're watching.

They're watching how you deal with adversity.

They're watching what you're doing from pitch to pitch.

Can you make adjustments quickly?

Your routine is going to help you do that.

So go watch these hitters.

I'm going to challenge you.

Go find a hitter that you love and respect from this, from the series.

Go steal, like, a little something that they do and go make it your own.

Like, I guarantee you you're going to be your best by the end of the summer.

If you practice this and you don't just practice it in games, you guys.

You guys aren't going to remember to do this in games.

The way we do things in games is, are we doing it in practice enough to where in games?

We're like, oh, yeah, this is my thing.

I do that.

You have to be able to practice it if you want to show up in games and do it.

So go find your thing.

Go practice it.

Like, heck.

Even if you're doing it in front of a mirror or watching the Women's College World Series, your hitters up there.

I think that would be so cool.

You guys, if one of your daughters does this or if you're an athlete, I'm going to challenge you.

I just decided to do this.

If you find a hitter that you know and love, record yourself doing the routine that that hitter is doing.

Most of you guys aren't going to do this because you don't want to put yourself out there.

But I think it would be so cool, especially parents, if your daughters are kind of like, doing it.

Just, like, get a little clip of you, like, doing something from their routine that you love or even just, like, take a video of that hitter that you specifically like and tell me what part of the routine you're like, I love this.

I want to start doing it.

Tell me in the when the cleats come off community.

I want to see you guys do this because I'm telling you, this is like one of the biggest things that if you start adopting and owning this will make you a master of hitting.

Okay, so routines.

Let's watch some of those.

Okay, Big one.

And we talked about this a little bit is adjustments, okay?

So as I mentioned, the best teams make the quickest adjustments, right?

Like, I think we in super regional specifically, there were no teams that had an entire lineup of nine hitters that got nine hits.

No, there were actually times where, like, through nine batters, nobody had a single solid hit.

But then by the next time through the lineup, there were like five or six hits in there.

And that tells me that these athletes are making great adjustments from one at bat to the next.

And again, the team with the fastest adjustments ends up winning.

So it doesn't matter.

You guys, you guys, watch this, Watch this and learn.

Many times in this World Series, you're going to see lineups, turnover.

And the first time through was not good.

Okay?

Pitchers are rocking.

Pitchers are on adrenaline.

They're doing some crazy stuff right now, right?

But then by the next at bat, you guys see so many changes.

And this is why I love kind of just like watching from hitter to hitter.

We had Jordan Woolery on last week, like, I was watching her at bat to at bat approaches.

And the goal is to have your best at bat, especially by the end of the game when most of the pressure will likely be on the line.

So if you see them making adjustments and adjustments, like, it's not about outcomes, you guys, it's about how are you going to take what happened, make a tiny little adjustment.

So your next about is a better approach.

You guys are going to see this.

So Find your favorite hitters, go watch their approaches.

Who makes the best and quickest adjustments?

I guarantee you the team that makes the quickest adjustments from all nine hitters is likely the team that's going to end up winning.

Okay?

So fast adjustments are huge.

So watch these from at that to at bat.

Some hitters are having to make adjustments pitch to pitch.

The best hitters can do that.

But really learn about these adjustments that they're making.

And then when they make adjustments, they're probably doing a routine in between it.

Okay, you pitchers out there, you guys get probably the most learning opportunities than anyone.

Okay?

Because they're throwing 100 pitches a game and you're able to see like how are they approaching certain hitters, what are they throwing when what's their punch out pitch, what are their routines?

Okay, how would you throw to certain hitters?

You know, you watch them throw certain pitches.

Maybe you know certain pitchers tendencies because you've been following a lot of the supers and now you'll be following, especially in the World Series, I hope.

Watch how they approach certain headers.

Maybe, just maybe, you elite pitchers out there can even predict what she might throw next.

This is where I think commentators do such a great job.

There's a lot of former pitchers as commentators.

Amanda Scarborough, Danielle Laurie, Michelle Smith, she's the og.

They have really good insights on like what pitchers are thinking and what they're throwing.

They're not always right.

Like how can they be?

They're not in the same body as the pitcher.

But a lot of times you'll see correlations of what Amanda sees and what these pitchers end up doing and they do their homework.

So I think that's where we can kind of tune into announcers and get the most out of what are these pitchers thinking?

How are they approaching certain hitters?

Obviously they're going to make tons of mistakes.

Like that's.

This is literally the year where there's been over a thousand more home runs this season than last.

Okay.

A lot of people think it's because of the Empire strike zone getting smaller.

We don't have to get into all of that.

But there's probably a lot of reasons why this is happening.

And hitters are elite right now.

Okay?

So watching these pitchers have to work around these elite hitters, like it's pretty special.

Especially that UCLA lineup that's had 200 home runs this year.

Over 200.

How crazy is that?

I'm excited to see how pitchers approach them.

So pictures, you guys get a starlight show and you also get Commentators that are really, really good at this stuff.

So just tune in.

There's going to be so much good.

Their biggest thing that I think we can watch out for this postseason is reactions after failure.

Okay, again, I've been a college coach.

I know tons of college coaches out there.

They literally choose people to be on their roster because of how they react post failure.

Okay, yes, they want to see adjustments like we talked before.

Like, they want to see quick adjustments from pitch to pitch at that to a bat.

But what they're really looking out for, if they're sitting down at a tournament, watching a player, they obviously know she's good, she's got the skill right.

They're actually going to see how does she react when she fails.

Okay?

Not that they're.

They want her to fail all four of us.

They don't want that.

Right.

They don't want them to make a bunch of errors on defense.

They want to see, though, when adversity picks up, how are they reacting?

Okay?

So I really think that we can learn so much as players from watching the best of the best on the biggest stage possible, making mistakes and seeing what they're doing next.

Okay, again, that's where you're going to see a lot of routines pop out.

Okay, again, take notes on these routines.

I'm telling you, I've said routines probably 20 times already.

But I mean, it's.

But watch what they do.

Like, are they throwing a pity party?

Okay, a lot of times you don't see that at this level.

You might see a few of them, but are they throwing a pity party or are they getting external?

Okay, the best players get external.

They point their pitcher and they're like, I got the next one.

If they just made a mistake on defense, hitters, they're literally walking up to the next batter and they're kind of sharing some information that they picked up from their bat because they want the next batter to make a quicker adjustment than they did.

Okay?

So really watch.

Watch what they are doing post failure.

Are they.

Look, are they putting their head down?

Are they throwing their glove?

Are they throwing their bat?

Probably not.

Again, it's the World Series.

There's a lot on the line.

You might see it happen, but I truly believe the team that's going to come out on top is going to make the quickest adjustments after failure, and they have really good failure recovery routines.

I don't know which episode is this, but I'll end up tagging it in the show notes.

But Sue Enquist, she came on the podcast um, and she had talked about how at practice, she is one of the greatest head coaches of all time, if not the greatest coach of all time.

She literally, in practice, had a.

She had a specific gestation station at practice devoted to failure recovery.

She literally had defenders have to make an error and then have to follow up, make the play, and then do something external, point at their picture, own it, tap themselves, whatever, like, and really focus on what they're going to do post mistake.

Okay.

Because she knows everybody in that lineup is going to make a mistake this season multiple times.

But, like, can they own it and can they get external about it?

She literally had a station of practice for this.

And I truly think that was one of the biggest things that you kind of see with these elite, elite teams is they're able to get external and not make it about them not getting into a pity party and just literally focus on.

On the pitcher who's got the ball in the next pitch or the hitter that's next.

Like, get external, because that's how teams are able to kind of shift the energy.

Okay?

So maybe the other team took the momentum after that error or whatever.

Now it's coming back to them because now it's like, who cares?

Move on.

Who cares?

Move on.

Who cares?

Move on.

And we have to be able to practice this again.

That's why it was a station at Suing Quest practice.

You would think that'd be kind of like a lame station, right?

Probably one of the most beneficial things for the former UCLA teams who they've been to this women's College World Series more than anyone.

Okay?

So I really think there's a lot that we can learn there.

So I'll put Sue's episode in the show notes for you guys, if you guys want to especially pick up on that and how you guys can work on that, because that's one of the biggest things I see in youth ball is players aren't able to move on from mistakes very quickly.

Okay?

And teams in general.

So something that we can learn and watch.

Watch the errors, watch the bad at bats.

What do they do next?

And that's what we can pick up on as players.

Guys, we're going to see some of the biggest gems from this World Series, from the biggest pressure moments.

I mean, we saw this at Texas.

Texas was down, and they were down to their last few outs in the Supers.

And it broke my heart because another one of my former assistant coaches, we called her Coach C. But Megan Bartlett, who is the head coach at asu, she was on the other end of this, like, they kind of had game two, right, and they.

They ended up losing it.

And it was because Texas just believed, man, like, they had all the pressure on them.

And again, I don't know exactly what pulled them out of it, but that belief was probably the biggest thing.

And they came to their final outs, final pitches of the entire game, and they found a way to come back and win.

And it was so fun to watch.

Again, not super fun because I wanted ASU to win because of my former coach, but, like, it was pretty sweet to see that happen.

And that's where I think in this World Series, there's going to team.

There's going to be teams that are down to their final outs, and they're going to do some crazy stuff because they want their seniors to go out on top.

And obviously they want to go out on top, but, like, the selfless teams are going to fricking win these things.

And it's going to be so fun to watch, you guys.

I cannot wait, honestly.

The biggest pressure moments.

I wrote this down.

If you are literally sweating watching these games, you're doing it right because you're invested.

You want to see the game, like, at its peak, right?

And we are about to witness that.

So who's excited?

I am pumped.

Okay, let's get into some of these teams.

All right, so not some of these teams.

All of these teams.

I have my opinions on a few teams.

Good, bad, ugly, whatever.

But let's just.

Let's just shout out some of these teams right now.

Okay?

So first of all, go back to DJ here.

Arkansas.

This is so cool.

Arkansas and Mississippi State are competing in their first women's College World Series ever.

Okay?

And the way these two teams did it is insane.

And so Arkansas, they were able to host in the Supers, and they pulled it out.

I have some tea.

Not.

Not tea.

This isn't even tea.

Okay?

But if you guys follow Bobby Bones, he's in the country music world, does these insane interviews, is on the radio.

Okay?

Big Dog.

Big Dog.

He's got millions of followers.

He is like, if you're wondering why he was there, which he actually ended up having one of my favorite panned videos of when they won the game, and that entire stadium went absolutely nuts.

Bobby Bones had one of my favorite views because it was on the third baseline, and he kind of could see the catch right in front of him.

And also the span of the entire stadium, and it was.

It just gave me goosebumps.

Like, it was so cool.

His point of view.

But also, if you guys are wondering why he was there, his wife, they just had a baby.

Let me get this right, is DJ Gasso's wife's sister.

Okay, so, like, he's basically part of the Arkansas family.

All right, so let me repeat that.

DJ's wife, DJ Yasso, coach on the team.

His wife and her sister.

Her sister is married to Bobby Bones.

So, like, that's why he was there and that's why he's going to be at the World Series.

But I just love seeing how, like, celebrities are tied into softball, and I just love it.

And if you guys saw some of the pictures that he was taking with everybody, like, he literally had a baby bottle in his pocket.

I'm like, he's one of us.

He's one of us.

Anyway, I'm so pumped for Arkansas.

Like, they have worked so hard.

I love watching, you know, post game interviews from their coaches and just they play hard.

And honestly, what touched me the most was like, Jen Schroeder was posting on her stories that her sister Nicole was like, totally in tears, like, when they clinched this because they have been so close so many times.

And Jen took a video or sister just in tears.

And I'm sure Nicole was so mad about it, but it was just so touching because, like, her and Brie Ellis and all of these other insanely great players that have graduated at Arkansas and not gotten this chance to play at the World Series, it's just as much theirs.

And you can feel that.

You can feel that.

And I don't want to jinx it, but I'm hoping to get one of their former crazy awesome players on the podcast soon.

I think it's happening soon, but it's just so cool.

It's just so cool to be able to see this team do what they do.

So it's just as much theirs.

And I'm so excited to watch them play Mississippi State.

Okay, so another team that's never been there before, they had to be Oklahoma.

Oklahoma.

To get here.

Okay.

And what's really cool, if you guys didn't see their head coach Ricketts, she actually played for Patty Gasso at Oklahoma.

And Patty said this in her post game interview.

Like, I'm so happy she did it.

Like, she's.

She's the first one to beat Patty.

Okay.

Of her former players, I believe, I believe I read that right.

If I didn't, you guys can fact check me.

But how cool is it?

Like, she's the first one to beat her, but then beat her twice to get to the World Series, man.

They rallied with their broccoli.

I casual research on this and like Jim Stewart Allen is the one in the outfield, like holding the broccoli.

I don't know if we'll be there at the World Series, but I'll be looking out for him.

But he calls them nature's pom poms.

And so like, they literally have this like element outside of the heat of the game that they can kind of like just remember, like, we're kids out here, right?

Like in a good way.

Like we're, we're out here just playing the game that we love with our broccoli.

Like, I just love that piece about them and I love that they're just rallying behind this.

And Delaney Everett had the perfect post game interview when they made it.

And she said an underdog is still a freaking dog.

The announcer was like asking her, like, you guys are the underdogs.

What you know, how are you able to do this?

And she's like, first of all, an underdog is still a frickin dog.

And I love that.

As somebody who loves a good underdog, I think this is such a great motto and they're probably gonna rally behind that in the World Series, so super pumped for them.

You guys know my love for Alabama.

We have had Coach Murphy on the podcast, one of my favorite interviews.

People still talk to me probably like every week, every month about that interview.

Pat Murphy held nothing back and he really kind of shows about culture and I think that truly Alabama has one of the best cultures that I've ever witnessed and played against.

And now especially because I know Pat, like in such a close way now, I think what he's been able to build is not surprising.

It's not surprising because he does things the right way and it's really special.

And so what I did was there was one post game interview.

I'm going to try to play it on here so you can hear it.

I really hope you can hear it.

But he literally was talking about Mudita, which is basically being just as excited for your teammates as you are your own successes.

Okay, so like, let's say you don't get it done at the plate, but your teammate next gets it done.

And you are just as excited for her as you would be yourself, if not more excited for them.

That's what he's building.

And I really love this interview with the parents.

So hopefully we can get this to line up really nicely when I play this video, but we'll see how it goes.

I Wanted all the families to be here to hear this, because you need to hear this.

This does not happen everywhere.

You don't have selfless girls like we do.

You don't.

Yes, we have them here because of you.

All your family values come into our program.

That's why your daughter is with us.

I. I wanted this so bad for this group.

You don't want to.

You know, I didn't want to jinx it, and you guys came through, so I'm so happy for every single one of you that you get to experience this, because we are going on a magic carpet ride.

The culture that we have is because of you parents.

And I thought that was really neat because it's true.

Like, who you're raising is who they're bringing on into this program.

Like, they're not just bringing on anybody that has skills.

They try to get the right person that fits the culture of their team.

You guys know I graduated from Purdue.

Another great coach that does this is Matt Painter.

Like, he doesn't take on anybody.

He takes on people that can really fit into the culture that they've built and just be good people.

Okay?

So, like, that's why I'm so pumped for them.

Murph is just one of the greatest, and it's just so cool to be able to see them and their consistent success.

But I think from a momentum standpoint, like, they have everything.

They have everything, and I think they could.

They could get it done.

Hair banging upstairs.

My kids are being watched by one of my athletes, so hopefully everything's going okay up there.

I'll wait for a text message.

Okay, Next team Tennessee.

Holy smokes.

This team.

And watching Carlin Pickens do what she does, like, it's just so fun to watch them.

I can be.

I'm going to be completely honest.

I think that her dominance is getting better.

That when the.

When more pressure is on the line.

Like, she had a season this year, and it was, like, a good season.

Obviously, she's an All American.

Was just announced today, first team, because she's obviously very good, and she's going to play pro this summer.

But, like, I think she does her best when there's the most pressure, and I think that's something.

That's.

That's a resiliency she's learned over the years, like, and that is something that we all should strive for, you know?

Like, I think some of the games this year that were kind of like, they lost a few games this year that I don't think they should have lost, but, like, they were against teams that, like, they were decent, but they weren't, like, the best of the best.

So I think she's going to have some record breaking, like, Montana Fouts type postseason, like, because of her dominance on the mound.

And I think it's going to be really fun to watch, and we're going to see a lot of her.

And they also have a good staff, so I think that'll be fun.

And how cool was it?

I don't know if you guys saw this, that they literally.

So they won Thursday, they won Friday, so they were done with their Supers by Saturday.

And so their entire team got to go to a banana ball game.

And Carlin Pickens throughout the first pitch.

And it was so fun to see the entire crowd, like, roaring for their team.

Um, I think that's so cool and just shows, like, the level that softball has.

And it obviously is something that's kind of cool.

You think of every person in that stadium is probably going to watch the World Series now because they just watched Carlin Pickens throughout the first pitch.

And so if they're not into softball, I think they might be now.

So good luck, Tennessee.

Super, super fun to see them rocket.

All right, let's talk about Texas.

So we talked about this before.

A little bit.

Like, they were down to their final outsmart.

Like, it was.

It was one of those where we thought ASU is going to win in two, and it was not the case.

They have some extremely good hitters.

They have, obviously one of the best pitchers, Tegan Kavan.

I just think that they have a lot of tools, and they also have a lot of doubters that they might be able to feel behind.

So I think they're going to do some damage.

I think we're going to see some really good softball at Texas.

Obviously, they're the reigning national champions, so they are.

They are prepared for pressure.

Okay.

So don't be surprised if they have another one of those where they're down by a few and never count them out.

Never count them out.

They definitely prove that Goonies never say die.

So they definitely prove that in Supers.

So it'll be fun to kind of see what they can rally and do come World Series time.

All right.

One of my favorites, actually, probably my favorite team that I think is going to win the World Series and they are not the favorite.

It's Nebraska.

Nebraska is one of those where I am giddy.

I am giddy for Coach Revel.

I am giddy for this program.

They just hope that they just hosted their first super regional.

They've been to the World Series eight times now, but their first super was hosted at their stadium.

And obviously a big reason is Jordy Ball.

Jordy from.

I get confused because announcers are saying both of her names, but she.

She wants to go by Jordy from.

So we're going to call her Jordy from.

She's obviously a big thing that's come to this program, but I think what they have one is the fact that, yes, they have a gem.

They have Jordy.

She can do it all.

She can do it all.

She can hit a dinger and then she can go strike out three people right after that.

Like, she's got the entire package.

And from just a gamer perspective, she's got it, man.

But what I think is kind of cool is like, they.

Nebraska doesn't have, like, the big, like, crazy, you know, you got Jordan Woolery, Megan Grant at ucla, which we're going to talk about next.

But they don't have, like, a bunch of those, like, big names where, like, all of us are following, all of us are seeing everything that they do.

But what they have is kind of like Alabama's culture is like, they have this belief in each other that, like, I think they're going to win games that a lot of people don't think they're going to win.

They proved it this year.

They were ranked number one for a long period of time.

And I think, like, they have the pieces, like, if they line up their.

Their dominoes the right way, I think they could come on top and win the whole thing.

And I think that would be insane, insane if they did it.

So they're kind of like my dark horse pick that I think is going to win the whole thing.

Just so excited for them.

I could probably share with you every post game interview by Rhonda Revel.

She gives me goosebumps every single time because she's not talking about Jordi from the player.

She cares more about the person.

And it's very evident that she.

She does this and she leads this team so well.

Like, did you see all the alumni that came back and, like, came like Taylor Edwards, she came back Kiki Stokes.

Like, she's back.

Like, she came back to the supers to go watch because they believe in this team so much.

And I wouldn't be surprised if they're at the World Series too, but.

But, like, what they have from a culture standpoint is impeccable.

And I'm just going to call my shot.

I think they're going to do It.

Okay, so hopefully I'm pulling this video after they win the World Series and I can be like, hey, I was right.

We'll see.

We will see.

Again, kind of a dark horse, but like I'm rallying behind them all day long in Alabama.

I feel like they're just like right up there too.

Okay.

Ucla, obviously.

Obviously UCLA has the goods.

Okay.

I loved having Jordan on last week and kind of learning how she does not care what her stats are.

She does not care.

What she cares about is her teammates.

What she cares about is enjoying the game.

I loved when she shared how like, literally they just feel like they're little kids or like 8 year olds playing on a softball field.

And I think just having that like youth mindset like really sets them apart and they're just so fun to watch.

I just, I always laugh because I'm Jordan's on TV and every time you see her pan, she's smiling at one point, right?

Like, even in between pictures, she's smiling right away.

And then you kind of see her like go into this other like alter ego gear of like, I'm about to dominate.

But like she knows how to turn it off and on in such a cool way.

So obviously she's, she's a big hitter.

I just can't wait to watch.

I hope that they pitch to her and Megan Grant just because they're such a key part of the lineup.

And like, obviously Jordan's out here hitting over.500.

Megan Grant's hit 40 plus home runs now, so it's like there's so much momentum from a hitting standpoint that I hope they pitch to them.

That's one thing that I was kind of disappointed by in supers is like you could tell they were pitching around them.

And like, not that I hate walks, I think walks are great, but like, obviously we want to see these hitters shine.

So I hope pitchers are going against them.

Like, no, I'm beating you with my best.

And we're going to see a slug fest which this entire super spelled like a slugfest.

I swear we're going to see some action at the plate and this is the team that's going to be doing that.

So I think it's going to be insane.

They just hit their 200th home run of the season, which is bonkers.

So obviously they're going to show up, they're going to hit.

They obviously have some great pitching as well.

Just a matter of do they have an entire staff to do it?

We'll see.

We'll see.

But as someone who loves hitting, I'm very pumped to watch ucla.

Okay.

Last team.

I saved them for last because they're the ones that are cooped up in.

All the drama right now is Texas Tech.

Okay.

I personally watched a little bit of the series.

I didn't even watch the last game, so.

And I am kind of scared to watch it.

Even though everybody's like, you need to watch it.

It is theatrics.

I've seen a lot of highlights.

Sadly, they're not good highlights.

But what I look is more at the box score and, like, Florida and Texas Tech, this was a dog fight.

I think both of these teams should be at the World Series.

Like, can we take another team?

Can we put Florida in it?

Just from, like, a skill standpoint.

Like, it was just so fun to watch these teams compete.

Okay, I'm going to talk about the softball here, because I'm really over the drama.

I don't think that drama was good for the game.

I think.

I think there's a competitive piece that any athlete who's played at the highest level, you have this and, like, defend your teammates.

Like, if.

If somebody.

Like, I played first base, and if somebody stepped on my ankle on purpose, I had teammates behind me around, like, behind my back.

So, yeah, like, I don't think that the riffs were bad.

I think how they were done were bad.

Like, shouldn't be yelling, like, f you to people.

Like, I think that is just absurd.

I think that's kind of beyond the part of the game that makes the game the game.

I think there should be some heat, but I do think it was taken too far.

I think getting the parents, to me, that was just kind of wild.

It's not about you, but it kind of felt like it was about you.

This is the part where some people might turn me off and be like, ashley, I hate your opinion.

I don't really care.

This is just kind of how I see the game.

And I think the game has a level of respect that was.

That was abused.

I think we lost a little bit of respect for the game itself.

Okay.

Because I'm always going to go back to the game.

The game treats the right people the right way.

And I just.

Just.

It just felt icky.

And speaking of, there's someone who I know that was there, very close friend of mine, and I was kind of just, like, asking.

I was like, first of all, I'm sorry you had to be a part of that, because she's someone who respects the game more than anybody that I'VE ever seen.

And she was like, it made me feel gross being around it.

Almost like travel ball with trashy parents.

And again, some people are going to be like, that's dumb.

I don't agree with that.

But, like, I do think it felt like more about them.

And again, kind of Jenny Fitch that said this in her talk too, is like, it just took away from like the great softball that was played.

And I know it ended up being a run role and getting out of hand, but, like, think about, like, Jerry Glasgow, like, was talking about this post game just like how much of a dog fight it was.

It was like, literally like they'd score four runs and then Florida scored four runs.

And like, it just literally was back and forth for so long.

And obviously there was a rain delay in there, so there was just a lot of time for things to just, like, simmer.

And the pot obviously boiled over.

Everybody's going to ask me, do I think they should have shook.

Shook hands at the end.

I've heard opinions from everybody, from former players, whatever.

Again, going back to the game and what the game deserves.

Yes, I think there should be a handshake, but with what happened, I don't think I. I don't know how Texas Tech would have done it.

Like, would they be rubbing it in Florida's face?

Again, I wasn't on the field.

Could it have heightened?

Maybe.

I don't know.

But I think ultimately just the way the game spun, it was just too ugly.

It was just too ugly.

And I think there should be a handshake at the end of every game, just out of respect for the game.

Again, I'm always going to go back, talk about this all the time.

Japan does things right.

When it comes to respect of the game.

I don't think it would have gotten to that level again.

I always think of Japan because I think they, they respect the game more than anybody.

I should get Skyler on because she's playing in Japan right now and she also played at Florida.

That might actually be a hot topic.

We'll see.

But I think just at the end of the day, every game should end with a handshake that.

Should that game have.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I'm kind of scared to know what would happen if they would have.

Okay, I'm done talking about this.

I don't want this to take away from the excitement of the World Series.

Again.

I think from a.

From the level of play.

I think Florida and Texas Tech deserve to be at the World Series.

But Right now we get Texas Tech.

So I think they have a lot of heat and momentum behind them because of how everything kind of turned out.

So they're probably going to do some crap, like, crazy stuff that, like, who knows, like, because they weren't ranked very high postseason wise, but, like, they have a chip on their shoulder right now.

And so I think they're going to be scary from a competitive standpoint, so they're going to bring on some good softball no matter who they're playing.

So see how it turns out.

Other things that I had kind of picked up that I think we should talk about a little bit is, like, obviously, oh, you being out is such a big storyline because, like, just the culture that they've developed.

And, like, again, there was a lot of just, like, heat going on on Twitter with former players of just, like, all of this and, you know, some fans that are, like, degrading the players.

And I'm like, okay, first of all, again, I am someone who, like, I'm the optimistic one.

I'm the one who, like, looks at the good in everyone.

I think there is a lot of passion behind fans.

I think there's a lot of passion behind teams, and that's a good thing for the game.

Like, we want passionate fans.

We want people that, you know, want this team to excel.

But, like, when you've created a dynasty like Oklahoma, you're probably going to get fans from every aspect, from the I will die for this team to, oh, my gosh, these players, like, in there, they're bashing these players.

I don't like.

I don't respect that.

I don't like that.

But when you have a dynasty like Oklahoma, probably the biggest following all of college softball, there are going to be people chirping.

And I think what we can learn from this as people in the game, young people in the game, coaches in the game, parents out here who have young daughters in the game.

We have to be able to learn how to look at what's going to help us and take out what's not.

Okay?

So if you have players, again, nobody's in the same situation as Oklahoma from, like, a dynasty standpoint.

But, like, what we can learn from this is that, like, these players are human beings.

They lost, okay?

Patty said it all year, like, we're not good enough.

We're not good enough.

They end up losing, okay?

I think it's a big deal because obviously you're going to look at Oklahoma and be like, oh, no.

Like, they're probably all crying in the duck, which they might be, but from a skill standpoint, they had so many good things.

And Kendall Wells and Kai Miner, like, they're a great team.

They're a great team that ended up getting beat by a good team.

Like, and it just shows that it happens to all of us.

But again, from, like, I would say from a mental standpoint, if you're the athlete who, you know, people are bashing you for, you know, not meeting other people's expectations, don't let that affect you because, like, your team is who you're going to have to rely on and lean on.

In a moment like this, you're going to have moments where your team's favored to win a championship and you're going to fall short.

Okay?

But make sure you have the right people in your corner.

Make sure you have people that will support you and, like, look out for you in ways to where social media is kind of this ugly thing now.

Like, stand strong and know who you are and know your strengths, because there are a lot of people out there.

They're going to bash you.

They're going to say you're not good enough.

I had many people say that to me, but I had a really good support system in my parents and my siblings and people on my team.

They had my back.

Okay, so be around people that have your back.

Be around people that can support you.

And I can't believe I even talked about some of this negative stuff.

Like, it's making me feel kind of icky, the fact that I brought it up, but I feel like we need to bring it up.

So Oklahoma, insanely good team.

Like, oh, my gosh, there's so many great things that we can take from the season.

But what I think takes.

It's kind of exciting about this is that, like, Oklahoma's not in it.

And it really does feel like anybody who I just listed any of these teams can win the whole thing because they have storylines, they have belief, they have some passion.

Okay?

So you're going to see probably a lot more drama, hopefully not like the negative drama, but just, like drama within the game that's just so exciting to watch.

And I want to heighten that.

I want to heighten just the fact that this game is about to be amplified.

And I hope that we see more of, like, the cultures of Alabama and Nebraska and just, like, people rallying behind them and, like, just seeing some insanely good softball, but also insanely good.

People go out there and compete their faces off.

Like, it's just going to be so fun.

Okay, so here Actually, the times of the matchups that start up on the 28th.

Okay.

And what I'm going to do is I'm going to share like who's playing who and I'm going to share who I think is going to win that battle.

Okay.

All right, let's see.

Let's see if I can go, you know, four for four here.

Probably won't, but we'll.

We'll do our best.

Okay.

So at 12pm on ESPN, we start off with Mississippi State and Texas Tech.

I think Tech's going to throw Nyjah and I think they're going to win game one versus Mississippi State.

That's my prediction.

Okay.

Next game is right after which again, you guys know, like, sometimes these games go over.

So it's supposed to start at 230, but who knows?

This is also on ESPN.

This is probably.

I don't know.

This is going to be nuts.

I think it's going to be taken on and Carlin Pickens are going to fight it off.

And I don't know, personally, I'm just.

My gut feeling is going Tennessee here.

I think either could win, but I think Tennessee is going to win that one.

Now, later in the day, these games are on ESPN too, so they're not on ESPN.

7:00Pm There's UCLA versus Alabama.

I think there's going to be a lot of runs scored.

A lot of runs scored in this game.

Probably going to be a bomb fest, but I'm predicting Alabama pulling it out.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm in the wrong here.

I could be wrong, but I think Bama is going to win.

But I think this is going to be a crazy game.

Okay.

And then after that at 9:30 on ESPN2 as well is Arkansas versus Nebraska.

Jordy's going to pitch that game.

I think she's going to beat Arkansas on game one there, but literally it's anyone's game.

I. I doubt I'm going to get all four of these right.

But I do want to hear your predictions.

Please tell me in the when the cleats come off community.

I want to know what you guys think.

And who knows, if I go four for four, I might be posting this anyway.

Oh, my gosh.

This was such a fun episode to create.

I'm excited for you guys to see some guests that we have coming on.

I think we're going to have.

I think, and I'm pretty sure we're going to do it.

We're going to give you a bonus episode next week.

Talking about the World Series and how it's going with someone who's very, very passionate about the World Series, and you guys are not going to want to miss it.

Okay?

Finally, last but not least, again, go back to what I had talked about from what should we be.

What should we be looking out for so we can learn as much as we can from these actual games that are happening?

I'm so excited to be able to.

I'm so excited to be able to just watch softball on my couch with my kid, who every time we watch softball, he pulls out his little baseball bat and starts hitting with the balls in the house.

Not mad about that, but I'm just so excited for what's to come.

So make sure we're watching and learning as much as we can.

So grab your popcorn and your favorite drink.

Let's go enjoy some women's college World Series and some of the battles that we're going to see in the World Series.

If you're going, please let me know.

Please let me know.

Go chat in the when the cleats come off.

Community.

Community.

I want to see, like, who's going to be there where your seats are.

Like, this will be so fun to be able to see who's there.

I have crazy enough never been, never been.

I'm still a dream mind to go.

I'm just in a weird season where I just don't think I can go yet.

But I can't wait to go one day.

Hopefully I'm watching my boilers one day.

That would be sweet.

Also, follow me for live reactions.

I don't watch every single inning of every game, but when I watch softball, some of those things that I was chatting about at the beginning, I love sharing what I see.

Didn't even mention base running and how we should totally be watching base running.

It's the most underutilized skill.

Also, some teams are really good at it and some teams are not good at it.

But we'll be able to talk about that on social media.

So follow me in the show notes.

You can see all the places you can follow and we're going to talk about some of the wild moments that happen.

Because there's going to be wild moments.

It's the World Series, of course.

Um, don't forget, if you are not subscribed to the podcast yet, please do so.

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But all in all, thank you so much for being here.

Don't forget to stay awkward, stay humble and keep smiling.

And let's go watch some college softball.

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of when the Cleats Come Off.

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