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Women's College World Series Match Ups and More!

This feels like one of the most talked about Women's College World Series in recent history! Why? For starters, the 8 teams participating have won a combined 27 National Championships. (UCLA-11, Arizona-8, Oklahoma-4, Florida-2, Alabama-1, Washington-1) and with the exception of #13 Oklahoma State knocking off the reigning champs #4 Florida State, all top seeded teams have advanced.

Let's take a quick look at some of the first round match ups:

#1 Oklahoma (54-3)  vs. #8 Alabama (57-8)
Championship-type series in Game 1.

Oklahoma has been clean and consistent from day one with their only two regular season losses coming in the preseason to then #3 Florida State and #4 UCLA. They would sail through the season unscathed until dropping game one of the regional final to Wisconsin proving they're human, however, the tournament favorite doesn't seem to be lacking in any part of their game. Pitching is on point and deep and the hitters... well, they hit!

Alabama began the season 33-0 before dropping their first L to Texas A&M in game 3 of the SEC series. They would go on to lose six in SEC play however it was good enough to claim the regular season championship. "Gritty not pretty" is a term used by head coach Patrick Murphy when talking about his team and they proved that having to claw their way past Texas in the Super Regional. Not always pretty, but you can never count out a team who isn't afraid of anybody.

#2 UCLA (51-6) vs. #7 Minnesota (46-12)
Winningest at the WCWS takes on first timers.

UCLA has been knocking on the door of a championship for the past few years but just haven't been able to pull it together when it really matters. This season could be different with the addition of Faraimo in the circle to help the 2x National Player of the Year, Rachel Garcia. Along with Azevedo the pitching staff has a 1.39 overall ERA and is supported by an offense that's scored one shy of 400 runs on the season. That combination is tough to beat.

Minnesota is a team with an itch to make a statement and has already done so taking down two SEC powerhouses in post season defeating Georgia twice to take the Regional and then LSU at the Supers. Amber Fiser has an electric arm and if the bats show up to support her, things could get interesting.

#3 Washington (50-7) vs. #6 Arizona (47-12)
Awe, sweet revenge?

Washington is out to avenge last year's championship series loss behind the arms of senior Taran Alvelo and one-year better Gabbi Plain. Washington has relied heavily on their pitchers in the past but it seems that the defense, anchored by the Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year (and former Firecracker) Sis Bates, and the hitting is right up there to support. The series sweep in Arizona at the end of Pac-12 play kicked off an undefeated run to this point so the Huskies are riding the momentum wave.

Arizona wants revenge. Not only is it the Cats first trip back to the world series since their championship loss to UCLA in 2010 but they will face off against the Huskies who came into their house at Hillenbrand and embarrassed them with a series sweep just a few short weeks ago. That series ignited the Wildcats who turned around and took two from UCLA the following weekend and continued on flawless through the post season. The Wilcats have 103 HRs on the season and their pitchers are throwing better than ever.

#5 Florida (49-16) vs. #13 Oklahoma State (44-15)
Upset in the making?

Florida is a mainstay in the rankings year after year but after an uncharacteristically inconsistent SEC regular season (12-12) many people started to doubt that the Gators had what it takes to make it back to OKC. After an undefeated SEC tournament and regional run, and then a hard fought Supers, Florida has proven that they thrive best in the post season. Case in point, senior Kelly Barnhill is throwing better than she has all season (possibly all career) and when you have an Amanda Lorenz on your team who's batting .419 with a .563 OB%, you can almost guarantee run support. Gators are never to be taken lightly.

Oklahoma State is a team that many people believe has what it takes to upset the best. They aren't flashy but they produce and they have a good time doing it. With a no fear and nothing-to-lose attitude, the Cowgirls will be dangerous. Senior Samantha Show is a big reason for this season's successes pitching 183 innings and slugging 18 HRs. Another fun fact about OSU, Head Coach Kenny Gajewski was on staff with Florida HC Tim Walton when Florida won it's back to back titles.

Wayne Staats from NCAA.com makes the following prediction...

It's easy to say we're heading toward the inevitable Oklahoma-UCLA showdown for the title. But OKC usually has some surprises. With the way Washington has been playing, the Huskies seem like the best candidate to keep the Sooners-Bruins meeting from happening in the finals.

Arizona could slug its way to a run, but Washington will make it back to the final series. It will end there, though, as the Huskies become the first program since California in 2003-04 to lose in the final in consecutive seasons. For the third time in four years, Oklahoma wins the title.

One statement I DO agree with is that OKC usually always has some surprises. The action begins TODAY!

by Firecrackers Inc

NCAA Post Season Selection Show Summary

Here we go again! NCAA post season is upon us and if you weren't able to tune into Sunday's Selection Show, let me get you up to speed.

This past weekend saw the end of the regular season and most conferences held their conference-tournaments to decide who would represent their respective leagues in the post season. These 32 conference champions would be awarded automatic berths into the NCAA post season while the remaining 32 are chosen based on factors including, but not limited to, record, rank, and RPI or Strength of Schedule.

Since the introduction of RPI into college softball, the hype around seedings has intensified as top record-holding and top ranked teams are no longer shoe-in to host if their regular season schedule doesn’t show a favorable amount of wins versus ranked opponents. The top 16 seeded teams will host their regional and the top 8 seeds will have the opportunity to stay at home for both the regional and super-regional rounds.

For a list of all automatic berths by conference as well as more information on the NCAA post season criteria and upcoming schedule click here.

TOP 16 SEEDS FOR THE 2019 NCAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS:

#1 Oklahoma (Norman, OK)
#2 UCLA (Los Angeles, CA)
#3 Washington (Seattle, WA)
#4 Florida State (Tallahassee, FL)
#5 Florida (Gainesville, FL)
#6 Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
#7 Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)
#8 Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL)
#9 Texas (Austin, TX)
#10 LSU (Baton Rouge, LA)
#11 Ole Miss (Oxford, MS)
#12 Tennessee (Knoxville, TN)
#13 Oklahoma State (Stillwater, OK)
#14 Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
#15 Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
#16 Northwestern (Evanston, IL)

For the complete NCAA Tournament Bracket click here or visit the NCAA website at www.ncaa.com/softball

Also, stay tuned for updates on some of your favorite Firecracker alumni as they make a push toward that coveted National Championship!

by Firecrackers Inc

FC National Highlight- Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks

Next up on our tour of Firecrackers nation-wide, we head down to sunny southern California’s San Diego contingent, Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks. Having recently celebrated their 1-year Firecracker anniversary, Hicks and company have certainly made a name for themselves not only nabbing athletes from their home base of San Diego, but all the way from El Centro to Riverside and Arizona. Although hailing from different regions and backgrounds, the team considers themselves a tight knit family with the common goal of each playing college ball somewhere, someday.

The growth of Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks began about 5 years ago when a couple of Imperial Valley (deep Southeast San Diego) players reached out looking for a higher level of competition. As the group got stronger and word began to spread, what began as a vision to “meet a need” boomed into a regional softball powerhouse.

So, what was it that drew Bill Hicks into the Firecracker organization just over a year ago? “The ‘family’ atmosphere and support system,” he says. “There is a defined structure all the way to the top.” Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks is overseen by longtime Firecracker coach and FC VP Sean Brashear, who also uses his experience and expertise to help guide several other Firecrackers Brashear squads. “Being under the Brashear umbrella is a privilege. It is a very close-knit family and is based on knowledge, accountability and learning to play (and coach) the game the right way in order to create opportunities for the players. Sean hosts workouts regularly with all of his teams and gets to know the girls very well. The thing about Brashear’s umbrella that makes it so special is that there is a tremendous support system in place."

This support system includes big softball influencers and fellow peer coaches such as Tony Rico, Sean Brashear, Roman Gallegos, Mark Thornburg, Mike Smith, Jeff Allan, and Raul Duarte as well as each member of the Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks coaching staffs.

Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks 16U Coaching staff
Bill Hicks – Head Coach/Manager
Alfredo DeLaTrinidad – Coach
Gary Taylor- Coach
Ricky Guzman - IF/OF Coach
Sean Brashear - Recruiting

Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks 14U Coaching staff
Bill Hicks – Manager
Donny Wallace – Head Coach
Chad Dean – Coach
Matt Villaescusa – Coach

During their inaugural 2018 season, Firecracker Brashear-Hicks experienced great success sending both teams on their first trips to the PGF National Championships. Finishing top 20 in the 14U Premier division and 3rd in the 12U Platinum division, Bill Hicks says his greatest lesson learned is “Be yourself and build your own product that is unique. Don’t try to copy anyone else.”

Looking ahead to this 2019 summer, coach Hicks and his teams most look forward to getting back out to Colorado and spending time as a TEAM! Good luck coach Hicks, we look forward to following the Firecrackers Brashear/Hicks journey!

by Firecrackers Inc

FC National Highlight- Firecrackers Gale

We're kicking off this Firecracker National Highlight tour with a dynamic and exciting team out of Colorado, Firecrackers Gale. Powered by 18U Head Coach, Randy Gale, Firecrackers Gale has fought through the struggles of being a mid-America team in today's softball rush, to becoming a contender in some of the country's biggest tournaments.

Going into year four in the organization, Firecrackers Gale is comprised of both an 18U team lead by head coach, Randy Gale and assisted by Nicole Gale and Michelle and Tony Gilio, and a 16U team behind head coach Scott Bricker and assisted by Shauna Parrish.

Read below as Coach Gale walks through some of the difficulties in gaining traction in this face-paced softball world as well as his passion for developing his athletes both on and off the field.

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"Our team is driven by these values - first and foremost, a positive, team-first attitude, overall character - both on and off the field and a strong work ethic. The young ladies I have on my team, for the most part, have been with me since 10 or 12U. Everyone has a role and everyone contributes. They all know that for us to be successful, it takes every one of them. We are a family - from the players, coaches, parents and siblings. We spend almost as much time off the field together as we do on. In addition to our core, we have picked up some great girls this season that fit this culture. All of these young ladies understand what playing as a team is about.

Being a Colorado team, it has been difficult to get on the right stage for exposure and national tournaments. When we started we didn’t have the power house teams (in Colorado) like California and Texas. We’ve heard whispers since they were young like, "Oh it's just another Colorado team” and “Colorado has good players not great players." People don’t expect us to be competitive. As a coach, I have had to learn how to manage perceptions and drive expectations for these girls to compete with the best in the country.

There are many challenges thrown our way. To start with, the weather. We don't get the opportunity to be outside year round. In the winter months, we train at our indoor facility "The Off Season" from October through February. It’s difficult to make sure you are getting enough reps and doing the little things that you need to pay special attention too. Fielding ground balls for 4 months indoors becomes tough mentally after a while. And you can't train all aspects of the game like outfield because of space limitations. Mentally, they just want to get outside.

We also face the problem of having less athletes to choose from. We tend to have to pick kids up from all over the state rather than just from our local area. It makes it that much more important to find the elite athlete that fits into our culture, because they have to be that much more dedicated.

Having high school ball in the fall also creates a challenge for a couple reasons - First, the girls come out of winter and go straight into tournaments. There is no “warm-up” or dirt time that other states may have playing high school ball in the spring. The majority of our comp season runs March through the end of July, so when high school starts they are tired from just coming off their travel ball season, and roll right into high school season, where they end up seeing training 5 days a week. This can be very taxing on them, mentally and physically. For incoming freshmen learning how to manage arm care is huge. They have little experience throwing 5 days a week, and with the wrong direction can create serious arm issues. So to help with that, we shut the girls down from throwing for November and December and work a lot of strength and agility.

We have done a few things to try to break the stigma of most teams from Colorado, starting with how we put the team together. During tryout season, we go back to our values and look for athletes that we know would represent our Firecracker Organization, their coaches, and most importantly themselves as young women with honor and dignity. We are also looking for the girl that has chemistry with the rest of the team. While we of course look for athleticism, it’s not always our deciding factor.

The Firecrackers culture is a huge reason why we continue to attract the right kinds of players to our team. This culture is now flowing to all our FC teams in Colorado, and that starts from the top. We have brought Coach Tony Rico out to Colorado a few times, to help explain the culture and expectations it takes to be part of the Firecrackers. When you have the buy-in from one of the most influential people in softball, let alone your organization, telling you and your team you are doing things the right way, it becomes such a desire to maintain and build on that.

Additionally, we have an extremely challenging travel schedule. Come June and July we are pretty much gone out of state competing in the top showcases or tournaments around the country. To prepare for this, we play at the highest level we can in our state against the top teams in 18s. Our team has always played up and understood that we may take our licks, but we will be better prepared to play those teams from California, Arizona, Texas, and the South. We are also constantly trying to teach them the mental side of the game as well. Everything from going to bat with an approach to thinking 2 plays ahead on defense or having the bench players keep score or calling pitches to increase their game IQ.

Alongside of these things, I also believe that as a coach it is my job to foster good relationships and trust with college coaches. And by doing that I try to make sure that the colleges are aware that we do have great talent in this state.

We will continue to be the underdog when we travel out of state, and that's ok. These young ladies are happy to prove themselves every time they take the field. As their coach, I couldn't be happier with the success they have achieved, their future looks extremely bright."

                                                                        -Randy Gale

For more information on Firecrackers Gale and the Colorado Firecrackers organization please visit www.firecrackers-gale.com

by Firecrackers Inc