Duck, what's going on with the Oregon softball program?

“I would say about four days after we returned from summer break is when people started to turn their heads,” said junior pitcher Maggie Balint in her first interview since leaving the program on Jan. 21. “I was keeping an open mind because I never thought I’d ever transfer out of Oregon, but there was just a bad vibe.....

I was very skeptical,” Balint said about the hiring of Lombardi, who replaced Mike White after he left for Texas. “I actually asked for my letter of release (in July) just so I could see what else was out there, but coach Lombardi called me, told me about herself and I decided to give her a chance.

“I had no reason not to [give her a chance]. She has a really good resume. She has a good backstory about where she came from and how she developed herself. On paper, she’s a phenomenal coach. I thought it would be pretty cool to learn from somebody who won two national championships. Maybe there’s a secret hidden in there that I haven’t heard.

Lombardi brought in sophomore pitchers Jordan Dail, a transfer from Virginia Tech, and Maddie MacGrandle, a transfer from Texas A&M. Neither was a regular starter at her previous school, but both are lefties, which Lombardi favors.

Then came the intra-conference transfer of freshman catcher Terra McGowan from Arizona State. “I wanted to give the two pitchers who came in a chance. I wanted to see what they had and evaluate them,” Balint said. “I heard great things about Terra and how great of a catcher she is. I thought, ‘Well, we got a catcher and two pitchers, what could go wrong?’”

That question was quickly answered when Balint found out one of the reinforcements Lombardi had brought in would have to wait until 2020 to compete.

“My expectations were not met and Terra is not cleared to play as of right now,” Balint said. “She’s been denied by the NCAA. In December when they posted she was on the team, I thought she was good to go. Now it’s January and I’m finding out that she isn’t cleared . . . that was pretty much a lie to my face....

The athletic [department] didn’t tell us what was going on,” she said. “Everything was pushed under the rug like it was nothing to worry about.

“I traveled 3,000 miles [from West Grove, Pa.] to make my new home in Oregon and I came here for Mike White. I signed my [Letter of Intent] for Mike White . . . and at the end of the day, I trust Coach White. He has never lied to me. He has never gone behind my back. He is my go-to. He’s my backbone. He has never made me question him or question his reasoning for doing something. Whatever he says to me, I always say, ‘Yes, coach.’ That was how it was. That is not how it is with Melyssa Lombardi.

Before coach Lombardi came in, I can tell you, we were the closest-knit team there could be in softball,” Balint said. “We were so light and funny and joking and then all of a sudden things were crazy different to us

There was some dramatic event that happened every day, and that’s just not something I want to be a part of. I don’t want to be waking up in the morning and hearing my teammates crying for this reason or because coach said this to this person or so and so got pulled aside and was told this. That’s not a team to me and that’s not a family. That’s not the environment I want to be in nor did I ever sign up for...."

There's a little more here...
https://www.baseballamerica.com/sto...d-transfers-inside-oregon-softballs-upheaval/

 

Don’t really follow softball since my last one graduated 3 yrs ago. Irony of all that was, when we found it out first was a girl, my exact words to my wife were, “What did I do for a God to curse me to a softball field?” I had no idea the time I’d spend coaching and the lifelong friendships I’d form from it.

 

There is crying in softball?

 

Like shane would say, not some bad coin for a softball guy.

 

If it was up to me I wouldn't pay a softball coach more than $100 a game and an extra $100 to buy pizza for the team after a win.

 

Cause you’re clueless, we understand.

 

It's because I have a clue dumbass. Softball loses money so why throw good money after bad on a coach. Let the players dads take turns coaching a game. Isn't that how you got your start?