May 14, 2026 • 41 mins
Former pro softball player turned analyst Haylie McCleney Hanson joins Sarah to share the biggest surprises from the NCAA softball season, players to keep an eye on in this weekend's Regionals, what to watch for in this year’s Women’s College World Series, and what she’s excited about heading into the upcoming sophomore season of the AUSL. Plus, a buzzer beater crowd pop for the history books, A’ja goes glam, and scoring for team and country.
- The full list of PWHL draft declarations is here
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we were
glad to find out we haven't been waived from this
program while we were logging into record. Today shouts to
Holly Winterburn, who got cut from Atlanta's roster while boarding
the bus for the Dreams first game, but has been
picked up by the Fire on a developmental contract. It's Thursday,
May fourteenth, and on today's show, former pro softball player
(00:21):
turned analyst Haley mcleney Hanson joins us to share the
biggest surprises from the NCAA regular season, what to watch
for in this year's Women's College World Series, and what
she's excited about heading into the upcoming sophomore season of
the AUSL. Plus a buzzer beater, crowd pop for the
history books, Asia goes glam and scoring for team and country.
(00:42):
It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices,
Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with
the PWHL where the Walter Cup Finals are set. Game
five of the Montreal Minnesota semi final series was delayed
(01:04):
to day due to illness, pushed to Tuesday night, and
it was top seeded Montreal who won the decisive contests
two to one to secure a spot against number four
seed Ottawa in the finals. Marielp Pulenz scored the game
winning goal in that one to clinch Montreal's first ever
p WHL Finals birth and break the league's so called
top seed curse. Yes a reminder that the Victoires win
(01:27):
over number three seed Minnesota marks the first time a
one or two seed has advanced in the p WHL playoffs.
With Ottawa and Montreal in the finals, the league is
guaranteed a new champion. Minnesota won the first two titles
in twenty twenty four and twenty five, and also guaranteed
its first Canadian champion. Game one of the best of
five Walter Cup final series is tonight in Montreal a
(01:49):
seven pm Eastern puck drop.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
As usual, our Maple Bacon slices can.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Watch up North on TV, but for the first time ever,
the p WHL Finals will also air nationally in the
US on Ion, and American fans can still tune in
on YouTube too. More PWHL The league announced the addition
of two more expansion teams on Wednesday morning, Las Vegas,
Nevada and Hamilton, Ontario.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Per League Press release.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Las Vegas will play its home games at T Mobile Arena,
home of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, while PWHL Hamilton
will play at the TD Coliseum. Hamilton hosted a PWHL
Takeover Tour game earlier this year with more than sixteen
thousand fans in attendance, while Las Vegas earned a team
without having hosted a takeover Tour game. That's a break
(02:34):
from PWHL practice, which has historically tested out markets through
the traveling series of games. Las Vegas and Hamilton joined Detroit,
which was announced last week as three of potentially four
expansion teams that will join the league ahead of the
twenty twenty six to twenty seventh season. And if you're
wondering how is the PWHL expanding so fast, well a
reminder that the league uses a single entity ownership model.
(02:57):
So Mark and kimber Walter owned the league and all
of its teams. They don't have to find new owners
in new cities or get a vote through a board
of governors.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
They can just make big moves now.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
That single entity structure is expected to continue in the
near future, but it is likely the PWHL will eventually
spin off teams to individual owners down the road even
more PWHL. On Tuesday, the league announced the two hundred
and thirty five players who have declared for the upcoming draft.
The prospects include twenty three Olympians hailing from eight nations.
Headlining the group are five members of the twenty twenty
(03:29):
six US gold medal winning team, Leila Edwards, KK Harvey,
Tessa Janicky, Abby Murphy, and Kirsten Simms. Also friends of
the show. German twins Lily and Louisa Weelke, the Boston
University players we spoke to ahead of the bean Pot Tournament.
The draft will take place on June seventeenth at the
Fox Theater in Detroit and will link to the fullest
of draft declarations in.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The Show Notes to the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
The Atlanta Dream got their second win in as many
games on Tuesday night, handing the Dallas Wings their first
loss of the season, seventy seven to seventy two. Ali
Chagray led the Dream with twenty six points, and Angel
Rees had twelve points and sixteen boards for her fifty
first career double double. After one of those rebounds early
in the fourth quarter, re celebrated with the two small gesture,
(04:12):
earning some booze from the Wings home crowd, so of course,
Rees responded with the classic bring it on motion. The
Wings took the court without number one draft pick Azy Fudd,
who's nursing a right knee injury. Also on Tuesday night,
six Minnesota players scored in double figures to lead the
Links past the Phoenix Mercury eighty eight eighty four. It
was another well rounded effort from Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles,
(04:34):
who had thirteen points, seven assists, and six rebounds in
the win. Klia Copper had thirty for the Mercury in
the loss. Then it was time for the New York
Liberty to take the court against the Portland Fire in
front of another sold out Moda Center crowd in Portland.
The Fire were down by seven going into the fourth,
but they managed to tie it up with seconds to go.
Then on the final possession, the Fire's Bridget Carlton tried
(04:57):
to hit it from three and missed, but Sarah Ashley
Barkers lid under and in for the rebound and scored
a buzzer beater to give the expansion team a ninety
eight ninety six win their first victory since the Fire
franchise was reinstated. Barker's teammates just about crushed her with
their celebration. The crowd erupted and streamers came down from
the ceiling.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It was a scene.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
We'll put a link to the video of the game
winning bucket in the show notes. Promise you can't watch
it without smiling. Carlton had twenty six points to lead
the Fire, and Carla Late pushed through an ankle injury
to put up twenty one points in dish out six assists.
The game was the liberties first l of the season,
but they're still shorthanded, soa bringing an Escu and Satusaboi,
both out with injury, are among several players yet to
(05:39):
suit up for the Libs. More Hoops were recording this
before a full slate of w Game's Wednesday Night but tonight,
make sure to catch the Minnesota Links taken on the
Dallas Wings at eight eastern and the New York Liberty
getting another shot to take down the Portland Fire. Tip
off for that one at ten eastern. Now, if you
can't watch, don't worry, slices, We'll be sure to get
you all caught up on the first full week of
the w's third season.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Before the weekend starts. One more piece of W news.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Shouts to Asia Wilson for gracing the cover of Vanity
Fair Sports issue the Las Vegas Asas Stars wearing a
red leather off the shoulder dress on the cover and
the story dives deep into her life off the court.
We'll put a link to it in the show notes
to volleyball. With a busy weekend of W action, we
got behind on. Given props to the Dallas Pulse, the
twenty twenty six Major League Volleyball champions. The Pulse beat
(06:26):
the Omaha Supernovas three to two last Saturday in the
MLV Championships for the first time in league history. The
championship match went all five sets, with the Pulse coming
from behind to win the title, the first MLV expansion
team to win the title in their debut year. No less,
they won in front of a sold out crowd of
forty five hundred fans at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas,
(06:47):
ending the season with the dub and a cool million bucks.
To soccer, the NWSL's Boston Legacy are starting to turn
things around after a slow goal list start to the season.
The expansion team got their second win in franchise history
with a two to one victory over the Orlando Pride
on Tuesday night on Brazilian Heritage Night in Boston. Legendary
(07:07):
Brazilian National Pride forward Marta opened up the scoring with
a penalty kick in the fourteenth minute, setting a new
NWSL record with her fifteenth career regular season penalty kick goal.
Boston's Ali Gambone got the equalizer in the seventy second minute,
her first ever NWSL goal. They were tied one to
one in stoppage time when the Legacy's Amanda Gutierres, also
(07:29):
a Brazilian national, converted a penalty kick to score the
game winning goal for the Legacy on Brazilian Heritage Night.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Once again, who's right in this stuff? It's perfect.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The win moved Boston from the bottom of the league
standings up to fourteenth place, putting them ahead of both
Racing Louisville and the Chicago Stars. Finally to tennis, the
Italian Open semifinals start early this morning with American Coco
Golf taken on Sarana Cristea. The Romanian ranked twenty sixth
in the world is on a hot streak, making it
to the semi finals by beating world number one Arena
(08:00):
Sablenka and number thirteen Linda Noskova. Goff is the only
US player left in the tournament after Jessica Pagoula got
beat in straight sets by Egis Fiantec on Wednesday. Slices
want to send a big congratulations to friend of the
Show Nicki Hilts on their engagement to girlfriend Emma Gee.
The Olympian and track star announced the good news on
(08:20):
Instagram on Tuesday and showed off a pair of rings
and some cute desert picks.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Oh and the Fire got.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Their first in game engagement on Tuesday night as well.
H We Love Love, We're going to take a break
when we come back. All Things Softball with Haley mclenney Hanson.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Joining US now.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
She's a softball analyst for the SEC Network and works
in sponsorships for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. A standout
outfielder and three time first Team All American at Alabama,
former pro in the National Pro Fast Pitch League and
the AUSL, and an Olympic silver medalist with Team USA,
she played the game She covers the game. She's growing
the game. She's even married to the game. Her wife,
Kylie Hanson, played at Florida State. It's Haley mclenney Hanson. Hi, Haley, Hi,
(09:10):
how are you? Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
You literally married the game I did.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Most important question?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
First, is there more Alabama or Florida state gear in
the Hanson house.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
We live in Florida, so I do have to say
right now, there's actually more Florida State gear in the
house right now. And if you actually look behind me,
that's that's my wife's national championship trophy, not mine, because
I have won one, so I do have the medal
right here. But yeah, so I definitely think there's a
little bit more Florida state gear just because of the
Natty Man.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
You gave up the merch battle and the name battle
I did.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I did. Pitchers always win though, so you know what
I mean?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Fair fair, All right.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
We're going to get into the exciting second season of
the AUS SOL because I'm excited to talk about that,
but I want to start with college softball. Your focus
at SEC Network as an analyst and his co host
on rally cap So, how did this NCAA regular season
differ from what you expected back day one in February.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Oh man, Well, I think, first of all, like we
got to talk about the offense right like in previous
years and even going back to and I know this
is a whole conversation when you talk about you know,
Megan Grant breaking the single season home run record is
pictures dominated the game for a long time. Like I
say that as someone that's married to a pitcher, and
it grinds my gears, like I want bats. I want offense,
Like give me home runs, give me extra base hits.
(10:26):
And I think this season, more so than any other
in recent memory, we have that. And it's electric to
see Kendall Wells at Oklahoma. I don't think anyone she
was obviously a very highly recruited player coming out of
high school, but I don't think anyone expected what she's
been able to give the sport this season. It's it's
just electric. I think that's what stands out to me
(10:47):
among everything else, is just the sheer offense and diving
deeper into Oklahoma. I mean, they've hit seventy five more
home runs as a team than anyone else in the conferences.
It's insane, like that's that gap alone is more than
some teams have on their entire season, all of their players.
So it's it's just ridiculous. So as a hitter, I'm
(11:07):
obsessed with it.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Give me more offense, yeah yeah, maybe a little bit
of the power dynamic shifting, you know. Heading into this season,
we talked to Michelle Smith. We talked about how three
of the final four teams from last year were expected
to battle for supremacy again. Everyone sort of thought Oklahoma, Texas,
Texas Tech. And a quick reminder for those who don't
remember what went down last year. After winning four straight titles,
(11:30):
Oklahoma got bounced by Nigerie Cannedy and Texas Tech in
the Semis and then Texas ousted Texas Tech at the
Championship Series, first national title for the Longhorn. So some
new kind of parody in the sport that people were embracing,
So that prediction wasn't too far off. Texas is at two,
Oklahoma's at three, Texas Tech is down at eleven, and
the surprise this season, you're Alabama at number one. So
(11:53):
I'm gonna let you be a homer here for a minute,
Like How did it feel seeing them grab that top seed?
Speaker 3 (11:58):
It was awesome and I'm I'm sure you saw Murph's
reaction to it, just the dance that he did, Like,
I love that program so much. But it's yeah, a
surprise to say the least, because this is a team
that was picked the finish ninth in the SEC, in
the SEC, not in the country, ninth ninth in the
preseason polls. For them, They've gotten so much contribution from
(12:20):
the freshman Vic Moten, who's pitching behind Joscelyn Brisky, And
I think the biggest surprise for me has been the offense.
I mean, they returned a lot of players from last
year's team that at times was inconsistent at best, and
now you add in a transfer Brooke Wells from Houston
who's become somewhat of a superstar and she's consistently hitting
(12:40):
in the two spot for them. But really one through
nine in that lineup, and really it's like one through
twelve because they have a few pinch hitters that come
in off the bench. They can give you a timely
hit at any point. So I think if you're looking
at resumes, like they have been the most consistent team
all season long, and that's what rewarded them the number
one seed overall. I think you talk about taking it
(13:01):
series from Arkansas earlier in the year, taking the series
from Texas, which surprised a lot of folks. So, yeah,
it's a truly complete team. Gooch Murphy always says you
need good pitching, clean defense, and timely hitting, and I
think by far and away they have put together the
three of those phases of the game consistently more than
anyone else in the country. So roll tide.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, there you go, there's the Homer parts.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
There it is. I put my analyst hat on. I'm like,
wait a second, no, roll tide to that.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Actually, yeah, forty nine and seven. They are number one
for the first time since twenty ten and just the
second time in program history. And you mentioned the battle
with Texas. They won the regular season, but they lost
to Texas in the SEC Tournament championship, So you could
have argued if you put more weight in that, then
(13:49):
maybe Texas would get the NOD, But Texas was fourth
in the SEC in the regular season, so I ended
up giving Alabama the NOD. How much of an impact
do you think the conference tournament's had on the final
bracket seating and how much you think should.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
I don't think it had really any effect on the seeding.
Maybe obviously it'll affect the automatic qualifiers, but as far
as the power for goes, it didn't really have that
much effect in a substantial way in my opinion. And
to be honest with you, I don't know that conference
tournaments and this may be just my opinion for the SEC,
but I don't know how much conference tournaments matter to
(14:23):
some of these teams anymore. Yes, you want to win,
Yes you want to get some good momentum going into
you know, regionals and supers. But if you're like I
look at a team like Florida probably knew they they
had at least locked up a super regional host position
a top eight national seed. Did they need to make
a run in the tournament? Know so, would rest be
more beneficial for them? More than likely? I think each
(14:45):
coach plays that differently. And it's also a single elimination format,
so it's not really if I'm looking at it. If
I'm on the selection committee, I want to see what
you did over the course of a weekend in a
series against the same team, because that's what you're going
to see in regionals, supers and at the World Series, right,
a single elimination tournament. When you're playing back to back
days against opponents like that, it's it really usually comes
(15:07):
down to whoever the hottest team is at that point
wins and whoever's pitcher is pitching the best, and that
was Tea and Govan. I mean watch, I went back
and watched that game, and the movement on her pitches
when she is sharp and when she is on, she's
the best pitcher in the country. I mean that, like
full stop, like hands down. Her movement's just absolutely electric
(15:29):
and good news for all of college softball fans, unless
you're you know, outside of I guess Texas fans.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
But she's coming back, So yeah, for people who like
good pitching. Maybe not the hitters who have to ask her.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
No, I'm glad, I'm retired. Let's just say that.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
You mentioned Oklahoma the crazy single season home run record,
and they were kind of tops all throughout the season,
but they end up taking, you know, a back seat
to Alabama. Do you think they have an argument that
they should have gotten the top seat even though they
lost to Georgia and the SEC tournaments seis.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
I don't. It hasn't been as dominant as we've seen
in the past. Right, you have a bad loss early
in the year, a long beach shade. I think that
kind of came back and bit them. They didn't play
a strong non conference schedule. Obviously, when you play in
the SEC, no matter what, your RPI is gonna get
boosted just because that's the depth and quality of the conference.
But I think the committee this year, more than any
(16:22):
other year, really proved that your strength of schedule matters.
That was very clear to me on the seating when
going through everyone's resumes, and you see the same thing
with Texas Tech too. I mean that's a team that's
been in the top five in the rankings consistently all
year long. People see on the eye tests like, hey,
this is a team like obviously, you got Nija Kennedy,
you got Caitlin Gerry, you got bats, you got me
(16:44):
and William, like you got everybody, and you're paying them,
which is great. But they didn't play anyone outside of
the conference, and so their RPI suffered. And I think
the committee was very clear that hey, we want to
see you play in some really good and really competitive games,
and if we don't, your seeding's probably going to fall.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
RPI rating percentage index that's the team's wins and losses
and strength of schedule sort of all brought together to
use to rank. So it's not just about strength of schedule,
but how you fared against the better and worse teams
that you played. This was the first time the NCAA
committee actually ranked not just one through sixteen, but all
the way seventeen to thirty two like they do in
volleyball and soccer.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Is this a meaningful change in your mind?
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Does it provide the teams with either bulletin board material
or otherwise?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think it does. And my eyes immediately went to
the Baton Rouge regional because that's sixteen and that was
the regional that I was going to keep my eyes
on pretty much no matter what, but especially when Virginia
Tech got announced that they were going to go down
to Baton Rouge as that seventeen seed if you will.
I know, the committee said that they're not going to
put the numbers seventeen through thirty two, but you know,
just inferring, right, which is so fun to do with
(17:54):
nc DOUBLEA. But Virginia Tech is a team that it
in my book one percent and should have been hosting
the way that they ran through the ACC, the way
that they played Florida State in the championship game. I
test alone, Virginia Tech should have been a host. LSU
at times has been really inconsistent this year. They got
off to a really bad start, had a lot of
(18:15):
good pieces, just couldn't quite piece all the pieces together
to make you know, a perfect kind of a perfect run,
if you will. And so I know a lot of
people are upset about the Virginia Tech situation. I get it.
I understand it. So that's a team to me, that's
like coming into a regional with something to prove, and
those are the teams that are really scary. And then
(18:35):
you look at Tuscaloosa. This is this is where it
became very interesting to me the new seventeen through thirty
two seeding, because you've got Southeastern Louisiana there as de
facto thirty two, right, But then seeds three and four
in those regional tournaments are no longer based on performance.
They are not seeded. It's solely based off of geography. Right,
So then you sneak in Belmont as the three seed
(18:59):
with my Johnson, the number three overall pick in the
AUSLL draft with a point six y six era and
something along the lines of like a fifteen strikeout to
walk ratio. Literally one of the best pictures in the
country coming into that as a three seed. Unreal, So
that that was interesting to me, Like you can see
the matchups between seventeen and thirty two with where they
(19:22):
are competing for the hosts, like with the hosts, but
those three seeds became very interesting. Marshall's another scene that
comes to mind. Yeah, it's just it's it's it's interesting
because geography didn't matter and then all of a sudden,
all of a sudden, it did, and Alabama was handed
one of the toughest regionals as the number one overall seed.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Let's talk about that because it's not like it's ever
going to be an easy road. But a lot of
people have said, dang, you got the number one seed
and then they put a lot in front of you
to make it there. You mentioned already brook Well's first
team All Conference slugger, a standout for this team, also
SEC Pitcher of the Year Joscelyn Briski. So talk about
why she's so good.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Jocelyn Brisky, I think it's two parts. I think she's
always had this stuff. She's had the stuff since she
was a freshman. I think this year, more than anything,
it was the mentality. She knew that there was gonna
be two really solid freshman pitchers coming in with Vic
Moulten and Caitlyn Palazzi. Vic Moulten's kind of established herself
as the number two behind Brisky, and then walks were
(20:20):
just her biggest kind of kryptonite. The past couple of years,
she didn't have solid command of her pitches, couldn't command
her off speed very well, and just didn't have really
good control of the zone. And so she put a
lot of time in on the mental side of things
and just really working with the pitching coach, Lance McMahon
on sharpening her command and sharpening her movement and working
(20:44):
on her spin rate and things like that. And so
I think the biggest thing for me this year has
been the strikeout to walk ratio. I mean, it was
by far and away the best in the SEC. Her
vertical split, which just meaning she can really tunnel her
drop ball on her rise ball really well. So as
a hitter, it literally looks like the same pitch and
then it just splits and you don't know, and you're
(21:05):
just guessing. And half the time hitters are just guessing anyway,
like we don't have time to react. You've got Carlin
Pickens in and they're throwing seventy five freaking miles an hour,
don't I don't know where I'm swinging. I'm praying I
make contact. And that's the same with Brisky's movement. It'll
just split the zone up and down, and that's so
hard and so tough as a hitter. And then you
couple that with the fact that she doesn't walk a
(21:27):
lot of people, meaning she doesn't throw a lot of balls,
and so she's working her way into leverage counts one two,
one two. The hitters already in defense mode when they
step in the box because they know if I'm gonna
swing one, I need to swing early because I know
she's gonna pound the strike zone. But that means I
have to be on time extremely early, and as a hitter,
that makes me uncomfortable. I was always one of those hitters,
(21:48):
especially in the leadoff spot. I want to see as
many pitches as I can because that means my timing's
gonna get better as the Abbat goes along. Brisky. It
exploits that really well. And you couple that with the
mentality piece that she's just had. I mean you can tell,
like if you just watch her pitch, you can tell
she's just like, give me the ball. I'm a dog,
I'm better than you. I dare you to get in
the box. And that's the mentality you have to have
(22:10):
as a pitcher. And she's she's by far and away,
this is by far and away her best season yet.
And she's another one like sorry to you hitters, but
she's coming back. She's only a junior, which is just crazy.
So for you to winn SEC Pitcher of the Year
with all of the names, the Carlin Pickens, the Tea
and Cavan's like all of those aced Robin Harron from Arkansas, Like,
(22:31):
that's a big time award, but well earned and well deserved.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
We've got the NCAA Regionals double elimination winners at each
of the sixteen sites.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
We'll move on to the Super Regionals.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Any hot takes you want to get out, any upsets
that you see coming.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
I have concerns about Texas A and M hosting Arizona
State and Kenzie Brown. They went on an absolute tear
in the Big twelve tournament Texas A and M did
not look great in the SEC tournament.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Does that care?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
I don't know, but I will say Kenzie Brown when
I went back and watched that Texas Tech game, for you,
for her to shut down that lineup the way that
she did that rise ball is just filthy. It's filthy.
And if you can get one timely hit, if she's
pitching like that, that's really all you need. So I
would keep my eye on Arizona State. I would keep
(23:22):
my eye on Mississippi State going out to Oregon. They
have one of the best pitching stabs in the SEC.
And again it's just it's like a one you're one
time we hit away. If you can keep the game
close with a good pitching staff, you always have a chance.
And so I think those are two that I'm I'm
really keeping my eye on with with Arizona State in
(23:43):
Mississippi State, and I do think, and I'm putting this
out in the universe, Arkansas, this is the year that
they make it to the Women's College World Series. I
believe it. I believe it they're battle tested, they got
a couple of good transfers. They can win in a
bunch of different ways. So I am putting my stamp
on Arkansas finish number one in the RPI. By the way,
(24:04):
So keep keep your eye.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Okay, we're writing these names down. We'll keep you honestly
if those predictions check out. Are there a standout player
or two we should be watching for this weekend that
maybe aren't the top couple names that casual fans will know,
but somebody else that they should be watching on TV
and say, ooh, okay, this is the one that Haley
told us about.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Oh I'm gonna go to Arkansas. If you haven't seen
Robin Herron pitch for Arkansas, please make sure you do that.
Just an electric left handed pitcher that is a competitor.
She's fiery, she's got great movement, elite stuff, and she
she's the leader for that Arkansas team. So I would
say her for sure, and then I'll go back to
Mississippi State as well. If you in PAGEA gold if
(24:45):
you have not seen her pitch, she got an AUSL
Golden ticket for a reason. The ball looks like a
whiffle ball coming out of her hand. It's insane. I've
faced a lot of spinny pitchers in my career. Kat
Austerman comes to mind as one of them. With an
electric drop ball. Pasia's moves more east to west, but
if you watch it, it literally looks like it's shaking
(25:07):
moving through the strike zone. So get it, give yourself
a chance, and just sit there and like get your
popcorn and just lock in because if you take your
eyes off it for one second, you're gonna miss the pitch.
So those are two pictures that come to mind.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It's gonna say, your wife's really got you trained well.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
She's doing great.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
All pitchers all the time.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
She's doing great.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I will say.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
I will say, I really really love watching Townsend Thomas,
this freshman at Florida She's a left fielder. She actually
ended the game. Now I'm gonna lose brownie points with
my wife, but she ended the game against Florida State
with a diving catch to literally save the game. We
talk about Kenda Wells all the time, right as one
(25:49):
of the best freshmen, if not the best freshman in
all of college softball. I would argue that Towns and
Thomas is right there with her. As a prolific outfielder.
She's hit in the cleanup spot as a red shirt
freshman at Florida, like not a lot of people can
say that they do that. And she's the athleticism, the
speed is off the the bat speed, how quick her
hands are. She reminds me of Michelle Moultrie, a teammate
(26:11):
of mine on the twenty twenty Olympic team, former Florida
Gator as well. So I would say Townsend Thomas and
then I'm gonna give Oklahoma some more love and say
Kai Minor. And I'm biased towards outfielders, but again, you
talk about Kenda Wells all the time, but who's on
base When Kendle Wells hits her home runs? It's kind Minor,
just electric stuff, top of the sec in almost every
(26:32):
offensive category. As a freshman, batting, lead off, playing center field,
she made an incredible diving catch against Texas in that
series that literally made my jaw drop to the floor.
So and I love that I'm giving some freshman some love.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I know that's so exciting for the game. It is.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, I think it just speaks to the talent development overall.
It Kids are coming into college ready to contribute and
having all American years at big time programs. You used
to never see that, like when back when I was
I say back when I was playing, it was like
ten years ago. It wasn't that long ago, but you
would have to Like I had a legit question of
like am I gonna start as a freshman. I've got
to compete for it. I've got to work my butt
(27:09):
off for it. And now these kids are like, nope,
I'm starting. I'm are you with the best hitter on
the teams and to roll. My travel ball coach prepped
me for this, like I'm good, let's roll, Let's win
a Natty and you could tell it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
So some pretty exciting young players and some players that are,
you know, trying to make one final, last big run
before they graduate.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
So we'll have all of that to watch.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
There's over one hundred tournament games that are going to
be on ESPN networks, so from all the networks, plus
whip around coverage on seven innings live, so people will
be able to watch all of this. What's your role
this weekend? How are you fitting into all the coverage?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:41):
I am actually in our SEC network studio up in Charlotte,
so I will be doing studio coverage from there, So
we'll recap the games every night, no matter how late
they end East Coast time, we will recap all those games.
So it should be fun, mainly talking SEC stuff. But
this is the best time of the year too because
I get to get outside the conference a little bit,
so it's super nice.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, well, how do you tackle trying to watch all
the games? I mean, some of them you're going to
watch in full, some of them are just gonna get highlights,
like how do you prioritize for your job? And also
just you know your passion for the game.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Well, multi screen is super important. I use that very frequently,
the multi screen view. And then for me, I love
if I can, if I have time to, I will
go back and rewatch key innings. If I didn't get
to watch the game live, I'll check the box score
it's that broadcast and see like, okay, this was a
biginning for let's just call it Arkansas or Alabama or
whoever it was. Okay, this was a beginning. I'll go back.
(28:34):
I'll watch the games on demand and like write little
notes down about like okay, well here's what I saw
with this pitch and that pitch and just watching all
of that, following the data and analytics. It's honestly something
I didn't do when I was a player, because I
was like, I need to go on the field, I
need to ball, I need to do my thing. I
don't want to know about numbers, stats, don't bother me
with that. I'm not smart enough to handle all of
(28:55):
that and be able to do all of this with
the bat. So but now as an analyst, I love
of diving into specific matchups, like odds that this pitcher
is gonna throw this pitch in certain counts, or this
this hitter specifically swings with the first pitch only when
runners are on second and third, Like little stuff like
that that I never really never really paid attention to
(29:16):
when I was a player. Now getting to do all
of that, it's such a big part of my job
as an analyst. Freaking love it. It's so fun and
it makes it even more fun to watch too.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
When you get like into the nitty gritty.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Oh my god, well you've got us exceedingly fired up
for this weekend. You are such a passionate representation of
the game and the analyst's role and all that.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You're just like crushing it.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
So I assume you're gonna do the same for the
next season of the ausl Athletes Unlimited Softball League. You
actually played in the Athletes Ulimited Softball League. You retired
after the twenty twenty fourth season. Now you work with
the league. Season two gets going in early June, and
teams are actually attached to cities this year. We've got
two expansion teams that got added as well, Portland Cascade
in Oklahoma City Sparks. So get us excited for season two. Like,
(29:57):
what are you most looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
You guys? Home markets? Like, come on, like, we have
home markets. We did an awesome touring model last year.
It was great, it was fun. We crushed it. But
being attached to home cities, I think is a really
big deal for the sport. And then being in Portland,
which is like the epicenter of women's sports right now,
just really really awesome that those fans, they've sold so
(30:22):
many season tickets already, like as soon as they dropped
the team hasn't even played a game in Portland yet,
and these fans are already showing up and buying season tickets.
So I think, you know, Commissioner Kimming did a really
great job obviously, because she's Kimming like she's literally the
best thing ever. Just selecting these markets specifically and knowing
how deep softball fandom is in these places, and there's
(30:45):
so much opportunity for growth. I mean, it's crazy to
think about when I came out of college in twenty sixteen,
it was only ten years ago to where we are now,
and it feels like we're still only just scratching this
surface of where professional softball can be. And you're gonna
watch it. You're gonna watch high competitive softball in the
(31:05):
Women's College World Series like you do every year, which
where we continue to outrate the Men's College World Series
because the sport is like that electric and so fun.
Those same players are playing in the AUSL right after that.
Opening day is June ninth, So just roll all your
softball coverage straight over from ESPN and ABC right onto
ESPN and ABC with the AUSL, and it's you think
(31:29):
college softball is fun, like watch a pro softball game
and see how competitive it is, so fast, see how
fast it is, see how difficult it is. Like what
these women do is truly remarkable. I'll just put things
in perspective. As a hitter, you're talking about facing seventy
plus mile an hour pitching consistently, right, and even Carlin Pickens,
(31:51):
who is the number one overall pick in the draft
through seventy five, like very consistently. It's literally like facing
one hundred and five miles an hour in baseball, inning
after inning after inning.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Right because of the difference from the distance of the
mound to the plate, which a lot of people don't
know that. That's why the speed there, and that's why
when you've had those great examples of MLB players try
to step in and hit softball, they can't.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
They can't. They can't do it. I mean I could
barely do it, and I did it my whole freaking life.
Like it's not it's hard. It is hard to do.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
I give that.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I gave this analogy a while back to when Carlin Pickens.
Let's just use her as an example. When she releases
the ball because she's so tall, She's releasing that ball
from about like what feels like thirty five feet right,
because her legs are so long. So picture yourself standing
on the side of the interstate and watching cars come
at you at seventy five miles an hour from thirty
five feet away. That's terrifying. Yeah, that's terrifying. And that's
(32:48):
what that's what these women do every single time they
step out on the field for seven full innings. So
it's it's electric. I mean, it's superstar, superstar fandom. And
AUSL is really bridging that gap from the college fan
to the and I think this year is we're going
to see tremendous exponential growth. We're already seen it. I mean,
we were out in New York City last week on
a gold through the first pitch of the Yankees game,
(33:09):
like we're back by MLB, Like this is it? Like
AUSL is the next huge women's sports Like there's no
doubt in my mind about that.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah, you could tell.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
There's a huge difference in what they're rolling out versus
previous iterations of pro womens softball, even previous iterations of
athletes unlimited. And obviously that MLB investment Kim Ang at
the top is a huge piece of it. And now
that you're getting teams associated with the cities instead of
that barnstorming tour, it becomes much more like what we're
used to in the US in terms of you know,
professional sports and rooting into those communities.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Any other notable.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Changes we can expect in season two or any teams
that you're particularly excited after seeing what they look like
on paper.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Look, I really like what the talents did and Lisa
Fernandez is If you don't know who Lisa Fernandez is, like,
please just like do yourself a favor and research the
greatness that is Lisa Fernandez because she's just outrage just
like her softball mind, her i Q. The way that
she can build a culture and a team is incredible.
She's an assistant at UCLA. So the Talents took some
(34:07):
UCLA kids in the in the AUSL Draft, which I
was not surprised about at all. But I one team
I'm really excited about, funny enough, is the Portland Cascade,
And not just because of the talent that they have,
because they've got Sispates, They've got Megan Grant they drafted,
so they've got they've got huge talent and huge marketable
(34:29):
superstars within the sport. I think the coolest piece that
that Jamie the the GM has done.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Jimmy low Price.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Yeah, yes, she's she's the best. She really knows and
understands the dynamics of a locker room and the culture
and how important that is to winning. It's not necessarily
just the most talented kids on paper that are gonna win.
It's how those pieces gel together. And to me, Jamie
(35:00):
has done an incredible, incredible job of not just picking
really talented kids, but really good human beings and good
people like Tory Vidallas comes to mind, getting her coming
over from the talents Megan Grant anticipates as well. Sam
Landry comes to mind, like not only just rock stars
on the field, but off of it as well. And
(35:22):
to me, I think that's one of the biggest hallmarks
of a great team is how they can gel, especially
in softball.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
In softball, I was gonna say, it's so deeply rooted
to like the traditions and the fun that the team
has and how they interact with each other. You can
feel that when a team is really buzzing. Tory Vadallas
is your often broadcast partner.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Yes, yes, yes, TV Tory, that's my girl.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
We're supposed to reveal those you know, personal connections when.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You're hyping up. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
That's my girl.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah. Well, we're so excited for college. We're so excited
for the next season of a USL. I will hopefully
be out throwing a first pitch at the Chicago Bandits game,
so I'm pumped to get out to some games. But
we are so much smarter from having you on, so
we appreciate it so much.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Hailey, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Thanks again to Haley for hanging out with us. And
don't forget you can now watch full length good game
interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, so head on
over and subscribe. We have to take a break when
we return. The deadline is fast approaching.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Slices.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Wanted to let you know that this week we lost
former MNBA player Jason Collins, who in twenty thirteen became
the first openly gay player in any of the major
men's pro sports in America. He was an inspiration to
so many, a light and a leader, taken far too
soon at the age of forty seven.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
The women's sports.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Space is such an inclusive, safe community, and I so
wish that men's sports allowed its athletes the same opportunity
to be authentically and joyfully themselves. Progress has remained slow
on the men's side, but Jason coming out in twenty
thirteen marked a sea change, the result of a bravery
that will not be forgotten. I highly recommend you read
the Sports Illustrated piece in which he came out, and
(37:18):
also a piece he wrote last year along with the
ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne, about his brain cancer diagnosis. In it,
Collins wrote, in part quote, I got to tell my
own story the way I wanted to, and now I
can honestly say the past twelve years since have been
the best of my life. Your life is so much
better when you just show up as your true self.
I'm afraid to be your true self in public or private.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
End quote. We'll put both stories in the show notes.
And one more thing.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Slices wanted to shout out Portland, Oregon for making a
strong case for the Rose City to be the epicenter
of women's sports, and not just because of the sold
out crowds at the Moda Center for both fire games
so far, and not just because Haley referenced it in
our interview today. Earlier this month, the county's Board of
Commissioners declared May third as five to OH three Day
to honor the impact of women's sports in Portland and beyond.
(38:07):
District three Commissioner Julie brim Edwards said, quote five O
three Day is about celebrating who we are, our creativity,
our culture, our pride we have in this community. And
today we're celebrating what sets Portland apart on a national
and global stage. We are the global epicenter of women's sports.
End quote Yeah, y'all, she said, global epicenter, not national
global bold statement. Portland props to brim Edwards for taking
(38:32):
her work rep in the city seriously. In fact, I
wonder if she's a slice and got our message anyway.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
All you slices listening.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Should definitely take some inspiration from her and tell us
why your US city is the epicenter of women's sports.
We're compiling all the entries to make a bracket and
solve this debate once and for all. So write us
or send us a voicemail asap to get your city
in the running. The email is good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com and the voicemail number is eight seven two
two four fifty seven, and don't forget to subscribe rate
(39:02):
and review slices. It's real easy watch mascot reveals at
college graduations, rating one out of one pair of giant
mascot hands poking out of that graduation gown review. Anonymity
is key for any mascot. The magic fades a bit
when you know Carl from your third period chemistry lab
is the one inside Bucky Badger racing down the sideline,
(39:25):
hype in the crowd. So for the human inside the beast,
there's nothing more sacred than protecting that anonymity, living a
dual life in silence until college graduation, when all your
classmates and their friends and family finally learn who was
doing backflips down the field and dunking off a trampoline
at halftime. Maybe it's the big old hands. Maybe it's
(39:47):
a giant pair of furry feet. Each school has its
own tradition for how the mascot reveal happens during graduation,
But every time, I'm grinning so big seeing the entire
student body cheer on the kid in the duck feet
and gown racing down the aisles. We'll link to a
couple of my faves in the show notes, South Carolina
revealing Cocky's identity and she is just living for the
(40:08):
tears from her classmates.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Also a super cool reveal of Ohio States Brutus Buckeye.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
If you see any great one slices, send them my
way and make my day. Now it's your turn, y'all
rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game, Hayley,
Good Game, Portland, You Cancer. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
(40:34):
Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi
and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder,
Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistant from
(40:55):
Avery Loftus and I'm your host Sarah Spain
Speaker 3 (41:00):
To
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we were
glad to find out we haven't been waived from this
program while we were logging into record. Today shouts to
Holly Winterburn, who got cut from Atlanta's roster while boarding
the bus for the Dreams first game, but has been
picked up by the Fire on a developmental contract. It's Thursday,
May fourteenth, and on today's show, former pro softball player
(00:21):
turned analyst Haley mcleney Hanson joins us to share the
biggest surprises from the NCAA regular season, what to watch
for in this year's Women's College World Series, and what
she's excited about heading into the upcoming sophomore season of
the AUSL. Plus a buzzer beater, crowd pop for the
history books, Asia goes glam and scoring for team and country.
(00:42):
It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices,
Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with
the PWHL where the Walter Cup Finals are set. Game
five of the Montreal Minnesota semi final series was delayed
(01:04):
to day due to illness, pushed to Tuesday night, and
it was top seeded Montreal who won the decisive contests
two to one to secure a spot against number four
seed Ottawa in the finals. Marielp Pulenz scored the game
winning goal in that one to clinch Montreal's first ever
p WHL Finals birth and break the league's so called
top seed curse. Yes a reminder that the Victoires win
(01:27):
over number three seed Minnesota marks the first time a
one or two seed has advanced in the p WHL playoffs.
With Ottawa and Montreal in the finals, the league is
guaranteed a new champion. Minnesota won the first two titles
in twenty twenty four and twenty five, and also guaranteed
its first Canadian champion. Game one of the best of
five Walter Cup final series is tonight in Montreal a
(01:49):
seven pm Eastern puck drop.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
As usual, our Maple Bacon slices can.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Watch up North on TV, but for the first time ever,
the p WHL Finals will also air nationally in the
US on Ion, and American fans can still tune in
on YouTube too. More PWHL The league announced the addition
of two more expansion teams on Wednesday morning, Las Vegas,
Nevada and Hamilton, Ontario.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Per League Press release.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Las Vegas will play its home games at T Mobile Arena,
home of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, while PWHL Hamilton
will play at the TD Coliseum. Hamilton hosted a PWHL
Takeover Tour game earlier this year with more than sixteen
thousand fans in attendance, while Las Vegas earned a team
without having hosted a takeover Tour game. That's a break
(02:34):
from PWHL practice, which has historically tested out markets through
the traveling series of games. Las Vegas and Hamilton joined Detroit,
which was announced last week as three of potentially four
expansion teams that will join the league ahead of the
twenty twenty six to twenty seventh season. And if you're
wondering how is the PWHL expanding so fast, well a
reminder that the league uses a single entity ownership model.
(02:57):
So Mark and kimber Walter owned the league and all
of its teams. They don't have to find new owners
in new cities or get a vote through a board
of governors.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
They can just make big moves now.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
That single entity structure is expected to continue in the
near future, but it is likely the PWHL will eventually
spin off teams to individual owners down the road even
more PWHL. On Tuesday, the league announced the two hundred
and thirty five players who have declared for the upcoming draft.
The prospects include twenty three Olympians hailing from eight nations.
Headlining the group are five members of the twenty twenty
(03:29):
six US gold medal winning team, Leila Edwards, KK Harvey,
Tessa Janicky, Abby Murphy, and Kirsten Simms. Also friends of
the show. German twins Lily and Louisa Weelke, the Boston
University players we spoke to ahead of the bean Pot Tournament.
The draft will take place on June seventeenth at the
Fox Theater in Detroit and will link to the fullest
of draft declarations in.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The Show Notes to the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
The Atlanta Dream got their second win in as many
games on Tuesday night, handing the Dallas Wings their first
loss of the season, seventy seven to seventy two. Ali
Chagray led the Dream with twenty six points, and Angel
Rees had twelve points and sixteen boards for her fifty
first career double double. After one of those rebounds early
in the fourth quarter, re celebrated with the two small gesture,
(04:12):
earning some booze from the Wings home crowd, so of course,
Rees responded with the classic bring it on motion. The
Wings took the court without number one draft pick Azy Fudd,
who's nursing a right knee injury. Also on Tuesday night,
six Minnesota players scored in double figures to lead the
Links past the Phoenix Mercury eighty eight eighty four. It
was another well rounded effort from Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles,
(04:34):
who had thirteen points, seven assists, and six rebounds in
the win. Klia Copper had thirty for the Mercury in
the loss. Then it was time for the New York
Liberty to take the court against the Portland Fire in
front of another sold out Moda Center crowd in Portland.
The Fire were down by seven going into the fourth,
but they managed to tie it up with seconds to go.
Then on the final possession, the Fire's Bridget Carlton tried
(04:57):
to hit it from three and missed, but Sarah Ashley
Barkers lid under and in for the rebound and scored
a buzzer beater to give the expansion team a ninety
eight ninety six win their first victory since the Fire
franchise was reinstated. Barker's teammates just about crushed her with
their celebration. The crowd erupted and streamers came down from
the ceiling.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It was a scene.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
We'll put a link to the video of the game
winning bucket in the show notes. Promise you can't watch
it without smiling. Carlton had twenty six points to lead
the Fire, and Carla Late pushed through an ankle injury
to put up twenty one points in dish out six assists.
The game was the liberties first l of the season,
but they're still shorthanded, soa bringing an Escu and Satusaboi,
both out with injury, are among several players yet to
(05:39):
suit up for the Libs. More Hoops were recording this
before a full slate of w Game's Wednesday Night but tonight,
make sure to catch the Minnesota Links taken on the
Dallas Wings at eight eastern and the New York Liberty
getting another shot to take down the Portland Fire. Tip
off for that one at ten eastern. Now, if you
can't watch, don't worry, slices, We'll be sure to get
you all caught up on the first full week of
the w's third season.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Before the weekend starts. One more piece of W news.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Shouts to Asia Wilson for gracing the cover of Vanity
Fair Sports issue the Las Vegas Asas Stars wearing a
red leather off the shoulder dress on the cover and
the story dives deep into her life off the court.
We'll put a link to it in the show notes
to volleyball. With a busy weekend of W action, we
got behind on. Given props to the Dallas Pulse, the
twenty twenty six Major League Volleyball champions. The Pulse beat
(06:26):
the Omaha Supernovas three to two last Saturday in the
MLV Championships for the first time in league history. The
championship match went all five sets, with the Pulse coming
from behind to win the title, the first MLV expansion
team to win the title in their debut year. No less,
they won in front of a sold out crowd of
forty five hundred fans at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas,
(06:47):
ending the season with the dub and a cool million bucks.
To soccer, the NWSL's Boston Legacy are starting to turn
things around after a slow goal list start to the season.
The expansion team got their second win in franchise history
with a two to one victory over the Orlando Pride
on Tuesday night on Brazilian Heritage Night in Boston. Legendary
(07:07):
Brazilian National Pride forward Marta opened up the scoring with
a penalty kick in the fourteenth minute, setting a new
NWSL record with her fifteenth career regular season penalty kick goal.
Boston's Ali Gambone got the equalizer in the seventy second minute,
her first ever NWSL goal. They were tied one to
one in stoppage time when the Legacy's Amanda Gutierres, also
(07:29):
a Brazilian national, converted a penalty kick to score the
game winning goal for the Legacy on Brazilian Heritage Night.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Once again, who's right in this stuff? It's perfect.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The win moved Boston from the bottom of the league
standings up to fourteenth place, putting them ahead of both
Racing Louisville and the Chicago Stars. Finally to tennis, the
Italian Open semifinals start early this morning with American Coco
Golf taken on Sarana Cristea. The Romanian ranked twenty sixth
in the world is on a hot streak, making it
to the semi finals by beating world number one Arena
(08:00):
Sablenka and number thirteen Linda Noskova. Goff is the only
US player left in the tournament after Jessica Pagoula got
beat in straight sets by Egis Fiantec on Wednesday. Slices
want to send a big congratulations to friend of the
Show Nicki Hilts on their engagement to girlfriend Emma Gee.
The Olympian and track star announced the good news on
(08:20):
Instagram on Tuesday and showed off a pair of rings
and some cute desert picks.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Oh and the Fire got.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Their first in game engagement on Tuesday night as well.
H We Love Love, We're going to take a break
when we come back. All Things Softball with Haley mclenney Hanson.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Joining US now.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
She's a softball analyst for the SEC Network and works
in sponsorships for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. A standout
outfielder and three time first Team All American at Alabama,
former pro in the National Pro Fast Pitch League and
the AUSL, and an Olympic silver medalist with Team USA,
she played the game She covers the game. She's growing
the game. She's even married to the game. Her wife,
Kylie Hanson, played at Florida State. It's Haley mclenney Hanson. Hi, Haley, Hi,
(09:10):
how are you? Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
You literally married the game I did.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Most important question?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
First, is there more Alabama or Florida state gear in
the Hanson house.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
We live in Florida, so I do have to say
right now, there's actually more Florida State gear in the
house right now. And if you actually look behind me,
that's that's my wife's national championship trophy, not mine, because
I have won one, so I do have the medal
right here. But yeah, so I definitely think there's a
little bit more Florida state gear just because of the
Natty Man.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
You gave up the merch battle and the name battle
I did.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I did. Pitchers always win though, so you know what
I mean?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Fair fair, All right.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
We're going to get into the exciting second season of
the AUS SOL because I'm excited to talk about that,
but I want to start with college softball. Your focus
at SEC Network as an analyst and his co host
on rally cap So, how did this NCAA regular season
differ from what you expected back day one in February.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Oh man, Well, I think, first of all, like we
got to talk about the offense right like in previous
years and even going back to and I know this
is a whole conversation when you talk about you know,
Megan Grant breaking the single season home run record is
pictures dominated the game for a long time. Like I
say that as someone that's married to a pitcher, and
it grinds my gears, like I want bats. I want offense,
Like give me home runs, give me extra base hits.
(10:26):
And I think this season, more so than any other
in recent memory, we have that. And it's electric to
see Kendall Wells at Oklahoma. I don't think anyone she
was obviously a very highly recruited player coming out of
high school, but I don't think anyone expected what she's
been able to give the sport this season. It's it's
just electric. I think that's what stands out to me
(10:47):
among everything else, is just the sheer offense and diving
deeper into Oklahoma. I mean, they've hit seventy five more
home runs as a team than anyone else in the conferences.
It's insane, like that's that gap alone is more than
some teams have on their entire season, all of their players.
So it's it's just ridiculous. So as a hitter, I'm
(11:07):
obsessed with it.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Give me more offense, yeah yeah, maybe a little bit
of the power dynamic shifting, you know. Heading into this season,
we talked to Michelle Smith. We talked about how three
of the final four teams from last year were expected
to battle for supremacy again. Everyone sort of thought Oklahoma, Texas,
Texas Tech. And a quick reminder for those who don't
remember what went down last year. After winning four straight titles,
(11:30):
Oklahoma got bounced by Nigerie Cannedy and Texas Tech in
the Semis and then Texas ousted Texas Tech at the
Championship Series, first national title for the Longhorn. So some
new kind of parody in the sport that people were embracing,
So that prediction wasn't too far off. Texas is at two,
Oklahoma's at three, Texas Tech is down at eleven, and
the surprise this season, you're Alabama at number one. So
(11:53):
I'm gonna let you be a homer here for a minute,
Like How did it feel seeing them grab that top seed?
Speaker 3 (11:58):
It was awesome and I'm I'm sure you saw Murph's
reaction to it, just the dance that he did, Like,
I love that program so much. But it's yeah, a
surprise to say the least, because this is a team
that was picked the finish ninth in the SEC, in
the SEC, not in the country, ninth ninth in the
preseason polls. For them, They've gotten so much contribution from
(12:20):
the freshman Vic Moten, who's pitching behind Joscelyn Brisky, And
I think the biggest surprise for me has been the offense.
I mean, they returned a lot of players from last
year's team that at times was inconsistent at best, and
now you add in a transfer Brooke Wells from Houston
who's become somewhat of a superstar and she's consistently hitting
(12:40):
in the two spot for them. But really one through
nine in that lineup, and really it's like one through
twelve because they have a few pinch hitters that come
in off the bench. They can give you a timely
hit at any point. So I think if you're looking
at resumes, like they have been the most consistent team
all season long, and that's what rewarded them the number
one seed overall. I think you talk about taking it
(13:01):
series from Arkansas earlier in the year, taking the series
from Texas, which surprised a lot of folks. So, yeah,
it's a truly complete team. Gooch Murphy always says you
need good pitching, clean defense, and timely hitting, and I
think by far and away they have put together the
three of those phases of the game consistently more than
anyone else in the country. So roll tide.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, there you go, there's the Homer parts.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
There it is. I put my analyst hat on. I'm like,
wait a second, no, roll tide to that.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Actually, yeah, forty nine and seven. They are number one
for the first time since twenty ten and just the
second time in program history. And you mentioned the battle
with Texas. They won the regular season, but they lost
to Texas in the SEC Tournament championship, So you could
have argued if you put more weight in that, then
(13:49):
maybe Texas would get the NOD, But Texas was fourth
in the SEC in the regular season, so I ended
up giving Alabama the NOD. How much of an impact
do you think the conference tournament's had on the final
bracket seating and how much you think should.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
I don't think it had really any effect on the seeding.
Maybe obviously it'll affect the automatic qualifiers, but as far
as the power for goes, it didn't really have that
much effect in a substantial way in my opinion. And
to be honest with you, I don't know that conference
tournaments and this may be just my opinion for the SEC,
but I don't know how much conference tournaments matter to
(14:23):
some of these teams anymore. Yes, you want to win,
Yes you want to get some good momentum going into
you know, regionals and supers. But if you're like I
look at a team like Florida probably knew they they
had at least locked up a super regional host position
a top eight national seed. Did they need to make
a run in the tournament? Know so, would rest be
more beneficial for them? More than likely? I think each
(14:45):
coach plays that differently. And it's also a single elimination format,
so it's not really if I'm looking at it. If
I'm on the selection committee, I want to see what
you did over the course of a weekend in a
series against the same team, because that's what you're going
to see in regionals, supers and at the World Series, right,
a single elimination tournament. When you're playing back to back
days against opponents like that, it's it really usually comes
(15:07):
down to whoever the hottest team is at that point
wins and whoever's pitcher is pitching the best, and that
was Tea and Govan. I mean watch, I went back
and watched that game, and the movement on her pitches
when she is sharp and when she is on, she's
the best pitcher in the country. I mean that, like
full stop, like hands down. Her movement's just absolutely electric
(15:29):
and good news for all of college softball fans, unless
you're you know, outside of I guess Texas fans.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
But she's coming back, So yeah, for people who like
good pitching. Maybe not the hitters who have to ask her.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
No, I'm glad, I'm retired. Let's just say that.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
You mentioned Oklahoma the crazy single season home run record,
and they were kind of tops all throughout the season,
but they end up taking, you know, a back seat
to Alabama. Do you think they have an argument that
they should have gotten the top seat even though they
lost to Georgia and the SEC tournaments seis.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
I don't. It hasn't been as dominant as we've seen
in the past. Right, you have a bad loss early
in the year, a long beach shade. I think that
kind of came back and bit them. They didn't play
a strong non conference schedule. Obviously, when you play in
the SEC, no matter what, your RPI is gonna get
boosted just because that's the depth and quality of the conference.
But I think the committee this year, more than any
(16:22):
other year, really proved that your strength of schedule matters.
That was very clear to me on the seating when
going through everyone's resumes, and you see the same thing
with Texas Tech too. I mean that's a team that's
been in the top five in the rankings consistently all
year long. People see on the eye tests like, hey,
this is a team like obviously, you got Nija Kennedy,
you got Caitlin Gerry, you got bats, you got me
(16:44):
and William, like you got everybody, and you're paying them,
which is great. But they didn't play anyone outside of
the conference, and so their RPI suffered. And I think
the committee was very clear that hey, we want to
see you play in some really good and really competitive games,
and if we don't, your seeding's probably going to fall.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
RPI rating percentage index that's the team's wins and losses
and strength of schedule sort of all brought together to
use to rank. So it's not just about strength of schedule,
but how you fared against the better and worse teams
that you played. This was the first time the NCAA
committee actually ranked not just one through sixteen, but all
the way seventeen to thirty two like they do in
volleyball and soccer.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Is this a meaningful change in your mind?
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Does it provide the teams with either bulletin board material
or otherwise?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think it does. And my eyes immediately went to
the Baton Rouge regional because that's sixteen and that was
the regional that I was going to keep my eyes
on pretty much no matter what, but especially when Virginia
Tech got announced that they were going to go down
to Baton Rouge as that seventeen seed if you will.
I know, the committee said that they're not going to
put the numbers seventeen through thirty two, but you know,
just inferring, right, which is so fun to do with
(17:54):
nc DOUBLEA. But Virginia Tech is a team that it
in my book one percent and should have been hosting
the way that they ran through the ACC, the way
that they played Florida State in the championship game. I
test alone, Virginia Tech should have been a host. LSU
at times has been really inconsistent this year. They got
off to a really bad start, had a lot of
(18:15):
good pieces, just couldn't quite piece all the pieces together
to make you know, a perfect kind of a perfect run,
if you will. And so I know a lot of
people are upset about the Virginia Tech situation. I get it.
I understand it. So that's a team to me, that's
like coming into a regional with something to prove, and
those are the teams that are really scary. And then
(18:35):
you look at Tuscaloosa. This is this is where it
became very interesting to me the new seventeen through thirty
two seeding, because you've got Southeastern Louisiana there as de
facto thirty two, right, But then seeds three and four
in those regional tournaments are no longer based on performance.
They are not seeded. It's solely based off of geography. Right,
So then you sneak in Belmont as the three seed
(18:59):
with my Johnson, the number three overall pick in the
AUSLL draft with a point six y six era and
something along the lines of like a fifteen strikeout to
walk ratio. Literally one of the best pictures in the
country coming into that as a three seed. Unreal, So
that that was interesting to me, Like you can see
the matchups between seventeen and thirty two with where they
(19:22):
are competing for the hosts, like with the hosts, but
those three seeds became very interesting. Marshall's another scene that
comes to mind. Yeah, it's just it's it's it's interesting
because geography didn't matter and then all of a sudden,
all of a sudden, it did, and Alabama was handed
one of the toughest regionals as the number one overall seed.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Let's talk about that because it's not like it's ever
going to be an easy road. But a lot of
people have said, dang, you got the number one seed
and then they put a lot in front of you
to make it there. You mentioned already brook Well's first
team All Conference slugger, a standout for this team, also
SEC Pitcher of the Year Joscelyn Briski. So talk about
why she's so good.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Jocelyn Brisky, I think it's two parts. I think she's
always had this stuff. She's had the stuff since she
was a freshman. I think this year, more than anything,
it was the mentality. She knew that there was gonna
be two really solid freshman pitchers coming in with Vic
Moulten and Caitlyn Palazzi. Vic Moulten's kind of established herself
as the number two behind Brisky, and then walks were
(20:20):
just her biggest kind of kryptonite. The past couple of years,
she didn't have solid command of her pitches, couldn't command
her off speed very well, and just didn't have really
good control of the zone. And so she put a
lot of time in on the mental side of things
and just really working with the pitching coach, Lance McMahon
on sharpening her command and sharpening her movement and working
(20:44):
on her spin rate and things like that. And so
I think the biggest thing for me this year has
been the strikeout to walk ratio. I mean, it was
by far and away the best in the SEC. Her
vertical split, which just meaning she can really tunnel her
drop ball on her rise ball really well. So as
a hitter, it literally looks like the same pitch and
then it just splits and you don't know, and you're
(21:05):
just guessing. And half the time hitters are just guessing anyway,
like we don't have time to react. You've got Carlin
Pickens in and they're throwing seventy five freaking miles an hour,
don't I don't know where I'm swinging. I'm praying I
make contact. And that's the same with Brisky's movement. It'll
just split the zone up and down, and that's so
hard and so tough as a hitter. And then you
couple that with the fact that she doesn't walk a
(21:27):
lot of people, meaning she doesn't throw a lot of balls,
and so she's working her way into leverage counts one two,
one two. The hitters already in defense mode when they
step in the box because they know if I'm gonna
swing one, I need to swing early because I know
she's gonna pound the strike zone. But that means I
have to be on time extremely early, and as a hitter,
that makes me uncomfortable. I was always one of those hitters,
(21:48):
especially in the leadoff spot. I want to see as
many pitches as I can because that means my timing's
gonna get better as the Abbat goes along. Brisky. It
exploits that really well. And you couple that with the
mentality piece that she's just had. I mean you can tell,
like if you just watch her pitch, you can tell
she's just like, give me the ball. I'm a dog,
I'm better than you. I dare you to get in
the box. And that's the mentality you have to have
(22:10):
as a pitcher. And she's she's by far and away,
this is by far and away her best season yet.
And she's another one like sorry to you hitters, but
she's coming back. She's only a junior, which is just crazy.
So for you to winn SEC Pitcher of the Year
with all of the names, the Carlin Pickens, the Tea
and Cavan's like all of those aced Robin Harron from Arkansas, Like,
(22:31):
that's a big time award, but well earned and well deserved.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
We've got the NCAA Regionals double elimination winners at each
of the sixteen sites.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
We'll move on to the Super Regionals.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Any hot takes you want to get out, any upsets
that you see coming.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
I have concerns about Texas A and M hosting Arizona
State and Kenzie Brown. They went on an absolute tear
in the Big twelve tournament Texas A and M did
not look great in the SEC tournament.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Does that care?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
I don't know, but I will say Kenzie Brown when
I went back and watched that Texas Tech game, for you,
for her to shut down that lineup the way that
she did that rise ball is just filthy. It's filthy.
And if you can get one timely hit, if she's
pitching like that, that's really all you need. So I
would keep my eye on Arizona State. I would keep
(23:22):
my eye on Mississippi State going out to Oregon. They
have one of the best pitching stabs in the SEC.
And again it's just it's like a one you're one
time we hit away. If you can keep the game
close with a good pitching staff, you always have a chance.
And so I think those are two that I'm I'm
really keeping my eye on with with Arizona State in
(23:43):
Mississippi State, and I do think, and I'm putting this
out in the universe, Arkansas, this is the year that
they make it to the Women's College World Series. I
believe it. I believe it they're battle tested, they got
a couple of good transfers. They can win in a
bunch of different ways. So I am putting my stamp
on Arkansas finish number one in the RPI. By the way,
(24:04):
So keep keep your eye.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Okay, we're writing these names down. We'll keep you honestly
if those predictions check out. Are there a standout player
or two we should be watching for this weekend that
maybe aren't the top couple names that casual fans will know,
but somebody else that they should be watching on TV
and say, ooh, okay, this is the one that Haley
told us about.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Oh I'm gonna go to Arkansas. If you haven't seen
Robin Herron pitch for Arkansas, please make sure you do that.
Just an electric left handed pitcher that is a competitor.
She's fiery, she's got great movement, elite stuff, and she
she's the leader for that Arkansas team. So I would
say her for sure, and then I'll go back to
Mississippi State as well. If you in PAGEA gold if
(24:45):
you have not seen her pitch, she got an AUSL
Golden ticket for a reason. The ball looks like a
whiffle ball coming out of her hand. It's insane. I've
faced a lot of spinny pitchers in my career. Kat
Austerman comes to mind as one of them. With an
electric drop ball. Pasia's moves more east to west, but
if you watch it, it literally looks like it's shaking
(25:07):
moving through the strike zone. So get it, give yourself
a chance, and just sit there and like get your
popcorn and just lock in because if you take your
eyes off it for one second, you're gonna miss the pitch.
So those are two pictures that come to mind.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It's gonna say, your wife's really got you trained well.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
She's doing great.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
All pitchers all the time.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
She's doing great.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I will say.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
I will say, I really really love watching Townsend Thomas,
this freshman at Florida She's a left fielder. She actually
ended the game. Now I'm gonna lose brownie points with
my wife, but she ended the game against Florida State
with a diving catch to literally save the game. We
talk about Kenda Wells all the time, right as one
(25:49):
of the best freshmen, if not the best freshman in
all of college softball. I would argue that Towns and
Thomas is right there with her. As a prolific outfielder.
She's hit in the cleanup spot as a red shirt
freshman at Florida, like not a lot of people can
say that they do that. And she's the athleticism, the
speed is off the the bat speed, how quick her
hands are. She reminds me of Michelle Moultrie, a teammate
(26:11):
of mine on the twenty twenty Olympic team, former Florida
Gator as well. So I would say Townsend Thomas and
then I'm gonna give Oklahoma some more love and say
Kai Minor. And I'm biased towards outfielders, but again, you
talk about Kenda Wells all the time, but who's on
base When Kendle Wells hits her home runs? It's kind Minor,
just electric stuff, top of the sec in almost every
(26:32):
offensive category. As a freshman, batting, lead off, playing center field,
she made an incredible diving catch against Texas in that
series that literally made my jaw drop to the floor.
So and I love that I'm giving some freshman some love.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I know that's so exciting for the game. It is.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, I think it just speaks to the talent development overall.
It Kids are coming into college ready to contribute and
having all American years at big time programs. You used
to never see that, like when back when I was
I say back when I was playing, it was like
ten years ago. It wasn't that long ago, but you
would have to Like I had a legit question of
like am I gonna start as a freshman. I've got
to compete for it. I've got to work my butt
(27:09):
off for it. And now these kids are like, nope,
I'm starting. I'm are you with the best hitter on
the teams and to roll. My travel ball coach prepped
me for this, like I'm good, let's roll, Let's win
a Natty and you could tell it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
So some pretty exciting young players and some players that are,
you know, trying to make one final, last big run
before they graduate.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
So we'll have all of that to watch.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
There's over one hundred tournament games that are going to
be on ESPN networks, so from all the networks, plus
whip around coverage on seven innings live, so people will
be able to watch all of this. What's your role
this weekend? How are you fitting into all the coverage?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:41):
I am actually in our SEC network studio up in Charlotte,
so I will be doing studio coverage from there, So
we'll recap the games every night, no matter how late
they end East Coast time, we will recap all those games.
So it should be fun, mainly talking SEC stuff. But
this is the best time of the year too because
I get to get outside the conference a little bit,
so it's super nice.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, well, how do you tackle trying to watch all
the games? I mean, some of them you're going to
watch in full, some of them are just gonna get highlights,
like how do you prioritize for your job? And also
just you know your passion for the game.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Well, multi screen is super important. I use that very frequently,
the multi screen view. And then for me, I love
if I can, if I have time to, I will
go back and rewatch key innings. If I didn't get
to watch the game live, I'll check the box score
it's that broadcast and see like, okay, this was a
biginning for let's just call it Arkansas or Alabama or
whoever it was. Okay, this was a beginning. I'll go back.
(28:34):
I'll watch the games on demand and like write little
notes down about like okay, well here's what I saw
with this pitch and that pitch and just watching all
of that, following the data and analytics. It's honestly something
I didn't do when I was a player, because I
was like, I need to go on the field, I
need to ball, I need to do my thing. I
don't want to know about numbers, stats, don't bother me
with that. I'm not smart enough to handle all of
(28:55):
that and be able to do all of this with
the bat. So but now as an analyst, I love
of diving into specific matchups, like odds that this pitcher
is gonna throw this pitch in certain counts, or this
this hitter specifically swings with the first pitch only when
runners are on second and third, Like little stuff like
that that I never really never really paid attention to
(29:16):
when I was a player. Now getting to do all
of that, it's such a big part of my job
as an analyst. Freaking love it. It's so fun and
it makes it even more fun to watch too.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
When you get like into the nitty gritty.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Oh my god, well you've got us exceedingly fired up
for this weekend. You are such a passionate representation of
the game and the analyst's role and all that.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You're just like crushing it.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
So I assume you're gonna do the same for the
next season of the ausl Athletes Unlimited Softball League. You
actually played in the Athletes Ulimited Softball League. You retired
after the twenty twenty fourth season. Now you work with
the league. Season two gets going in early June, and
teams are actually attached to cities this year. We've got
two expansion teams that got added as well, Portland Cascade
in Oklahoma City Sparks. So get us excited for season two. Like,
(29:57):
what are you most looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
You guys? Home markets? Like, come on, like, we have
home markets. We did an awesome touring model last year.
It was great, it was fun. We crushed it. But
being attached to home cities, I think is a really
big deal for the sport. And then being in Portland,
which is like the epicenter of women's sports right now,
just really really awesome that those fans, they've sold so
(30:22):
many season tickets already, like as soon as they dropped
the team hasn't even played a game in Portland yet,
and these fans are already showing up and buying season tickets.
So I think, you know, Commissioner Kimming did a really
great job obviously, because she's Kimming like she's literally the
best thing ever. Just selecting these markets specifically and knowing
how deep softball fandom is in these places, and there's
(30:45):
so much opportunity for growth. I mean, it's crazy to
think about when I came out of college in twenty sixteen,
it was only ten years ago to where we are now,
and it feels like we're still only just scratching this
surface of where professional softball can be. And you're gonna
watch it. You're gonna watch high competitive softball in the
(31:05):
Women's College World Series like you do every year, which
where we continue to outrate the Men's College World Series
because the sport is like that electric and so fun.
Those same players are playing in the AUSL right after that.
Opening day is June ninth, So just roll all your
softball coverage straight over from ESPN and ABC right onto
ESPN and ABC with the AUSL, and it's you think
(31:29):
college softball is fun, like watch a pro softball game
and see how competitive it is, so fast, see how
fast it is, see how difficult it is. Like what
these women do is truly remarkable. I'll just put things
in perspective. As a hitter, you're talking about facing seventy
plus mile an hour pitching consistently, right, and even Carlin Pickens,
(31:51):
who is the number one overall pick in the draft
through seventy five, like very consistently. It's literally like facing
one hundred and five miles an hour in baseball, inning
after inning after inning.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Right because of the difference from the distance of the
mound to the plate, which a lot of people don't
know that. That's why the speed there, and that's why
when you've had those great examples of MLB players try
to step in and hit softball, they can't.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
They can't. They can't do it. I mean I could
barely do it, and I did it my whole freaking life.
Like it's not it's hard. It is hard to do.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
I give that.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
I gave this analogy a while back to when Carlin Pickens.
Let's just use her as an example. When she releases
the ball because she's so tall, She's releasing that ball
from about like what feels like thirty five feet right,
because her legs are so long. So picture yourself standing
on the side of the interstate and watching cars come
at you at seventy five miles an hour from thirty
five feet away. That's terrifying. Yeah, that's terrifying. And that's
(32:48):
what that's what these women do every single time they
step out on the field for seven full innings. So
it's it's electric. I mean, it's superstar, superstar fandom. And
AUSL is really bridging that gap from the college fan
to the and I think this year is we're going
to see tremendous exponential growth. We're already seen it. I mean,
we were out in New York City last week on
a gold through the first pitch of the Yankees game,
(33:09):
like we're back by MLB, Like this is it? Like
AUSL is the next huge women's sports Like there's no
doubt in my mind about that.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah, you could tell.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
There's a huge difference in what they're rolling out versus
previous iterations of pro womens softball, even previous iterations of
athletes unlimited. And obviously that MLB investment Kim Ang at
the top is a huge piece of it. And now
that you're getting teams associated with the cities instead of
that barnstorming tour, it becomes much more like what we're
used to in the US in terms of you know,
professional sports and rooting into those communities.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Any other notable.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Changes we can expect in season two or any teams
that you're particularly excited after seeing what they look like
on paper.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Look, I really like what the talents did and Lisa
Fernandez is If you don't know who Lisa Fernandez is, like,
please just like do yourself a favor and research the
greatness that is Lisa Fernandez because she's just outrage just
like her softball mind, her i Q. The way that
she can build a culture and a team is incredible.
She's an assistant at UCLA. So the Talents took some
(34:07):
UCLA kids in the in the AUSL Draft, which I
was not surprised about at all. But I one team
I'm really excited about, funny enough, is the Portland Cascade,
And not just because of the talent that they have,
because they've got Sispates, They've got Megan Grant they drafted,
so they've got they've got huge talent and huge marketable
(34:29):
superstars within the sport. I think the coolest piece that
that Jamie the the GM has done.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Jimmy low Price.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Yeah, yes, she's she's the best. She really knows and
understands the dynamics of a locker room and the culture
and how important that is to winning. It's not necessarily
just the most talented kids on paper that are gonna win.
It's how those pieces gel together. And to me, Jamie
(35:00):
has done an incredible, incredible job of not just picking
really talented kids, but really good human beings and good
people like Tory Vidallas comes to mind, getting her coming
over from the talents Megan Grant anticipates as well. Sam
Landry comes to mind, like not only just rock stars
on the field, but off of it as well. And
(35:22):
to me, I think that's one of the biggest hallmarks
of a great team is how they can gel, especially
in softball.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
In softball, I was gonna say, it's so deeply rooted
to like the traditions and the fun that the team
has and how they interact with each other. You can
feel that when a team is really buzzing. Tory Vadallas
is your often broadcast partner.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Yes, yes, yes, TV Tory, that's my girl.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
We're supposed to reveal those you know, personal connections when.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You're hyping up. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
That's my girl.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah. Well, we're so excited for college. We're so excited
for the next season of a USL. I will hopefully
be out throwing a first pitch at the Chicago Bandits game,
so I'm pumped to get out to some games. But
we are so much smarter from having you on, so
we appreciate it so much.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Hailey, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Thanks again to Haley for hanging out with us. And
don't forget you can now watch full length good game
interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, so head on
over and subscribe. We have to take a break when
we return. The deadline is fast approaching.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Slices.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Wanted to let you know that this week we lost
former MNBA player Jason Collins, who in twenty thirteen became
the first openly gay player in any of the major
men's pro sports in America. He was an inspiration to
so many, a light and a leader, taken far too
soon at the age of forty seven.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
The women's sports.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Space is such an inclusive, safe community, and I so
wish that men's sports allowed its athletes the same opportunity
to be authentically and joyfully themselves. Progress has remained slow
on the men's side, but Jason coming out in twenty
thirteen marked a sea change, the result of a bravery
that will not be forgotten. I highly recommend you read
the Sports Illustrated piece in which he came out, and
(37:18):
also a piece he wrote last year along with the
ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne, about his brain cancer diagnosis. In it,
Collins wrote, in part quote, I got to tell my
own story the way I wanted to, and now I
can honestly say the past twelve years since have been
the best of my life. Your life is so much
better when you just show up as your true self.
I'm afraid to be your true self in public or private.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
End quote. We'll put both stories in the show notes.
And one more thing.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Slices wanted to shout out Portland, Oregon for making a
strong case for the Rose City to be the epicenter
of women's sports, and not just because of the sold
out crowds at the Moda Center for both fire games
so far, and not just because Haley referenced it in
our interview today. Earlier this month, the county's Board of
Commissioners declared May third as five to OH three Day
to honor the impact of women's sports in Portland and beyond.
(38:07):
District three Commissioner Julie brim Edwards said, quote five O
three Day is about celebrating who we are, our creativity,
our culture, our pride we have in this community. And
today we're celebrating what sets Portland apart on a national
and global stage. We are the global epicenter of women's sports.
End quote Yeah, y'all, she said, global epicenter, not national
global bold statement. Portland props to brim Edwards for taking
(38:32):
her work rep in the city seriously. In fact, I
wonder if she's a slice and got our message anyway.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
All you slices listening.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Should definitely take some inspiration from her and tell us
why your US city is the epicenter of women's sports.
We're compiling all the entries to make a bracket and
solve this debate once and for all. So write us
or send us a voicemail asap to get your city
in the running. The email is good game at wondermedianetwork
dot com and the voicemail number is eight seven two
two four fifty seven, and don't forget to subscribe rate
(39:02):
and review slices. It's real easy watch mascot reveals at
college graduations, rating one out of one pair of giant
mascot hands poking out of that graduation gown review. Anonymity
is key for any mascot. The magic fades a bit
when you know Carl from your third period chemistry lab
is the one inside Bucky Badger racing down the sideline,
(39:25):
hype in the crowd. So for the human inside the beast,
there's nothing more sacred than protecting that anonymity, living a
dual life in silence until college graduation, when all your
classmates and their friends and family finally learn who was
doing backflips down the field and dunking off a trampoline
at halftime. Maybe it's the big old hands. Maybe it's
(39:47):
a giant pair of furry feet. Each school has its
own tradition for how the mascot reveal happens during graduation,
But every time, I'm grinning so big seeing the entire
student body cheer on the kid in the duck feet
and gown racing down the aisles. We'll link to a
couple of my faves in the show notes, South Carolina
revealing Cocky's identity and she is just living for the
(40:08):
tears from her classmates.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Also a super cool reveal of Ohio States Brutus Buckeye.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
If you see any great one slices, send them my
way and make my day. Now it's your turn, y'all
rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game, Hayley,
Good Game, Portland, You Cancer. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
(40:34):
Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi
and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder,
Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistant from
(40:55):
Avery Loftus and I'm your host Sarah Spain
Speaker 3 (41:00):
To
Host
Sarah Spain
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