High school softball season will begin Monday
While the wall calendar nor local school calendars are still saying it’s summer, my summer is ending this week.
While the wall calendar nor local school calendars are still saying it’s summer, my summer is ending this week.
The 2023 high school fast-pitch softball season will begin for most schools Monday, with the remaining teams beginning their season by the end of next week.
The slate of games for Monday and Tuesday are listed on this page.
With the new season is coming some new things for Your TIMES. For starters, there will be write-ups on the softball action — unlike in past fall seasons. With the way we go to press these days, action that happens on Tuesdays and/ or Wednesdays will get reported in each Friday edition, while action taking place from Thursday through the following Monday will get reported in that next Wednesday edition.
Something else new for Wednesday editions will be a “creation” of mine from my days at both the Ardmore and Poteau newspapers — the weekly “Diamond Notes” column. This column will take a look ahead at what is coming up that following weekend and/or week — namely big tournaments, with even more “hype” on those that are happening locally. At the end of each “Diamond Notes” column will be a look back at some of the key impressive individual hitting and pitching performances from the week before.
As the saying goes, “Let the games begin!”
• • •
Team USA made it to the knockout stage of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, albeit by the hairs of their chinny chin chins.
On Tuesday, the United States were forced to settle for a scoreless tie with Portugal, but that one point for the tie was just enough to advance the Americans to the knockout stage.
The U.S. will face Sweden at 4 a.m. Sunday in Melbourne, Australia.
Either the talent has been top-notch or Team USA has struggled — or maybe it’s a combination of both factors. Whatever the case, the U.S. would seem to appear to have itself a mighty tough road if we want to three-peat as Women’s World Cup champion.
• • •
Tuesday was the Major League Baseball trade deadline — where trades could be made without having individuals clear waivers.
As is usually the case annually, some big-name players who were with their teams they started the season with are now with new teams.
The New York Mets got rid of their 1-2 pitching duo of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Verlander returned to the Houston Astros with whom he won last year’s World Series, while Scherzer went to the Texas Rangers.
The Detroit Tigers dealt pitching ace Michael Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies, while St. Louis pitcher Jack Flaherty was sent to the Baltimore Orioles.
The Kansas City Royals traded relief pitcher Scott Barlow to the San Diego Padres.
The one trade that seemingly was going to be made was not — the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sending twoway phenom Shohei Ohtani somewhere. Even though the Japanese superstar will be a free agent at season’s end, since the Angels are in the American League wild-card hunt — and they acquired Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito to help bolster their pitching staff — they held off trading the All-Star, still giving him a chance that both he and All-Star centerfielder Mike Trout have never done wearing an Angels uniform — make the postseason parade. Perhaps this is their year to end that negative streak.
Now that all the blockbuster trades have been made, let’s see how the MLB pennant chase and wild-card playoff chase end up.
David Seeley is sports editor at Your TIMES. He can be reached by telephone at (918) 775-4433, Ext. 139 or by email at davids@cookson.news.
