NOTES, QUOTES, AND A THOUGHT OR TWO...
After Texas Tech beat Mississippi State in fast-pitch softball, I tuned into one of their super regional games and became acquainted with Nijaree Canady.
Canady is the Texas Tech ace, who transferred to Lubbock after playing at Stanford last season. Canady made headlines when she signed a $1 million NIL deal with the Lady Red Raiders.
And Texas Tech got their money’s worth as they rode Canady all the way to the Women’s College World Series finals. They eventually lost in game 3 to Texas but it just goes to show you that one good pitcher can take you a long way in fast-pitch softball.
While I don’t begrudge anybody the ability to make a dollar, I’m glad that Texas Tech didn’t win the national championship. It would have been another example of the team with the most money buying a championship.
It’s situations like this that are ruining college athletics. At some point, the NCAA has to get a handle on the transfer portal and NIL. But I’m afraid that genie is out of the bottle and will be impossible to put back in.
I’m afraid that what you will see is the rich getting richer and the little schools getting squeezed out.
Kemp Alderman update
For those who don’t keep up with such things, former Newton County Academy and Ole Miss standout Kemp Alderman is making waves in Class AA baseball.
Alderman has been an every-day starter with Class AA Pensacola this season. Alderman started the season out on fire but cooled off in the later part of April and early May. But Alderman recently put together a 13-game hitting streak, which came to an end this past Sunday. In the process, Alderman raised his average to .286 and was named the Southern League Player of the week recently. It’s good to see Alderman getting hot and playing well as he continues to pursue his dream of playing the major leagues.
And on a side note, Pensacola has one of the nicest minor-league parks in the country, sitting just off the Gulf of America. If you get a chance, go check out the Blue Wahoos and Alderman.
SEC in College World Series
After a record 13 teams made the men’s college baseball playoffs, only two SEC teams are headed to Omaha win Arkansas and LSU.
The Razorback beat out defending champion Tennessee to advance to Omaha while LSU battered West Virgina to advance.
Arkansas is the highest-ranked team left after top seeds Vanderbilt and Texas lost in regional play. The Razorbacks may be playing the best baseball of anybody right now.
LSU hammered West Virginia 16-9 and 12-5 and are hot right now. The bad part is Arkansas and LSU are on the same side of the bracket and will play each other in the first round of the College World Series.
It’s been an interesting playoff so far and I expect the College World Series to be a good one.
Positive vibes in Starkville
Mississippi State formally announced the hiring of Brian O’Connor last week and details of his contract were made public.
O’Connor will now be the second-highest paid college baseball coach in the country, second only to Tony Vitello at Tennessee.
O’Connor’s hiring has been considered a home run for Athletics Director Zak Selmon. While things have looked good so far, only time will tell if this was a good hire or not. He has brought along some assistants with him from Virginia and did keep interim head coach Justin Parker on staff.
I’ll be interested to see how this team takes shape and how he does in recruiting.
Robbie Robertson is sports editor for The Newton County Appeal. You can email him at sports@thenewtoncountyappeal.com
