Softball swings into action soon -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

PEARSALL RETURNS TOP PITCHERS AND HITTERS FOR 2017 

With the unseasonably warm weather the Louisville area has been having of late, the Louisville softball team has had the rare pleasure of doing something they rarely get a chance to accomplish in January. 

Practice outdoors. 

We sat down with head Louisville Softball coach Sandy Pearsall recently to discuss the upcoming 2017 season. It's probably no coincidence that the fire alarm in the SAC building kept going off while we chatted. Sandy has a returning roster that could set the ACC afire this season: 

CARDINAL COUPLE: Let's take a look at the roster, Coach.

Our favorite Oregonian...Maryssa Becker

PEARSALL: We have a good group of nineteen players. I look forward to this group. They've worked extremely hard. They've probably been more dedicated to becoming better on a daily basis than any group I've had in a long time so I'm really excited about that. Pitching wise, we have [Maryssa] Becker back for her senior year and we have high hopes she'll have a great senior year. Megan Hensley continues to work so hard on  her game and continues to get better. We're excited about having her back this season. She's the future for us.

We added a freshman in Sydney Warinner to the staff and she's going to be more of a relief kid right now, probably not a full time starter just yet. We see bright things for her. We're going to continue to develop her. For her, the sky is the limit. A lot of great potential. It's just getting her ingrained into the game. 

CARDINAL COUPLE: Take us through the outfield.  

PEARSALL: We'll have some competition in the outfield. Clearly, we have the two seniors in Morgan Meyer and Jordan McNary. Morgan has really grown into her game. Last year we started to see something from her that we always knew was there. Jordan certainly improved and had a great junior year. Nicole Pufahl anchors us in center field. She does a great job out there and we expect even better offense from her this year. You also have to add Jordan Vorbrink, who spent limited time out there last year and could rival for any position out there. She could even come into the infield and play, which she did a little bit of last year. Competition will be tough for the infield spots. 

CARDINAL COUPLE: How has the squad looked in the couple weeks of practice? 

PEARSALL: Good. We really been able to progress pretty quickly because they did come back ready after putting in some work in the off-season break, which is what we absolutely need from them. We got into more strategy this week after fundamental work last week. I always like to go back and refresh everybody's memories. It was something we needed to do. We're still working on that third base and first base issue...those corner spots are a little bit iffy . There's a little inexperience there. Lil [Goetz] comes back with a little experience, although not a lot of experience...and then we add Celene Funke, into that mix...a freshman... into a position she's never played. 

Also, we have Tiarra [Sanabria] coming off an injury at first base, we're kinda working through that. The culmination of our infield is that their experienced in some ways and very young in other ways. It'll be interesting to see how that develops. I like what I've seen in practice. If they continue with the same intensity and development...they're going to be really ready. 

CARDINAL COUPLE: After a road swing to start the season you come home to Ulmer Stadium to start play on March 3rd. 

PEARSALL: The kids really like to play at Ulmer Stadium . They get excited about it because we have such a wonderful facility. 


To hear the CARDINAL COUPLE interview in it's entirety with Coach Pearsall...be sure to listen to today's broadcast on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR at 11 a.m. at www.crescenthillradio.com or you can access the Soundlcloud version here: 

CARDINAL COUPLE INTERVIEW WITH SANDY PEARSALL


We would be remiss if we didn't mention that the Softball Banquet/Bullpen Club Dinner is tonight at the Galt House in the Archibald Room. Happy Hour and Silent Auction begin at 6 p.m. and speaker Sierra Romero and dinner start at 7 p.m. 

This is a fun event that usually sells out each year and one that Worldwide, Sonja and Paulie enjoy attending. We get some great interviews each year and the keynote speaker is always fantastic. We'll have a recap of the festivities in our Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. 



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RADIO TODAY (MAYBE?) 

We'll be in the studio today at full strength...Paulie, Worldwide and Case...for another exciting edition of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR...the only question is whether we'll be on the FM waves or strictly Internet. 

A hacker gained control of the FM feed and made it necessary for the transmitter of the FM signal to be shut down yesterday and it is not known when the transmitter will be back up. The WCHQ app and Internet stream are fine, though, so you can listen to us that way. More on the hacking: 

WCHQ 100.9 Hacked

We have a fun show planned for you. Hoops galore and Sandy's Softball interview....plus discussion on Volleyball and their purported move from the KFC YUM! Center back to Cardinal Arena for home games. We assigned Case the duty of attending the Presidential Inauguration and asking Donald Trump on his views of the ACC women's basketball schedule and standings...we'll hopefully have that report as well. (If he didn't stay for the women's march today...) 

It's live radio and unrehearsed. That makes it all the more exciting...because you never know what kind of off-the-wall trivia Worldwide is going to toss out there or which stream of conciousness Paulie may lapse into. 


put Paul in the Hall
Paulie
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