Pappalardo: This weekend captured all of Michigan

When you’ve adopted the Michigan softball workforce all through this previous season, you possible know there is no such thing as a clear minimize storyline for the Wolverines. 

They began the season sluggish, streaked and slumped, and completed Large Ten play on fireplace. And all through the rollercoaster yr, I discovered myself confused. I had no clue how good Michigan was, as a result of it didn’t constantly put all the things collectively and play prefer it did at its finest.

I believe the easiest way to categorise the Wolverines’ season is to take a look at the best way they performed in Large Ten collection as a result of they nearly at all times performed out the identical manner. 

There was at all times one recreation the place Michigan was firing on all cylinders and blew their opponents out of the water. In one other contest their hitting could be simply OK and the bats would get bailed out by their pitching workers. And eventually, one recreation featured pitching that wasn’t dominant sufficient to hold the load of mediocre bats, leading to a loss. 

Inside these collection, complicated as it could be, you get the clearest image of who the Wolverines had been. They had been a workforce whose most obtrusive weak spot was their fixed battle with inconsistency.

And on this previous weekend the place their season ended after they went 2-2 on the Orlando Regional, all of Michigan’s volatility was captured. There actually weren’t any constants, even inside this 4 recreation pattern measurement. As a result of what plagued or aided the Wolverines modified recreation to recreation. 

Michigan’s two wins went an identical manner. They had been each in opposition to the Jackrabbits, and each had been highlighted by senior right-hander Alex Storako who zoomed by way of SDSU’s order over and over, permitting just one run every recreation. 

However the losses had been much less predictable. On Saturday, senior left-hander Meghan Beaubien and the remainder of the pitching workers did greater than their fair proportion, permitting solely three runs by way of 11 innings. However UCF outlasted the Wolverines and made them pay for expensive errors and their incapacity to get runners on base. Saturday was a loss the place the pitching workers did all it may however obtained no run help.

On Sunday, the pitching collapsed. Of the 4 pitchers who entered, none may discover management, evidenced by the 9 walks and successful by pitch. In simply the primary inning, three runners scored —  All of them walked in.

Because the pitching collapsed although, the batters lastly appeared to seek out some rhythm, protecting Michigan within the recreation by plating 4 runs. However all through the sport, the Wolverines had alternatives to do extra injury that they didn’t capitalize on. They wasted alternatives, leaving 9 runners stranded, and couldn’t save themselves. 

Michigan wasn’t eradicated due to only one aspect of its recreation. It was eradicated as a result of its highs bordered too near its lows. The Wolverines proved on Saturday that they may compete with the Knights, they had been one strike away from pushing them to the brink of elimination. However they didn’t.

This weekend Michigan confirmed each side of its identification. An eleven inning gem bordered a  nine-run walk-heavy catastrophe. Athletic diving catches saved runs, whereas ugly bobbles triggered them. And each a dormant batting order and an lively one made appearances. 

However what was proven probably the most is a workforce that would compete in opposition to the nation’s finest, however not one that may do it with any semblance of consistency. And that was the Wolverines downside this yr. They’d the instruments with many returning veterans,, however in opposition to higher groups they often seemed dulled.

Inconsistency is not possible to keep away from, however I believe that it’s what separates nice groups from simply good ones. And on the finish of the day, I believe that’s all that Michigan was. 

With all of the expectations that surrounded this deep lineup, it was simple to over-analyze each the highs and the lows. However what I believe I uncared for a lot of the season was that the Wolverines had been greater than what they may do in small spurts. They had been what they did in each recreation. And after watching a weekend collection the place I noticed all of Michigan at its finest and its worst, I’ve lastly come to phrases with the importance of its inconsistency.

And what that inconsistency most demonstrated is that the Wolverines had been at all times simply good, not nice.