The lack of great coaches in the high school ranks in Mississippi is killing us. Too many schools are throwing a baseball assistant or just someone they need to get a "head coach supplement" to the softball team. Mississippi high school softball is in a word, terrible, across the board. There is almost no development of pitching happening in our state. Bad high school pitchers giving pitching lessons is making things worse.
Mississippi State has 3 Mississippi players on their roster (Neshoba Central, Houston, Brookhaven), two are position players and one is a pitcher.
Ole Miss has 2 Mississippians on their roster (West Union, Neshoba Central), both position players.
Southern Miss has 4 (Brandon, Houston, Magee and Myrtle), all position players.
So two high schools (Neshoba Central and Houston) have put nearly half of the players on major D1 rosters. It's not like talent is leaving the state. It just sucks. Even at the 6A level, Brandon is the only program with a major D1 player in the state. Until this improves, MSU will never have a great softball team.
The biggest threat to softball? Volleyball. The best female athletes are headed to the volleyball court. The coaches are better, the talent is better, the scholarship opportunities are better. This years class in Mississippi put 4 girls on SEC volleyball rosters and about 25 more at other schools. That's not happening in softball.
I'm not seeing that at all. The large majority of schools have softball coaches, not football guys. Not saying they're great coaches, just that the football thing isn't the norm anymore other than an assist maybe. The real issue is the lack of quality instruction in general and softball is growing rapidly, volleyball is played in the fall, not spring, so they co-exist.
Travel ball in MS is garbage. MS did put that many kids in P5 programs in softball last round. More kids are playing regional softball than ever. Not many are making the PGF. They play the same old tournaments. Atlanta, Chattanooga, Colorado, Texas, Alabama on secondary fields.
There's a real lack of pitching instruction and commitment to it. Pitching in MS is non-existent.
MHSAA does softball no favors either. Well, except a couple people who tell them what to do.
There more facilities for softball opening up around the state too. Population and money hinder us here too. Look at kids that went and stayed with people in California to play that level. There have been a few. They were smart.
How many teams in MS are now affiliated loosely to Fury, Thunderbolts, Athletics, Bombers, etc?
All that to say, you're correct in your overall assessment of the state schools not having a large talent pool. Too many kids are shooting for the easy Juco route instead of being committed to being great. Again, money is a part of that.
I know a MS kid who played SEC ball. She'd go through her hitting schedule and anytime there was down time, she was doing sit ups and push ups. She had personal trainers, lived summers in California, practiced fielding with instructors (watched her routinely throw balls into an igloo playmate cooler set up ate each base on her free time). The commitment is insane but necessary.
