Frank Griffin Talks 2017 Hatters

On this edition of In The Circle, Eric Lopez chats with Stetson Hatters Head Coach Frank Griffin about the upcoming Stetson Hatters 2017 season. Griffin entering his  21st year as head coach of the Stetson softball program.

Frank Griffin begins his 21st year at Stetson in 2017

Griffin has 898 career victories during his 27 seasons of coaching softball which currently ranks him 24th among active NCAA Division I coaches and 38th on the all-time Division I coaches list.

During his 20 years at Stetson, Griffin has led the Hatters to 673 wins, 18 appearances in the A-Sun Softball tournament, two regular season championships, two conference tournament titles and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Among the topics Griffin talks about in the interview include:

• Experience returning in the pitching staff in 2017
• Overall outlook of the 2017 Hatters season
• 2017 Schedule
• A-Sun Conference outlook
• Having his coaching staff together for a long time with Vanessa Bataille & J.J. Payette.
• Advice Griffin would give to people going into coaching softball
• Renovations upgrades to Patricia Wilson Field

Frank Griffin Interview Episode 73

The Hatters are coming off a 30-24 season in 2016 and will be led offensively by Senior second baseman Jessie TenBroeck  and senior leftfielder Kelsey Waters who were each selected to the  A-SUN 2017 preseason all-conference team.  TenBroeck was voted as one of the league’s Preseason Defensive Players of the Year.

Jessie Ten Broeck leads Hatters on offense and defense.(Photo Courtesy of Stetson )

TenBroeck batted .343 in 2016 with 59 hits, 30 runs scored, and 33 stolen bases in 2016  earning first team all-conference honors. Waters also earned first team all-conference honors in 2016 after batting .308 with seven doubles, two triples, a home run, and 16 RBI.

The Hatters return experience in the circle with pitchers Chelsea Hostetler, Curstin Taylor, Brooke Hutto, and Tori Perkins all return from last season.

Perkins made A-SUN All Freshman team last season and was tied for team lead in wins with 12 with Hutto who also made all-Freshman team last season.

This season, Griffin added former UCF standout hitter Jessica Ujvari as a volunteer coach. Ujvari won the 2015 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year at UCF played 3 seasons at UCF (2014-2016) returns to the A-Sun Conference where Ujvari played her first season in 2013 at USC UpState.

Ujvari joins an experience staff that includes Associate Head Coach Vanessa Bataille who entering her 18th year at Stetson and J.J Payette who begins her 11th season with Hatters on coaching staff after playing for Griffin for previous four years (2003-2006).

For more information on Hatters Softball, go to GoHatters.com and follow on twitter @StetsonSoftball

NCAA Softball Tournament Projections III

Cat Osterman Asst Coach at Texas State

Here is my Third 2016 NCAA Softball Tournament Projections of the season. () is RPI ranking.

ACC (4): Florida State (9), Notre Dame (25),  Louisville (50), North Carolina (37)

Comment

American (3): UCF (29), South Florida (17), Tulsa (36)

Big East: Villanova

Big 12 (4):  Oklahoma(3), Baylor (14),  Texas (32), Kansas (42)

Big Ten (5): Michigan (2), Minnesota (21), Nebraska (31), Ohio State (34), Illinois (48)

 Pac-12 (8):  Oregon (7), Washington (8), UCLA (16),  Arizona (20), Utah(24), Oregon State (27),  Arizona State (35), California (39)

 SEC (11): Florida (1),  Alabama (4), Auburn (5), Missouri(11),  Kentucky (12),  Tennessee (13), LSU (15), Georgia (19), Texas A&M(22), South Carolina (28), Ole Miss (30)

 A-10: Fordham

 America East: Albany

 A-Sun: USC Upstate (52)

 Big Sky: Sacramento State

 Big South: Longwood

 Big West (2): Cal State Fullerton (26), Long Beach State (43)

 CAA:  James Madison (6)

 C-USA: Florida Atlantic (23)

 Horizon: Wright State

Ivy: Dartmouth

 MAAC: Marist

 MAC: Miami (Ohio)

 MEAC: Delaware State

 MVC: Wichita State (54)

 MWC: Fresno State (18)

 NEC: Saint Francis

 OVC: Jacksonville State

 Patriot: Lehigh

Southern: Samford (49)

 Southland: McNeese State (38)

 Summit: North Dakota State

 Sun Belt (3): Louisiana-Lafayette (10), Texas State (44), South Alabama (46)

 SWAC: Alabama State

 WAC: New Mexico State

 WCC: BYU (45)

Last 4 In : Illinois, North Carolina,  Arizona State, Texas State

First 4 Out : San Diego State, Mississippi State, Purdue, Georgia Southern

Projected Host Teams

1- Florida

2- Michigan

3-Oklahoma

4- Oregon

5- Auburn

6-Alabama

7-Florida State

8- Washington

9- Louisiana Lafayette

10- Kentucky

11- James Madison

12- UCLA

13- Tennessee

14- Missouri

15-Baylor

16- Arizona

Teams in Contention to Host

LSU, Fresno State, Georgia, Minnesota

Conference RPI Rankings Top 12

1- SEC

2- Pac 12

3- Big 12

4- ACC

5- Big Ten

6- Sun Belt

7- American

8- Colonial

9-Big West

10-A-Sun

11- Mountain West

12- CUSA

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Frank Griffin Previews Hatters Season

Eric Lopez previews the 2016 Stetson Hatters season with Head Coach Frank Griffin, who is entering his 20th season at Stetson, talks to Lopez about the following.

• Outlook of the 2016 season
• Who are some of the players to look for this season?
• Breaking down Stetson’s schedule
• The outlook of the A-Sun Conference.

Frank Griffin Interview 

The Hatters will be led by senior Kayla Drury  who batted .355 last season with a team-high 55 hits to go along with eight doubles, one home run, and 24 RBI. Junior Jessie TenBroeck who sets the tone at the top of the lineup. TenBroeck batted .293 with 38 runs scored and 31 stolen bases last season.

The Hatters pitching staff will be led by sophomore Chelsea Hostetler who was A-Sun All-Freshman team selection in 2015 and was selected as the Facebook Fan Vote Preseason Pitcher of the Year this year.

The Hatters were picked 4th in the A-Sun Preseason Poll.

Preseason Softball Coaches Poll

Pl. Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Lipscomb (6) 48
2. USC Upstate (1) 41
3. Kennesaw State 31
4. Stetson 25
5. North Florida 19
6t. FGCU 16
6t. Jacksonville 16

Preseason Atlantic Sun All-Conference Team
Lexi Shubert, P, USC Upstate
Tanner Sanders, P, Lipscomb
Courtney Sutter, C, Kennesaw State
Stacy McClelland, INF, North Florida
Megan Veringa, INF, Kennesaw State
Kayla Drury, INF, Stetson
Jessie Tenbroeck, INF, Stetson
Brittany Elmore, OF, Lipscomb
Shelby Duncan, OF, North Florida
Jazz Vasquez, OF, Stetson
Karla Beasley, UTIL/DP, USC Upstate

Preseason Player of the Year: Stacy McClelland, North Florida
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Brittany Hawn, Stetson
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate

Frank Griffin Interview

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