Jennifer St. Clair

[Chris Olsen @RebelsOlsen]

This may be a wildly controversial post...

Softball has always been a beautiful game because there has never been just one way to dominate.

You could beat people with speed.
You could beat people with defense.
You could beat people with pitching.
You could beat people with situational hitting.
You could beat people with toughness and IQ.

Yet somewhere along the way, we've started acting like the only thing that matters is how many balls leave the yard.

Home runs are exciting. They should be celebrated.

But when accolades, rankings, and recognition become disproportionately tied to one statistic, we risk losing sight of what actually wins softball games.

The kid hitting .500, maybe all singles, matters...

The shortstop making plays and turning hits into outs matters.

The slapper creating chaos every at-bat matters.

The pitcher producing outs, not strikeouts, matters.

The athlete moving runners, taking extra bases, and doing all the little things that never make it into social media graphics... they matter!

A game built on speed, athleticism, pressure, execution, and teamwork is slowly being reduced to a home run derby.

And maybe it's time to have an honest conversation about the ball itself.

When offense becomes so dominant that pitchers and defenses are increasingly marginalized, the balance of the game starts to disappear. Maybe it's time to nerf the ball a bit and bring the game back to what made it great in the first place, a game where pitching matters, defense matters, speed matters, and every run has to be earned.

The best players are not always the ones hitting the most bombs.

Often, they're the ones most indirectly impacting winning.

Let's be careful not to reward one skill so heavily that we forget to recognize what made this game in the first place... the complete softball player.

[Kassidy St. Clair @kassidy_st]

Extremely excited for the next three years!! #feathersup

[Kassidy St. Clair @kassidy_st]

Extremely grateful for the opportunity to visit @UIU_Softball today! Thank you so much @coach_rhode for taking the time to make the visit amazing. I really appreciate you answering all my questions and showing me around the campus and town! #feathersup

[Kassidy St. Clair @kassidy_st]

I’m grateful for my time at Angelina this year, but I’m ready to find my home for the next 3 years. I finished this season leading the team with a .360 BA and second on the team with a .444 OBP. Excited for the new opportunities presented to me and to see what the future holds!

[Jennifer St. Clair @Jen_StC]

Freshman season ended yesterday. Congratulations on a great year, kiddo! Lead the team with a .360 batting average & battled through all the ups and downs that is softball and being a freshman. So dang proud of you-always- and so excited for the next chapter coming!! @kassidy_st

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Youth sports have changed a lot in the last 15 years.

Some things are better.
Some things are worse.

Here are 7 things youth sports desperately need right now:

[THREAD] 🧵

[Angelina College Softball @ACRunnersSB]

GAMEDAY

🆚: Alvin College
⏰: 1pm & 3:30pm
📍: Alvin, TX

#RunEm

[SportsCenter @SportsCenter]

An instant classic in the Minnesota Boys Hockey State Tournament 🏒

Warroad defeats Hibbing-Chisholm for the Class A title in overtime 🔥

📺 @KSTP

[Chris Long @ChrisLongKSTP]

If you’re not watching the postgame show… you’re missing an all-time State Hockey moment with Mooney Shaugabay’s interview.

He just captured the emotion of the journey to State Hockey as much as you’ll ever see.

Tears all around.

And then? Snow angels.

[YHH @YouthHockeyHub]

BHS
Class A State Championship

Warroad > Hibbing/Chisholm (5-4, FINAL OT)

ALL ROADS LEAD TO WARROAD

WARRIORS WIN FIRST STATE TITLE SINCE 2005

[Yahoo Sports @YahooSports]

THE WOMEN OF TEAM USA DOMINATED THE PODIUM 😤

They finished with more gold medals and total medals than the men for a SIXTH straight Olympics 🥇🇺🇸

[Christine Brennan @cbrennansports]

For the third Winter Olympics in a row, U.S. women won more gold medals and more medals overall than U.S. men. In the Summer Olympics, it’s four in a row for U.S. women. Why? Title IX of course. My ⁦@usatodaysports⁩ column: https://t.co/MUmbewFhe9

[Warroad Hockey Co. @WarroadHockeyCo]

No US men’s hockey team has won gold without a player from the small town of Warroad, MN on the team. A population of only 2,000 people.

Brock Nelson is a 3rd generation Olympian, and Warroad native. Congratulations Brock and Team USA!

[YHH @YouthHockeyHub]

Can’t win Men’s gold without a player from Warroad.

[USA Hockey @usahockey]

Just an absolute passing clinic and Brock Nelson finishes it for goal No. 2 of the night 😮‍💨 #WinterOlympics

[USA Hockey @usahockey]

Nice 'n easy Nelly 🚨 #WinterOlympics

[USA Hockey @usahockey]

Welcome to the #WinterOlympics, Brock Nelson! 2-1 USA 🇺🇸

[Jennifer St. Clair @Jen_StC]

@CyWoodsSoftball @TXPrepSoftball @leadoffclassic @CW_Athletics @CyWoods212 Yay JoJo!!!! ❤️😊

[Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune]

There’s a reason Warroad has branded itself as Hockeytown USA, even though the title originated in Detroit.

https://t.co/bcrxJ3oOz2

[Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune]

The Chicago Tribune named newsroom veteran Stacy St. Clair as the newspaper’s new managing editor Friday.

https://t.co/T0Zw7aJKmh