The Florida softball team concluded a remarkable 2024 campaign on Tuesday, falling in an extra-innings elimination game against defending national champion Oklahoma.
For the Gators it was the end of a remarkable run but perhaps the start of something even bigger. The nucleus of the team was made up of freshmen this season, with seven of them set to return next season.
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“Yeah, with the seven freshmen I think you saw a lot of growth and just the ability,” coach Tim Walton said in a post-game press conference. “Four of them live together, the other three live together. I’m sorry, three and three live together. Olivia (Miller) had volleyball kids as roommates. But they did really well. I think Cassidy McLellan got hurt at Mississippi State this season, she was really starting to come into her own as well.
“But the seven freshman were really close. I think three or four of them played together in travel ball and some other things, so they were really, really close.”
Among those Florida softball freshmen was pitcher Keagan Rothrock, who emerged as an absolute powerhouse in the circle. She was a huge part of the reason the Gators were able to make it to the WCWS semifinals.
Rothrock embodied what many of the freshmen did: She knew how to work.
“The one thing I said before, our strength coach just really said, ‘Man, this freshman class has it,'” Walton said. “They do a good job working. They do things when you’re not paying attention and they go in and put the extra time in and stuff. Proud of them.”
Florida softball’s freshmen were also aided by a strong transfer class, one that produced the SEC Player of the Year in Jocelyn Erickson.
“But yeah, with the other four, obviously brought in Jocelyn and Korbe (Otis) and Brooke Barnard and then Mackenzie Wooten was a grad transfer,” Walton said. “But long and short, really proud for the seven returners that really were the glue to kind of bring them all together and teach them some right. We had some mistakes along the way, but really teach them what our program is and kind of what it embodies.
“It’s more about the people than it is about softball. And softball, they’re all good at softball. Everybody we brought in, they’re all good at softball, that’s the easy part. It’s just about getting them to learn how to share and communicate and do all the other stuff that’s really difficult. But they did a good job of just buying in.”
If that buy-in continues throughout the long offseason heading into 2025 and Walton can keep the roster intact, Florida softball should be one of the favorites to win it all next season.
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