Jennie Finch Named the One Hitter She Wouldn’t Want to Face

Finch, now an AUSL advisor, picked Portland’s Megan Grant — runner-up in AUSL home runs and the tournament’s leader with four more at the All-Star Cup. What stood out wasn’t the power number. It was Finch’s reasoning: no zone she can’t hit. That’s the difference between a swing built to crush one pitch and an approach with no hole left to attack.

AUSL  ·  Open it ›

The 2028 Class Is Still Committing, Two Weeks In

Kate Losh picked Florida on a Thursday night — one of a steady stream of 2028 commitments moving since Sept. 1 opened contact. If your daughter’s phone didn’t ring with a headline like this one, that tells you something about a program’s board on that particular day. It is not a verdict on her.

D1Softball  ·  Open it ›

The Real Cost of Travel Ball Isn’t the Invoice

This piece isn’t about money — it’s about who your kid’s friends are. Travel schedules are quietly sorting kids into separate social worlds, athletes on one track and everyone else on another, and most families never sit down and decide that on purpose. Worth twenty minutes before you build next spring’s calendar.

Slate  ·  Open it ›

Syracuse Just Hired an 18-Year MLB Hitting Coach

Corey Hart spent eight years in the Blue Jays organization plus stints with Miami and Milwaukee before taking the Syracuse softball job, after the Orange hit .235 as a team — a 50-point drop. Programs are starting to treat hitting development as its own specialty instead of one more thing on the head coach’s plate. Watch how he structures fall camp. That will tell you more than April’s box score.

Softball on SI  ·  Open it ›

Confidence Isn’t a Trait. It’s a Mechanism.

449 college women, three validated scales, one clear chain: how an athlete sees herself predicts how much she trusts herself, and that trust is what actually carries over into toughness under pressure — not the other way around. The researchers are upfront that this is correlational, not causal, and I respect that more than a headline that oversells it. “Be more confident” is bad coaching advice. Confidence is downstream of identity work, and identity work is trainable.

BMC Sports Science  ·  Open it ›

A Whole Conference Just Standardized Its Tech

Starting in 2027, every Sun Belt softball program gets the same TrackMan setup at its home facility — not just the schools with a booster fund. The bigger story isn’t the technology, it’s the leveling. The gap between a power program and a mid-major has always included who has access to good data. This closes some of that.

Sun Belt Conference  ·  Open it ›

One JUCO Kid’s Blueprint to Division I

Michael Clarkson’s path from a rough JUCO season to a D1 opportunity ran through a structured, measured plan — not a growth spurt or a lucky showcase. This week, do the same thing on paper: pick the one number you’re actually trying to move, and write down the six-week plan to move it. That’s the whole exercise.

Driveline Baseball  ·  Open it ›

Rob Crews Hitting Clinic

Escanaba, Michigan · September 18–19

Hannahville Ice & Turf Complex, Bay College. This is next weekend. All three player sessions are sold out — the Friday evening coaches seminar is the only spot left.

Coaches Clinic — Register ›

Rake Sessions & Coaches Seminar

Houston, Texas · September 25–27

Elite Training Facility, 2012 Center Street. Coaches seminar Friday 7–9:30pm, $75. Four player sessions Saturday and Sunday, $200 each, 10 hitters max — these fill fast.

Coaches Seminar — Register ›    Player Sessions ›

Rob Crews Inner Circle — $19/mo

Where I put the long-form work: daily thinking, training breakdowns, and the material that doesn’t fit in a newsletter.

Join the circle ›

CG Hitting Certification + Mentorship — $150/mo

The full program for coaches who want to teach this system, not just use it — certification, the Masters mentorship group, and Swing Dynamics included. $1,850 to start, then $150/month.

See the program ›