By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            When NCAA legislation was passed that created the transfer portal five years ago, Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore was certainly not the biggest fan. At times, he's been openly critical about it.

            But he's had to temper those feelings a little bit because "it was good to us over the last couple of years," Moore said.

            During a bounce-back 40-18 season that ended with a loss to Ole Miss at last weekend's NCAA Utah Regional in Salt Lake City, "we changed the whole makeup of our infield," Moore said.

            After adding a pair of All-Big 12 picks the year before with centerfielder McKenzie Wilson and pitcher Dariana Orme, both from Fresno State, the Bears grabbed shortstop Amber Toven from Arizona, second baseman Presleigh Pilon from LSU and first baseman Shaylon Govan from SFA.

            And at times, when Pima Community College transfer Shannon Vivoda was at third base, "we had a whole new infield with Toven and Pylon and Govan at first base and her at third."

            Despite tearing her labrum in the middle of the season, Govan hit a team-best .369 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs to earn unanimous first-team All-Big 12 and first-team all-region honors in her first season at Baylor.

            "It was just a pain tolerance, and she was determined to stay out there," Moore said of Govan, who will have surgery next month. "She never complained about it, either. I forgot at times that she was dealing with that until I'd see her with that (sling) on. It changed the mechanics of her swing a little bit, and it certainly hurt her, but then she puts up numbers that I think she's got a real shot at All-American despite that."

            Toven and Pilon hit .287 and .258, respectively, and combined for 57 RBIs while helping Baylor set a program record with 31 double plays.

            "Talk about chemistry, they played together in high school and travel ball, and had something already before they got here," Moore said. "I thought going in that those two would be possibly the best middle infield combo we've had. We've had some good ones, but having that combination . . . and there were quite a few errors made in those positions, too (32). So, we even have room to improve."

            In the individual exit player interviews at the end of the season, Toven came into the meeting "and was just very unhappy with her play," Moore said. "And here I am thinking that you may be the best shortstop I've ever put on the field."

            "You balance that a little bit," he said, "and she's going to be determined to fix it and get even better with those plays."

             Probably the most frustrating aspect of what was the Bears' best season since making the Women's College World Series in 2017, Baylor lost both of its top two pitchers along the way.

            Aliyah Binford suffered a knee injury two weeks into the season and made only six appearances in the circle, finishing 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA and hitting .440 with three extra-base hits and seven RBIs. She had surgery and is expected to be back by August when the fall semester begins.

            "It was a huge loss, but she's got two more years and she got into grad school," Moore said of Binford. "She's going to be like (former All-American pitcher) Whitney Canion around here. I'm really proud of her academically. I know it was a struggle for her early on, but she got it together and now she's going to have a master's before she's done."

            Because of losing Binford so early in the season, the Bears "had to throw Dari more than we wanted to and would have had to if Aliyah had been available," Moore said. A first-team all-region and second-team all-Big 12 pick who will have surgery next month for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, she threw a conference-high 148.0 innings during the regular season.

            "From my understanding, they remove a portion of a rib to free up the nerve that's being pinched and causing that deadness in the arm," Moore said. "She was getting shots that were allowing her to play pain-free, but there's no guarantee those are going to work. We were hoping that holding her out would rest her and also allow her to get that feeling back in her arm to finish up . . . but we had to shut her down."

            The positive out of those devastating injuries was the emergence of freshman RyLee Crandall (16-6, 3.05 ERA, 85 strikeouts) and sophomore Kaci West (8-4, 2.70). They pitched the Bears to a three-game sweep of then-No. 5 Texas, with Crandall earning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors.

            Recruited as more of an outfielder out of Liberty (Texas) High School, West has also played third base for the Bears and is a "great hitter and an overachiever, in my opinion," Moore said.

            "She's going to be a valuable one in the bullpen, for sure, more of a middle relief/closer type," Moore said of the plans for West next season. "She's certainly exceeded my expectations for her in the circle. She's throwing velocities that I never thought someone that small was capable of. She's hit 69 a few times this year. Again, the game's progressing. But back when I started coaching, if you hit 69, you were at elite level."

            The Gatorade Player of the Year in New Mexico two years ago, Crandall was expected to be Baylor's No. 3 pitcher this season. Instead, she made 23 starts, led the team with 36 appearances and threw a combined 267 pitches in the Bears' games last Saturday in a 13-9 win over Southern Illinois and the season-ending 9-2 loss to Ole Miss.

            "RyLee certainly had some freshman experiences from a confidence standpoint and dealing with strike zones and making adjustments," Moore said, "but she's got some really good stuff. I think this year, having to carry the load a little more often, will only benefit her for next year.

            "We could have protected her more if everyone was healthy. One game, she kept looking to see if I was coming out of the dugout, she said she'd never been left out there that long in travel ball in high school. But even the fact that we had to do it in those situations, she was able to work through them and grow up doing that."

            With senior DP/outfielder Josie Bower being the only senior, Moore expects to have the bulk of this year's team back in 2024, barring any transfer portal departures.

            On top of the returning cast, freshman catcher/first baseman/outfielder Abbie Flores is "an outstanding hitter with a lot of power" who redshirted this season after undergoing back surgery. And there's even more help on the way with a trio of fall signees – first baseman Paige King from San Antonio, pitcher Lexie Warncke from East Bernard, Texas, and infielder Leah Cran from Corpus Christi.

            Moore, who picked up his 1,000^th career victory this season, said he "enjoyed this team as much as any I've ever coached."

            "This team was so exciting to coach, but also they were fun to be around at practice," he said. "Some people will say they never worked a day in their life. I won't say that, I went to work a few days. But this was one of those seasons that I would not have classified my time out on the field as work. Just a lot of enjoyment, whether it was a team meal or a trip. It was just a rare combination of personalities that all pulled in the right direction."