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Tuesday Trends: Emma Wilson, Rachel Castine, Jin Sileo shine on Opening Weekend

Screenshot 2024-07-31 at 7.46.34 PMby: Brady Vernon02/13/24BradyVernon
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Courtesy of Outback Frames/FSU Athletics

Every Tuesday Softball America will look back at a handful of the best performances by individuals or teams that are trending one way or the other. We will use video and advanced data from our friends at Synergy Sports.

Emma Wilson looks ready for a big role

Remember when Lonni Alameda turned to a freshman during the 2021 Women’s College World Series championship series? That Emma Wilson has grown up. Wilson collected the most innings thrown (9.2) for Florida State after opening weekend, pitching well against Charlotte and Texas Tech. Alameda witnessed a talented arm she could turn to on the sport’s biggest stage. Despite only pitching six innings last season, the senior seems poised to play a crucial role for the Seminoles.

What was working for the righty? Let’s dive into the curveball, her most-used pitch this season. The main contrast between this year and previous years is Wilson’s using it more on both sides of the zone. Previously, she had primarily thrown on the left side of the plate, which is typical for a righty throwing a curveball. Wilson is still throwing mostly to that side and the pieces have been painting the corner more consistently thus making it a harder pitcher to hit. Below you’ll see two charts, the left being Wilson’s curveball spots in 2021-23 and the right being this year only:

Courtesy of Synergy Sports

Wilson isn’t a power pitcher, and her velocity tops out at 63 MPH. She’s successful with spin and controlling the zone. That style was evident during her outing against Charlotte. Wilson is more of a contact pitcher, only 17% of her outs have come via the K this season. Nevertheless, her ability to find strikeouts in key moments comes in handy.

In the clip below Wilson gets the best of both the left-handed Abigail Knight and the right-handed Sam Gress from Charlotte. Wilson froze Knight with a screwball that caught the edge of the plate. The next inning, Wilson’s curveball tailed away from Gress, who swung and missed.

Wilson is a different type of pitcher than Kat Sandercock and Florida State does need an arm to step up this season. Wilson’s early development is a good sign for the Noles.

Rachel Castine couldn’t stop hitting home runs

Virginia Tech finished last season with 100 home runs, second-most in the country behind Oklahoma. While the Hokies brought back most of their power; Bre Peck, Emma Ritter, Addy Greene, Cameron Fagan, they did need to replace the production of Jayme Bailey and Kelsey Bennet. Well, Rachel Castine made the case she’s ready to do just that to open the season.

Castine started 30 games last season, including a starting role at shortstop for every game of the Athens Regional. She carried that momentum into this season.

The shortstop hit four home runs, two of them grand slams, and collected 13 RBIs, finishing the weekend with a casual 2.334 OPS. A year ago, Castine had two home runs and 16 RBIs with a .246 batting average.

Castine’s weekend was against quality competition as all four of her homers came against Illinois and Auburn. She was able to take advantage of miscues over the heart of the plate against the Tigers’ Shelby Lowe and Annabelle Widra.

Castine wasn’t on our list of potential breakout stars, but if the opening weekend tells us anything she’ll certainly be there by the end of the season.

Jin Sileo’s national spotlight

As a media member who has covered softball through a national scope and ranked players based on position, I feel that I owe Jin Sileo an apology. I’ve seen the highlight plays, tweeted about them but yet never really put into words how good the Georgia Tech shortstop is in comparison to others.

Sileo faces challenges offensively, and Georgia Tech doesn’t receive the same level of national attention as teams like Oklahoma, where Grace Lyons is known for making plays. The sure-handed shortstop has proven how good she is for four years now and is coming off a season committed just three errors.

That was on full display at the Buzz Classic. Backhanded stops with strong throws to first, great reads on little flares to turn a double play and leaping grabs to steal a hit away from the batter.

If you’re watching the Clearwater Invitational, check out a Georgia Tech game, there is a good chance you’ll see a special defensive play.

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