Michigan Softball's 2022 season came to a close this weekend at the Orlando Regional against UCF. The Wolverines were able to beat the South Dakota State Jackrabbits twice, but were unable to take a game from the host Knights. Michigan led 2-1 in the seventh inning of the first meeting with UCF, as the hosts were down to their final strike before an RBI double tied the game and sent it to marathon extras. In the 11th inning the Knights would walk it off, and they led wire-to-wire in the second meeting en route to a 9-4 victory. With Michigan's season coming to a close, this final Softball Roundup will do two things: first we'll examine the roster heading into next year, looking at the returning players and incoming recruits, and then the second half of the piece will take an eagle eye look at where the program now sits. That will include some difficult questions that now need to be asked about a program that hasn't made it out of the opening weekend in six years. Looking Ahead to 2023 This Michigan team was decently laden with veterans, which was the reasoning behind the lofty expectations entering the season, something this group fell short of, unfortunately. As a result, we will likely see some considerable turnover in the offseason. The top three hitters on the team were seniors, Kristina Burkhardt, Lexie Blair, and Hannah Carson. Burkhardt is gone for sure, a grad student who is out of eligibility, while Carson and Blair both retain their COVID-shirts and the ability to come back for fifth years. If Blair is interested in returning, I think you have to open a spot for her on the roster. Taylor Bump, who didn't have a great offensive season but did lead the team in HRs, is also out of eligibility. Audrey LeClair and Lauren Esman are both juniors and will be able to return, although neither of those two players had OPS clips >.800. Ella McVey, Annabelle Widra, and Elie Sieler were all freshmen and should return, though none had an OPS >.700. Keke Tholl and Sierra Kersten were sophomores, while Melina Livingston is maybe the biggest question eligibility-wise. Livingston played three seasons at PSU, 2019-21, before transferring to Michigan. She was listed as a "graduate student" on the roster, but she has only played four seasons of college softball and one of them was the COVID year. Does she have the ability to return? I'm not sure, but if she does, I'd be interested in bringing her .820 OPS and defensive versatility back. To summarize, Michigan will bring the bulk of the hitters back, but if neither Carson nor Blair return, the four hitters the Wolverines are losing are their three best, as well as their most powerful. For a team that struggled mightily on offense when the season was on the line, that is not a great indicator. We'll evaluate the incoming hitters momentarily, but let's next check in on the pitchers. Lauren Derkowski will be a big piece in the circle next season [JD Scott] Michigan's veteran presence in the circle was centered on Alex Storako and Meghan Beaubien. Storako is in the Blair/Carson class, having played four years but retaining the COVID-shirt. She has the ability to return and it would seem to me that Michigan should be interested in making that happen, despite Storako's struggles in the second half of the year. Beaubien is in the same boat as Taylor Bump, having used her fifth year this season, so she is officially out of options. That leaves the three freshmen pitchers, Lauren Derkowski, Annabelle Widra, and Emerson Aiken (who didn't pitch much) as the nucleus of the pitching staff moving forward. Getting Storako back would blunt some of the weight falling on their shoulders, but either way, Michigan will be replacing at least 100 innings from Beaubien, and someone will need to step up to seize those. The incoming freshman class is slanted towards hitting and it has a pair of high-level, blue chip prospects. Local kid Lilly Vallimont is the #5 player in the country out of Trenton High School, a slugging catcher who is the top catching recruit in America. She also plays shortstop and seems to have a mix of athleticism and power. Infielder Avery Fantucci is the #6 player in the country, a contact and speed hitter with great on-base ability and few strikeouts. Players in the top ten of the recruiting rankings typically step in right away and contribute, so I would expect both Vallimont and Fantucci to play from the jump. Maddie Erickson is the lone pitcher in the class, a two-way player who hits for power while being an excellent pitcher in Oregon HS softball. Janelle Ilacqua is from South Carolina, an infield prospect who is the #32 overall player in the country, and appears to be another speed and contact type, with a penchant for stolen bases. The class is rounded out with two IF/OF prospects, Indiana Langford, the #36 player in the class and someone Hutch compared to Abby Ramirez, as well as Maddie Ramey, the annual unranked local kid and a lefty hitter with a little power. [AFTER THE JUMP: Existential questions]