After I was disappointed by Saturday’s events, I tuned in on Sunday to watch the Alabama–Tennessee softball game (the top two teams in the country), only to find out that no games had been played on Saturday due to the weather. So there was still a tie between Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman for the NCAA career strikeout record. Abbott was the pitcher, and Osterman was the announcer.
Shortly after the game started, Abbott struck out a batter, giving her the NCAA career lead, and Osterman congratulated her and was very gracious. In the post-game interview, Abbott was also very gracious to Osterman.
But as Osterman is relatively new at announcing, she needs to project her voice more. Her voice has a tendency to fall off, and that's what happened as Abbott struck out her first batter, giving her the record. Osterman was discussing something and as strike three sailed by the batter, Osterman said something but her voice tailed off and I didn’t quite catch what she said.
Despite her occasional vocal problems, Osterman certainly provided great insight into the game. She understands well what goes through a pitcher’s mind and communicated clearly. In fact, she provided interesting insights into all facets of the game. And after Saturday, when she sounded very nervous, I thought she might be one of those announcers that didn’t say much, but that was not the case. Osterman was a chatterbox, in a good and informative way. She didn’t start her comments with “well, you know”, which I think is a horrible habit that some announcers have. And kudos to ESPN play-by-play announcer Eric Collins for working smoothly with a relatively new partner (I have also enjoyed Collins’ work over the years).
And as an extra added benefit, Cat stars in an impressive commercial for Under Armour.
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