A decade of dominance or decline? Pt. 3

Arizona had quite a bit of success this past decade on the diamond, but maybe not as much as it should. Arizona baseball won a national championship and just missed another, but has also missed the NCAA Tournament five times. Softball played in just two WCWS, which would be great for some programs, but not the Wildcats

Heading into the next decade, how do Arizona baseball and softball look? Is the future brighter than it was a decade ago?

2009 Arizona Baseball - 30-25 (13-14) missed post season

Head Coach: Andy Lopez

2019 Arizona Baseball - 32-24 (15-14)

Head Coach: Jay Johnson

Although Lopez’s Wildcats missed the postseason in 2009, they would make the post season in 2010, 2011 and win it all in 2012. Jay Johnson went to the CWS finals in his first season, but despite winning 66 games the past two seasons has missed out on the post season. This year the Wildcats are ranked, and the future again looks bright but there are a lot of parallels between the two programs.

ADVANTAGE: Push

How you feel about the baseball program is how you feel about Jay Johnson. He stormed out of the gates in year one with a CWS runner-up performance and made the NCAA’s in year two, but has been on the bubble the past two seasons. If you have faith in Johnson guiding the program, then there is no reason not to be optimistic. If you are down on Johnson, then you probably long for the days of Lopez.

2009 Arizona Softball - 46-17 (13-7) College World series.

Head Coach: Mike Candrea

2019 Arizona Softball - 48-12 (19-5) College World Series

Head Coach: Mike Candrea

2009 saw the Wildcats make the world series after winning back to back titles in 06 and 07. They would appear in one more WCWS in 2010 then see an eight year drought that would finally end last year. The future was bright in 2009 and the future is bright in 2019.

ADVANTAGE: Push

No one saw Arizona’s “rough” decade coming. The Wildcats were plagued by assistant coaching and injury issues, as well as the landscape of college softball becoming more competitive. That being said, as long as Candrea is at the helm, it is hard not to be optimistic about the future.