Florida State softball has had a turbulent last month. The Noles were ousted from the Tallahassee Regional by inferior competition and lost two of their best players to the transfer portal when Jaysoni Beachum and Isa Torres announced their intentions to enter.
The loss of Torres had been rumored for a while, but Beachum, who’s a Tallahassee native, came as a surprise. Coach Lonni Alameda made a calculated decision not to use the transfer portal after the 2025 season concluded. She banked on several returning players like Beachum, Torres, Kennedy Harp, Ashtyn Danley, and Jazzy Francik to carry most of the load, while hoping its incoming freshman class would prove to be special.
It worked for the most part, with freshmen Anna Hinde and Makenna Sturgis earning All-American honors. Freshman Marin Heller was on track before getting hurt and lost for the season with a few weeks remaining in the regular season. Freshman pitcher Bella Dimitrijevic had some bright spots. All of these players helped lead Florida State to an ACC regular-season and ACC Tournament Title.
However, there seemed to be a gap between Florida State and the top teams nationally. FSU managed to beat UCLA and Florida, but failed to beat Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Alabama (2X). All of their losses came against top 10 teams, and they were outscored 25-4 in those four losses. The pitching wasn’t elite, but good enough to keep FSU in most of those games. It was the offense that lacked (even with Torres and Beachum in the lineup). Â
FSU managed to retain Ashtyn Danley and Jazzy Francik, so they are not punting on the season. However, what they decide to do next in the transfer portal will tell us about the program’s future and whether they plan to fully compete.
If Lonni Alameda decides not to take any transfer portal players for the second year in a row, it will be a massive mistake, but also signal that she may not understand today’s game and the value of experience and production over culture. That culture didn’t keep Isa Torres and Jaysoni Beachum in Tallahassee.
Florida State softball is in an interesting spot where they decide if they continue to compete at the highest level by using the portal.
If Florida State targets players in the transfer portal, who they target and sign will tell the story. They need another power arm in the circle and power production at the plate in a big way. They needed the latter even with Torres and Beachum returning, and definitely need it even more now in their absence. I wrote about how FSU could use resources to get that production from the portal, and how, ultimately, it might offset losing its two best players if it can hit on several quality transfer players.
FSU has some quality players returning and another talented incoming freshman class, but they can't keep depending on 3-5 freshmen to provide massive production every season. It's not realistic to keep banking on that. I've said it repeatedly. I'm not saying live in the portal, but use it to strengthen the team's weaknesses.
I'm looking for Florida State to take a certain type of player from the portal this cycle. They need women who can change the numbers on the scoreboard, not players who hit .300 with three home runs and 20 RBI.
There are over 800 softball players in the transfer portal. Now, we wait to see if Florida State intends to compete at the highest level or not.
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