“It’s been 338 days since we last put a uniform on.”
With that one sentence, Alabama outfielder Alexis Mack summed up the magnitude of what this week means. Almost eleven months since the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended the 2020 season, Mack and her Crimson Tide teammates are now just mere days away from putting on their jerseys and taking to the diamond once again.
The Tide will travel to Austin, Texas this weekend to play in what’s generally seen as the nation’s best season-opening tournament; the field also includes Arizona, Colorado State, and Sam Houston State, in addition to host Texas.
Before transferring to Alabama, Mack began her collegiate career at Oregon and this weekend will pit her against both her former coach with the Ducks, Mike White, as well as former UO teammates Mary Iakopo, Lauren Burke, and Shannon Rhodes.
“I have incredible respect, obviously, for my old coach and those players,” Mack said on Tuesday when asked about playing her old friends. “I think [playing Texas]just fires me up even more, it fires this team up even more. All of these girls have played against [Texas], played against coach White, and they know what great competition it’s going to be. I’m definitely excited to see some people that I haven’t seen in a while, but even moreso to get to play against them.”
Mack also gave some insight into a unique dynamic that the Crimson Tide are rolling with in 2021. “Across the board, everybody is teaching each other things,” Mack said. “I would say normally, yes, it’s a senior’s job, for someone like myself [to take]Kat Grill or Jenna Johnson under my wing. But Kat Grill and Jenna Johnson teach *us* something every day. Same thing for Bailey Dowling and Claire [Jenkins] in the infield. Yes, as a leader and a senior, I try to bring some wisdom, but at the same time, I don’t feel like anybody is taking anybody “under their wing”. It’s kind-of, across the board, everybody teaching each other stuff and pushing each other because there is so much competition between positions. It’s been really unique, between other teams that I’ve been on, where here, everybody is teaching each other things.”
You could hear the relaxed relief in Patrick Murphy’s voice when he took to the dais, expressing almost immediately how glad he and his team are to have finally reached game week. The Tide returned their entire senior class from a year ago while also adding a much-anticipated freshman class, and while the unexpected overlap of the two could have gone one of two ways, it apparently has paid dividends for Murphy’s club.
“[The roster] is 22, which isn’t bad,” Murphy said. “In years past, I would have done anything for 22 on the roster, with injuries and everything that goes on during a long, long season. This actually might be the perfect number for us. I’m happy with that.”
Murphy has never been one to shy away from tough competition in his scheduling; one reporter described the opening weekend slate as having a “postseason and World Series feel,” and Murphy seemed to agree.
“I really like going to a campus site; we get to go to Austin, the campus of the University of Texas,” said the Tide head coach. “It’s going to feel like an away game when we play them, and I really like that… this is a good opportunity for this group; in the very first weekend, you get to play #3 Arizona, #6 Texas… we have five games against probably-NCAA tournament teams this year, and you learn a lot more when you play really, really good teams than when you steamroll everybody.”
Montana Fouts is one of the nation’s best in the circle, and she may have even gotten better during the last eleven months away. “She added a couple more pitches to her arsenal,” Murphy noted. “[Pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle] has done a really good job with her all fall. I think one of the best things, really for everybody, was that there was a little bit of a break, especially for pitchers… there really wasn’t anything to do, nobody was playing anything, and they rested their arms. Stayed in shape, but rested their arms. I think [Fouts] is ready to go, and she’s excited.”
Everyone in what Murphy called the “Alabama softball family” received negative test results following COVID-19 testing on Monday. As part of a practice that will extend through the entirety of the season, the same individuals will be retested on Wednesday. Once results are received on Thursday morning, the travel party will be set to hit the road.
A fun, underlying element of this weekend’s tournament is the rivalry that has been progressively building between Alabama and Texas on the softball diamond. Two teams that aren’t necessarily “natural” rivals, the pair of programs have steadily built a habit of facing off against one another in a matchup that always promises to deliver top-level play.
“We’re looking forward to continuing this rivalry with Texas,” Murphy said of the team that his club will play twice this weekend. “Two really, really good softball programs. They’re going to come to us next year, so we’re going to continue this rivalry with them and hopefully it will just keep going back and forth because it’s a win-win.”
Alabama is set to officially begin the 2021 season against Colorado State at 10:30 am on Friday in Austin.
