Crimson Red Sports

The team is off to probably their worst season ever, but I didn't fact check that.  Currently, they are 34-15 overall and lost the series this weekend at home to the Barn.  Very disappointing and IMO, I think it is time to start searching for a new HC.  Murph just isn't getting it done any longer.   >:(

Our pitching, after Fouts, is pretty pedestrian.  And, losing Prange's hittinghurt the last 2 games of the series with the Barn.  We are spoiled.  Murph should stay.

Also, I think we miss Prothro's coaching.

The remainder of the SEC caught up with Murph a few years ago, and now we're in danger of dropping to the second tier of the SEC.   Actually, it may have already happened.

And that's why we need to put Murphy on the road...  :snob:

I talked to Jamos yesterday and he says it's the coaching. He's the closest person to the team I know.

Sounds like they aren't so close any more.   :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

Well something has to be done. RTR!

I believe it is the coaching. Surprise surprise!  We have some very good players but they just aren't being developed very well at this point.

I wonder what it would take to lure that lady coach away from Oklahoma?   :-[

I don't think we have the best players anymore either, but that's also Murph's fault.  We have a great facility and fan base for softball.

We need to get back to the Bama Standard. RTR!

I agree on all points.  But we do have "good" players.  I think they could be coached up to play better though.

I think the coaching issue is with the new pitching coach, not Murph.  Even Fouts is nt as overpowering as she was when VanBrackle-Prothro was here.  And the ladies behind her just aren't performing.  Admittedly Murph hired the pitching coach but he can cure that after the season.

Fouts record isn't as impressive this year, but her ERA is the lowest it's been since 2019, opponent batting average is the lowest ever, and she's walking fewer people.   The tells me the.mediocre record is lack of run support.

Well maybe they will improve cause they won't make the WS playing like this. RTR!

We don't need to be in the WS.   We would get out fannies spanked hard.

I think we are already basically in the Regionals tourney.  Have to win that to get to the Super Regionals.  Have to win that to get to the WCWS.  I will be surprised if we make it out of the Regionals.

Well come on ladies. RTR!

No doubt we'll be one of the 64 teams selected for the regionals, but we're in real danger of not being one of the 16-seeded teams that host.   I think it would be the first time since 2004 that we didn't host (if we don't).

Ye of little faith.   :tinfoil: :tinfoil:

Well the girls will have to play smart. RTR!

I think I have just figured out what the problem is with the Bama softball.

We used to be pretty good when we had big ol' fat, ugly pitchers.

(https://www.si.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTcwNDM3MDcwNDM3NzU0NjUy/052419_wsb_goodmankr_texas_rs2455.jpg)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f97961f5d6ba5e5ba578df6416b57bbf8dec4533/c=0-98-1919-2657/local/-/media/2017/08/14/Naples/Naples/636383008760715084-0516-NCSP-Traina.JPG?width=660&height=881&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)

But now that we have a good looking pitcher the team just isn't that good any more...

(https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/081721_WSB_FoutsMo_Creative_RC3630-scaled.jpg)

 :lol: :lol: :lol: now that is horrible  :clap: :clap: :clap: RTR!

You're right Preacher.  Horribly true...  :P

Bama beat Ole Miss 9-0 Friday as Montana Fouts pitched a perfect game. No hits, no walks, no errors, no one reached base. Perfect games are rare. This is Montana's forth. What a great player she has been for us and a good ambassador for the University.

She really has been a great ambassador for Bama. And what a great player. I hate to see her go after this year. The team would be around .500 this year without her.

Completely concur.  I also learned, while watching the game yesterday, that our RPI is #1 in the nation.  We are currently #5 in the conference.  Not sure what that says about anything other than Murph isn't afraid to play the best.

She will be a good worker at whatever she chooses. RTR!

I think you heard that wrong. Our strength of schedule is #1. Our RPI is #12. Oklahoma is #1 in RPI.

Bama beat Ole Miss again today 3-1. They are building a little steam.

Apparently, Bama baseball is not letting Bohannon's firing get to them. They have taken 2 of 3 from #5 Vandy..

A good day on both diamonds.

The girls beat Ole Miss 3-1. We were down 1-0 with 2 outs in the top of the 7th when Jenna Johnson belted a clutch 3 run home run.

The boys held on to beat Vandy 2-1. Vandy had the bases loaded in the 9th but we got out of the jam and secured the win.

Well I hope we can get a great baseball coach. Maybe our girls are getting together at the end. RTR!

Yep.  Sorry for the error.  Still, not afraid to play the best.  We are also using a LOT of freshmen.

They can have Murphy...  :-X

 :lol: :lol: :lol: RTR!

Bama beats Missouri 7-2 on Wednesday. Fouts did not have her best stuff but still kept Mizzou hitters at bay. Bats were hot. When Fouts is in the circle we are a good team. We just do not have enough pitching to make a deep run. I assume we are going to pitch Fouts still her arm falls off the rest of the way in this tournament and the Regionals.

We play tournament host Arkansas tonight at 7:00 weather permitting.

In the bad news category, Fouts poitched, very well, last night with tape on her right index finger.  Think I heard it is a blister.  Seemed to mostly affect her drop ball.

Go ladies go. RTR!

 So the ladies won in extra innings last night 3-2.  That's the good news. Bad news is that Montana Fouts suffered a leg injury in the bottom of the 7th and had to take a seat.  No word yet on how serious the injury is.  We play the winner of Tennessee-Florida tonight at 6:30 if the weather cooperates.  ROLL TIDE!!!

Girls lose to UT 7-6 in the Semi-Finals.

Now we wait for the selection show on Sunday. We should get a host seed for the Regionals and go on the road for the Supers is my guess. Probably a 10-12 seed? :dunno:

We need to get Montana Fouts leg some rest and treatment. Without her we are pretty average.

Praying for healing of all the team. RTR!

Unfortunately the ladies fortunes rest on the arm of Fouts. There still is uncertainty about when she can return or even if she'll return. If she can't, I'm afraid the ladies run in the post season will be pretty short.

Well let's go ladies. We are pulling for you. RTR!

Bama gets the National #5 seed. Much better than expected. The committee said they reward our top 25 wins and #1 strength of schedule.

After being the 5th seed in the SEC?  <scratches head and shrugs>

Simple: the SEC is the only pertinent conference.  :lol2: :lol2:

SOS should mean something to everybody. Even when we lose. RTR!

I read this as "Fouts won't pitch Friday".  https://www.al.com/alabama/2023/05/alabamas-montana-fouts-rehabbing-leg-injury-status-unclear-for-ncaa-regional.html

IDK, if it's left in Fouts' hands, I think she'll pitch. She's too much of a competitor. Having said that, I don't think Murph will let it be in her hands. I think he'll rest her until she is needed.

  I agree.  I don't know much about the opponents.  Salter and Torrance were good enough for most of the pre SEC opponents.  Maybe Montana won't be needed for a week or so.  Hope so.  ROLL TIDE!!!

Absolutely if she can rest great! If she is needed to progress we probably aren't gonna make it far anyway. RTR!

Bama has never used their ace in the first game of a regional. We expect to beat the #4 seed with whoever pitches. The question is will Montana pitch tomorrow against the #2 seed (assuming we win today). I would not be surprised if Murph starts someone else and only uses Montana if he has to.

I agree with you pmull completely. RTR!

The ladies beat Long Island 5-0 to start regional play.  Montana Fouts did not play, as was expected.

Play continues against Middle.Tenn St at noon tomorrow.

Bama made some good defensive plays in that game and Torrence pitched well. A couple of long balls accounted for most of the runs. They will need to hit better as they progress through the post season. This has been their Achilles heel all year.

Bama plays Middle Tenn today at Noon. It is very important to stay in the winner's bracket.

Slater has been our #2 pitcher all year. It appears Murph started Torrence in Game 1 and held Salter for today.

Bama bats came alive today, beating MTSU 12-5. Looking good!

MTSU survived the losers bracket. Bama plays them at 1:00 today.

Oh, and BTW, #2 UCLA has been knocked out of their own regional, losing to Grand Canyon and Liberty.  :lol3:

Please don't laugh yet. We could lose and that would hurt, lol. RTR!

Our ladies lose the first game of the day but beat MTSU 1-0 in the second game to move on to the super regionals.  Shipman with a spectacular throw out of a runner at second in the 6th then with a towering home run in the top of the 7th.  Fouts was available if needed.  We may have found another pitcher.  Torrance had 2 complete games and a save and I think didn't give up a run.

Super Regionals at home next weekend.

ROLL TIDE!!!

This sounds good. The actions were great and the much needed rest we got to have for our pitcher. RTR!

Best 2 of three against Northwestern.  7 p.m. CT Friday, 8 p.m.CT Saturday.  Sunday, if necessary, TBA.

Rhoads should be rockin'!

ROLL TIDE!!!

The Super Regional starts Friday night.  We are hosting 12-seeded Northwestern in a best of 3.

Wel let us tighten up and win this thing. RTR!

No doubt we see Fouts this weekend.

The latest on Montana Fouts as Alabama preps for NCAA super regional

https://www.al.com/alabama/2023/05/the-latest-on-montana-fouts-as-alabama-preps-for-ncaa-super-regional.html

We probably need her. RTR!

She pitched. We lost. Same old story; no hitting.

This sad. maybe next year. it doesn't seem that long since we was in it every year. RTR!

They're going to paddle our little behinds...or are they gonna kick it?

https://youtu.be/gOaCD_JNgkA

 :lol: :lol: Great movie!

Ol' Pappy was surrounded by quite the brain trust. 

The look on his face at the end. :lol2:   He about lost his cigar.

The womens beat NWern 2-1 on Saturday.  Deciding game will be Sunday...

 :popcorn2: :popcorn2:

Yep. Torrence was the starting pitcher and was relieved by Fouts, who shut NW down and was the winning pitcher.

 :dance:

3pm on ESPN this afternoon.  <crosses fingers>

Bama wins game 3 by a score of 3-2.   The ladies are WCWS bound.

Yes indeed. I was able to listen to the broadcast via Sirius radio while scoping for bears in Yellowstone. It was a good win, but disappointing that the announcers complained about umpire calls constantly.

Well congrats to our ladies. RTR!

FWIW, Jamos said the umpiring was atrocious.

Bama got whooped up on 10-5 by 10RC today in the first game of the WCWS.  Tennessee score all 10 runs (4 unearned) in the first four innings.   Fouts did not pitch.

At this rate, it's going to be a quick return to Tuscaloosa.

At least we don't have to face Oklahoma yet. We are in the losers bracket against Stanford next.

We we can be proud of the ladies. They had a good a good year and with some young players. RTR!

Hey good to see you stephen. Hope all is well. RTR!

A lot of that is by requirement after the mass transfer exodus last year.  I still wonder how Murphy completely lost that team the last 4-6 weeks.  Some of those players have had great seasons for other teams.  Kilfoe was 2nd team All-Big12 pitcher and led Oklahoma St to the.WCWS.   Skyler Wallace was one of the finalists for national player of the year with Florida.   Those are just two of 4 or 5 players that would've vastly improved this year's team.

Something stank like fish surrounding that whole deal.

Could it have been the NIL crap? It seems to make players forget anything about loyalty. RTR!

We pay 'em too.

Murphy:  "Leave the bus running...this won't take long."

I think we all pretty much figured Bama would take a quick exit, especially with the draw that they had. Now we wait to see what next year holds.

Next year's pitching really worries me. No one on the current roster comes close to Fouts.

We probably won't ever see one again. RTR!

Well,saw last night that Coach has picked up a pretty good pitcher from the transfer portal.  She will be a senior so we'll only have her for one season.  If we can generate more runs we might be ok.

Unfortunately Prange and Shipman (two of our three best producers) are both grad students, so I assume they're gone.

Murph said he's looking at 5 more through the portal. Need another pitcher and some bats.

Portal is free agency at its college best. RTR!

Murphy picked up a pitcher from Central Arkansas that only has one year of eligibility.  She is a good one too. He needs to be looking for the next great high school senior phenom and get her on campus as soon as possible.  He also  needs to find a good hitting coach.  BTW, who is our current hitting coach?  I thought it was Murphy but I'm not sure...Whoever it is though, they need to be repacled.

Alyson Habetz is list as the coach for outfield play and team offense, so I suppose it's her or her and Murph in combo.  She's been there with Murph for the whole 25 years, which leads me to think job offers aren't beating down her door.

I agree if coaches are not being approached then they ain't to good. REF: CNS and the football coaches. RTR!

Did I hear that she is retiring?

I have not read that she is retiring and nothing showed up on a Google search. I hope you are right, but I doubt it. She has been with Murph a long time. She is a weak link, a glorified cheerleader IMO. It would be nice to replace her with a good hitting coach.

Regarding Murphy, I think it is crazy to even consider replacing him. He is the face of the program and is a Hall of Fame coach. He has taken the team to 3 of the last 4 WCWS. That is pretty good by most anyone's standards. Sure, I would like to win another championship but so would every other team in the SEC.

The portal is affecting softball just like any other NCAA sport. The only loss last year that hurt us was Kilfoyl. She was tired of being in Fouts shadow. When Fouts announced she was coming back for her Covid year Kilfoyl was gone. In previous years portal transfers that hurt were Skyler Wallace and KB Sides. KB Sides wanted a change in her 5th year and Arkansas had a master's program she was interested in that Bama did not offer. (at least that is what I read). Wallace was asked to move to the outfield because she was capable of playing any position and Murph was trying to get the best 9 girls on the field. She did not like that and bolted to Florida. Both Sides and Wallace were conference Players of the Year. On the other hand, the portal has also been good to us. Two of our best players have been Prange and Shipman. Like all college sports the Portal is affecting the game.

It will be interesting to see how Murphy fills the line up voids in the off season. We just picked up what appears to be a good pitcher. We do not need to lose any key returners to the portal, and we need to add some bats. Our hitting must improve.

I agree we need to put 9 stars on the field, but we don't need one above the other so all get some credit. RTR!

"IF" Habetz is our weak link, she needs to go.  Forget about the loyalty and dedication stuff and move forward. If she is/was our hitting coach then all the more reason to part ways with her.  I honestly thought that Murphy was our hitting coach though but I'm not sure.  If he is, he either needs to hire someone else to do it more effectively or step aside so a new head coach/hitting coach can be put in place.  I do understand about the Kilfoyl transfer but not the others.  IMO, there is/was something else that prompted their departures and I don't think it was a lack of abilities on their parts or that another player was better. I feel that there is/was just something about the culture of the program that drove them away. I hope that wasn't the case and I also hope there aren't other departures this year for the same reasons.

According to the video link below Alabama had an unpaid assistant as hitting coach. Starting next year the NCAA will allow one more paid assistant and that will be a hitting coach.

In the video Murphy talks a little about the incoming class and that he is looking at the portal for help. It is a short video but has some interesting content.

Video Link:
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=who+is+alabama+softball+hitting+coach&mid=05E2F48374C809EA0A0E05E2F48374C809EA0A0E

Transfer Portal news:

So far two have entered the portal. Aubrey Barnhart and Jordan Stephens. Barnhart played in 4 games and took a break from softball in February and never rejoined the team. Stephens was a pinch runner, but I am sure she is wanting to be a position player and swing a bat.

The big news already discussed on this site is the addition of Kayla Beaver. A pitcher from Central Arkansas that looks like a very good addition to the team.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/alabama-softball-2023-transfer-tracker/ar-AA1clEXS

Well it is a long year so we have time to build a tea, for next year. RTR!

Thanks for that link pmull. I just hope that volunteer assistant isn't the new paid coach.  We need someone with a proven track record to fill that position...

Montana Fouts leaves Alabama as one of the most successful and popular players in program history. The graphic below list just a few of her accomplishments. The fact that she does not hold all the Alabama pitching records shows we have had some pretty good players through the years. Montana has left her mark on the program, and she will be missed.

(https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/357085179_811295180348515_3144176246385011313_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&cb=99be929b-59f725be&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=Mk293bfycs8AX_DNx0N&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&oh=00_AfCAbcE0f6SGNaM0sy8nkzMV8IIBYtOmWyT9HyItlZn9BQ&oe=64A6429A)

Wow that is great. Guess we won't see her topped in our lifetime. RTR!

What a great ambassador she is for Bama. She will indeed be missed.