Crimson Red Sports

Chants of “Roll Tide” filled ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City after Jackie Traina struck out Oklahoma’s Keilani Ricketts for the final out at the Women’s College World Series on Wednesday, sealing the University of Alabama’s first national championship in softball.

After a short time, there was another chant: “SEC, SEC, SEC.”

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20120611/NEWS/120619967/1015/sports?Title=Title-gives-boost-to-SEC-softball

Very good article. Worthy praise from one of the best to ever play the game.

Good Read...Thanks for the link Jamos  #+

Good read. Thanks.  #+

Good article. It is nice to read quotes from Hall of Fame coaches and players saying how impressed they are with our program.

Chills run up my spine thinking how close we were to losing CPM last year.

I was very impressed also with the credit being given to CPM/staff and players, this program has earned everything being said about them now.

I've had a question on my mind since the season was over and I'm going to throw it out to all of you and get your opinion on this.

Do you think that J Train would have been as good of a pitcher this year if Van Studeman had not left the program and would Bama have won the National Championship?

I like Van Studeman and I hope she does well at Miss St. But my answer is no. It is a very tough question however. Traina had an awesome year that ended with a championship. Traina improved from last year when she was our # 2 behind Dunne. I think coaching had something to do with that. I was disappointed that Jury did not get better as the year went on.

You can't teach mental toughness. IMO, that's what makes JT great. I don't think it mattered who was coaching.

I'll probably get drug over the coals for saying this but...IMO, the best pitcher was not on the winning team in the WCWS.  I love watching JT pitch and agree that she is mentally tougher than anyone else pitching.  However, Kailani at UO is a better pitcher.  She has more pitches in her arsnel it seemed and she was really good at controlling her pitches.  I think JT won the series because the breaks went Bama's way overall, not just pitching.  Both Bama and UO have a lot of quality wins in their future and I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see both of them in the WCWS again next year.

If JT can learn some of KR's pitches then she will be unhittable.

To answer Jamos question... :dunno:

When Ricketts was good she is almost unhittable. You are entitled to your opinion but I find your comment about "she was really good at controlling her pitches" a little strange. Oklahoma lost game 2 due to her lack of control. She hit 4 batters and walked about that many. She was pulled from that game due to lack of control. In game 3 I lost count of how many pitches she threw to the backstop. It was 4 or 5. Bama got back in that game because of her control issues. I think Ricketts ended up 38-9 this year. Traina was 42-3. They are both very good pitchers but both need to work on their control in the off season.

In game 1 she was fantastic.  Game two she lost her composure which hurt her control. If she had JT's mental toughness then she would have adjusted and continued to dominate our girls.  Game three she was doing really well until it started to rain.  The announcers explained how difficult it is to complete a pitch when your grip is compromised by the rain.  The wild pitches and walks, which is what I meant by the breaks going our way, were a result of the rain.  That is just part of the game though and perhaps the OU coach should work with her pitcher(s) in more "rain scenarios" to help her to better deal with it when it does happen.  Either way, I think both of those pitchers have qualities that would greatly enhance the other if they could be learned during the off season.