2015 Softball Season Preview Part Two: Catchers
1/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
While all three catchers on the Alabama roster will certainly see time on the field this season, the competition is still open to decide which will emerge as the primary starter. The preseason portion of the schedule will be a chance for each of them to make their case as the coaching staff will mix-and-match catchers with a pitching rotation that is also looking to sort itself out before the SEC portion of the schedule begins in March.
"The position is wide open," says Head Coach Patrick Murphy. "I could see using all three of them over the first four weeks of the year. Each pitcher is going to throw a little bit differently to each catcher so we'll want to see who has the best chemistry with each pitcher."
Senior Chaunsey Bell is the most experienced of Alabama's three catchers. She is the only one who has seen collegiate action at the position, though she has only started 33 games over her three years with the Crimson Tide. As is the case with many of the other defensive positions, the offensive capabilities could be the deciding factor on who cracks the starting lineup.
"Our senior Chaunsey has all the intangibles that you look for in a catcher," says Murphy. "She has good leadership skills, she has the vocals and she has a really good presence behind the plate. She has improved offensively over the years, does a great job with her framing and gives a good target."
New to the team this season is freshman Carrigan Fain, an in-state product out of Mt. Olive, Ala. Nicknamed "Crash", she helped lead Gardendale High School to a 6A Area 12 championship in 2013 and runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2014.
"Crash hit really well in the fall," says Murphy. "She has a decent arm and she's just learning the leadership and vocal roles that also go along with being a catcher. She has the physical ability, but we just have to run her through some scrimmages and get her adapted to the other parts of being a college catcher."
A career first baseman at Alabama, junior Leona Lafaele has been added into the mix for depth, though she will still see plenty of time at her accustomed position of first base. Though she has not caught in any collegiate game, Lafaele knows the position from her summer ball days in California. The junior is always a power threat at the plate, as she slugged seven home runs in 2014 including a big two-run shot in the Tide's 2-0 win over Kentucky in the second game of the Women's College World Series to secure a spot in the winner's bracket.
"Leona played catcher in summer ball," says Murphy. "Her main positions were third base and catcher but she really adapted to first base when she got here. I thought she did a great job catching for us in the fall. She has a great presence, good arm and sets a very good target. She gets very excited behind the plate and sometimes she might lose track of what's going on in the game but that's something that can be easily fixed with a little more experience."
Alabama's newest addition to its coaching staff, volunteer assistant Molly Fichtner, will help ease the transition after serving as Alabama's starting catcher during the past two seasons. In 2014, she was an All-SEC selection and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American. Less than a year ago, she was a teammate and now she will be counted on to provide the same leadership from the dugout that she did from behind home plate.
"When I was looking to hire Molly, I asked Chaunsey if she felt that would be OK because just last year, they were teammates," says Murphy. "Chaunsey said it would absolutely be a great hire so the transition has been really good. Molly has been taking the catchers into the indoor facility almost every day and she's been doing a good job of bridging the gap from last year to this year."
