All-American Flashback: Suzanne Olcott (1999-2002)
11/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
In honor of Alabama softball's 20th anniversary, rolltide.com will be catching up with our 20 former All-Americans in a series of feature interviews. Our fifth feature is with Suzanne Olcott (1999-2002), the Tide's leadoff hitter during her 2001 All-American season.
Suzanne Olcott was one of four Alabama All-Americans during the 2001 season, marking the most in a single season until the Tide matched that total in 2008. A Birmingham native, Olcott, now Suzanne Serrano, grew up an Alabama fan, and the opportunity to attend her favorite school and play collegiate softball was a perfect situation.
"I've always been an Alabama fan," Serrano said. "In high school, the majority of the kids went to either Auburn or Alabama. I started playing baseball when I was five and did that for about six years because they didn't have fastpitch softball. When I was 11 years old, I went to a softball camp at Ohio State and I went to a few others before I went to my first Alabama camp when I was 16. That was when I started showing interest in Alabama so I was a little older when I decided that's where I wanted to go.
"There were a few other schools I was getting calls and letters from, but it really came down to LSU and Alabama. One of the LSU coaches was my travel ball coach so it was a tough choice but once I visited Alabama and met Coach [Pat] Murphy and all girls, plus the fact that it was close to home, that's when I decided to go to Alabama. I've always followed Alabama football since I was a kid watching on TV and a lot of my friends from high school went there. I was excited I could go to a place with a great football team, have a lot of my friends there and still be able to play softball."
Serrano arrived on campus as a freshman in the fall of 1998 and played one season at Bowers Park before moving to the brand new Alabama Softball Complex for the 2000 season. Today, Alabama has one of the nation's premiere indoor hitting facilities and a large support staff at practice but, when Serrano first started, it was a much more hands-on approach for Murphy and the team.
"I remember Murphy would go out to the field before practice with me every day," Serrano said. "We'd have to load up these buckets of balls and he'd pitch to me and when we ran out, we'd have to run out and shag them ourselves, put them back in the buckets and do all that over again and again."
Moving to the new ballpark in the spring of 2000 made a huge impression on Serrano and the team.
"It was one of those memories I'll never forget," Serrano said. "They had stairs leading down from center field and all the lights were out except for a spotlight that shined on us as we walked onto the field. They had fireworks, the band was there and the stadium was packed. It was an experience that I won't ever forget.
"Having your own place is huge, even just having your own locker room. When we were at Bowers Park, our locker rooms were at the basketball facility so we'd get dressed there and travel over to Bowers. Having the new facility, you definitely have a lot more responsibility in taking care of it but at the same time you learn all of the things that you're thankful for. Everything is brand new and fresh and it was exciting to be the first group to experience that at Alabama."
Later that season, Alabama made its first trip to the Women's College World Series, a surreal experience for Serrano and the rest of the 2000 team.
"It was like a dream come true. When you're a kid playing ball, getting to the World Series is your dream so when we made it, it was an amazing feeling. I remember winning at Arizona State just to get to the World Series and everything after that was kind of surreal just because it was a first-time experience. The banquet, the traveling and just the field was all just a surreal experience."
Alabama had to travel to Tempe, Ariz., that season for the NCAA Regional round hosted by fifth-ranked Arizona State. The Tide played a pair of extra-inning games, a 1-0 win over Florida Atlantic and a 5-4 win over Penn State, to earn a chance to face the host Sun Devils. Alabama won the first game, 4-1, as a three-run fourth inning made the difference. In the second game, the Tide jumped ahead 3-0 thanks to home runs by Lacy Prejean and Kelly Kretschman while Shelley Laird struck out the final two batters after a seventh-inning solo home run to avoid the late comeback by Arizona State and give Alabama the 3-1 victory, its first NCAA Regional championship and a spot in the Women's College World Series.
"We had faced teams like them before but beating them at their place in that tournament was incredible," Serrano said. "I can still see the field and everything just like it was yesterday. The feeling of winning that game to advance to the World Series for the first time ever was such an amazing feeling."
The following year, Serrano was named an NFCA Third Team All-American as she ranked third on the team with a .335 average and was second with 51 runs and 18 stolen bases. That season, Serrano and fellow All-Americans Kelly Kretschman and Jackie McClain batted in the top three spots in the order and set the table for the rest of the lineup. The group pushed each other constantly and raised each other up to an All-American level.
"I was the shortest one on the team but I could lift a lot of weight," Serrano said. "We always tried to see who could lift the most weight in our workouts. On the field, it was just fun encouraging one another. I was the leadoff hitter, so my job was to get on base for people like Jackie McClain, Ginger Jones and Kelley Kretschman right behind me to hit the home runs and drive me in. We were a little unit at the top of the order and it was fun having that encouragement and competition to push us." The team spent an equal amount of time together off the field, getting to know each other on a more personal level at team meals and holiday parties.
"Murphy always had us do a lot of team stuff," Serrano said. "We'd always go to his house for Christmas or Halloween. We were always doing fun things. I remember out in Arizona we got to travel and eat together as a team so that was fun. Going to West Point was an awesome trip. We toured the campus and we actually stayed in the World Trade Center in August of 2001 just a month before the attacks. That was a memorable time staying in New York, playing in West Point and then we had a little dinner after we played."
The lessons learned during her time at Alabama have carried into her life after graduation, specifically those concerning time management.
"One thing Murphy always used to tell us is that if you're 10 minutes early, then you're on time; if you're on time, you're late; if you're late, you're left," Serrano said. "I've taken that into every aspect of my life with my job and my kids. He always stressed being time-on-task and being very efficient with your time. I'm a coach as well and I use that with the kids on my team. Another thing I loved was that Murphy always wanted us to write thank you notes. Nowadays everyone uses email and texting but I still try my best to get an actual card and write a thank you note to send it. Murphy was big about those little things that mean a lot."
Serrano now lives in Vestavia Hills, Ala., and is in her 13th year coaching softball at Briarwood Christian School, a job she has held since she graduated from Alabama. Serrano and her husband, Dale, have been married for 12 years and have a 10-year-old daughter, Dalynne, and a seven-year-old son, Dale.
