Alabama Softball Opens Semester with First Team Practice
1/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama softball opened the spring semester with its first official team practice Sunday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium as they prepare for the start of the season in just over three weeks.
"Everybody is really excited," head coach Patrick Murphy said. "This is year 20, a huge anniversary for us, and I couldn't think of a better group to celebrate it with. 20 years of Alabama Softball have been built by family, tradition and the best group of servant leaders I've ever been around."
The team started the day split into positional groups as the infielders and outfielders did various defensive drills. The hitters then moved onto base running drills before the hitters split into groups to rotate between hitting in the cage and on the field. The Tide's pitchers also spent time in the bullpen along with long-toss in the outfield.
Alabama capped last season with its 10th Women's College World Series appearance, marking the 11th-straight season in which the team finished the season ranked in the top 10. The Tide returns all four of its All-Americans from last year in senior Haylie McCleney, junior Marisa Runyon and sophomores Demi Turner and Alexis Osorio. Additionally, Alabama welcomes six newcomers, including five freshmen and sophomore transfer Sydney Booker, who was a top 25 finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award last season at Southeastern Louisiana.
"The five freshman and our transfer and their energy have been terrific," Murphy said. "Our seniors are very energetic as well. We have one of the best players we've ever had in Haylie McCleney. I think the strength of a team is the strength of its leaders. When you have a really good player who's also a really good leader, good things happen. The sky is the limit with this team."
Leading into the season, fans will have the opportunity to attend two events: the Trivia and Games Night on Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Tuscaloosa River Market and the Fan Day scrimmage on Saturday, Feb. 6 at Rhoads Stadium. Additional information on these events will be posted on rolltide.com this week. Alabama will officially begin its season on Feb. 12 in Orlando, Fla., at the UCF Knights Invitational.
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