‘Story of our season:’ Alabama softball’s resilience to be tested at WCWS

Shortly following Alabama’s loss to Tennessee in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series, Montana Fouts acted like a captain. After the coaches spoke to the team about the 10-5 loss, Fouts delivered a familiar message.

“Look, we’ve been here before,” Tide coach Patrick Murphy recalled Fouts saying.

And she’s right. Through the 2023 NCAA tournament, Alabama has had three win-or-go-home scenarios. It beat Middle Tennessee at home in the regional and rallied for two wins over 12-seed Northwestern last weekend in Tuscaloosa.

Now in Oklahoma City, the Crimson Tide will once again face elimination. Its next attempt will be Friday night at 6 p.m. against nine-seed Stanford.

“They’re resilient,” ESPN analyst and 2012 UA national champion Kayla Braud told AL.com.” … Despite early-season losses when they need to win, backs against the wall, they can rely on someone to step up.

“You get to these pivotal moments and you don’t feel pressure.”

Braud cited Alabama’s game-one starter Jaala Torrence as a “testament” to that mindset. When Montana Fouts injured her knee in the SEC tournament, the Tide lost its ace. Torrence responded with nearly 30 scoreless innings in the playoffs and before allowing six runs (two earned) to the Lady Vols, she proved to be a reliable option for Murphy.

When Alabama dropped the first game of its series against the Wildcats on May 26, Murphy predicted a hero would arise. Then in the top of the seventh inning, Ashley Prange singled the go-ahead run. The key, Braud said, is the trust Murphy builds within the team.

As Murphy described it Thursday: “You have to get them to realize and believe it’s person first, athlete second, everything we do. It doesn’t matter if they go 0 for 4 or 4 for 4, I’m still going to love them, and they have to realize that. When they truly understand that I have their best interests at heart in all things, they’re good to go. They’re not worrying about a fail. They’re not worrying about if they strike out. They can look down to first base and third base, look at both Alyson (Habetz) and myself, and say they’re good with me whatever I do here. I don’t have to worry about them. I’m hoping that’s how they feel because it’s true.”

Earlier in their press conference, one of Murphy’s seniors displayed that belief in real-time.

Prange, a graduate student making her first appearance in the WCWS, committed three errors against Tennessee. The first of which led to a four-run rally that gave the Lady Vols the lead for good. But staying true to Alabama softball, Prange was quick to shake it off.

“It is a game of failure,” Prange said, “and it’s about how you overcome on any given day on any play. And it’s really cool, Lauren (Esman) came up to me and she’s like, Hey, you’ve had my back all year that, I got your back. And I don’t doubt her for a second. I don’t doubt anyone else on that field for a second.

“I think building off the adversity we faced all year, it’s kind of in our team story from day one.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at NAlvarez@al.com.