Tide softball ready to roll in 2010

And I can’t wait to see the girls back at the CWS. They’ve got what it takes to make it back there. Good luck, Girls!

Welcome from usually sunny Charleston S.C.

i remember Journalism is for Rockstars. it was some esoteric stuff IRRC. some great stuff. is the content still available online? i remember i used to read it when i worked at a really crappy sales job (enrollment for university of phoenix, dont go there) where i would literally waste 6 of my 8 hours a day trying to find decent college football content and posting on some halfway decent college football forum i found. anyway, i’d like to see some of that content again if possible.

and of course, thanks for posting about softball here @ RBR

Enjoyed the writeup and am lookin forward to another great year of Bama Ball.

good to have you contributing on this. although i kinda wish someone woulda told me about it. i too penned a roundup preview for the season that i intended to run tomorrow….

The Alabama Crimson Tide softball season gets started this weekend with a homestand against the Missouri Tigers. The Tide squad is ranked No. 2 in the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls after finishing in the No. 3 slot at the end of last season. The SEC coaches’ preseason poll also selected Alabama as the preseason favorite to take the conference crown.

The first game of a doubleheader versus No. 9 Missouri will start at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Alabama Softball Complex. Sunday’s game will start at noon.

The high expectations follow a stellar 2009 season that saw the tide rack up a 54-11 record and advance all the way to the Women’s College World Series semifinals but were defeated by then No. 1 Florida.

The pitching staff remains formidable with the entire 2009 unit returning. All-American Kelsi Dunne is expected to lead the unit with assistance from Charlotte Morgan. The duo combined for five no hitters last season and are both on the “Watch List” for the 9th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award.

The Tide infield will probably be in flux for the start of the season. No less than eight players are expected to be vying for time at first base alone. Second base is a big question as well with the loss of All-American Lauren Parker.

The outfield lineup promises to be less chaotic with returning starter Cassie Reilly-Boccia anchoring the unit. Her .340 batting average and 47 RBI earned NFCA All-South Region honors last year.

Jennifer Fenton and Jazlyn Lunceford are both expected to contribute heavily as well as fifth year senior Jessica Smith whose career has been hampered by injuries.

The team is led by Coach Patrick Murphy now in his 13th season at the capstone. His record at the Capstone is 579-168.

As with all Alabama sports, the softball team’s home on the internet is at the UA Athletic Department website. You can follow Bama softball on Twitter at Coach Murphy’s feed. There is also a fan page for the team on Facebook.

gameday temp will be in the upper 40s but no rain expected (thus far). it won’t be fun for them to be out there but i’ll bet the players will very much appreciate all the fans who brave the weather to come out and support them.

Nice to see you posting again. Well, in a place that’s not devoted to Carolina politics.

You left “Drunk Pundit” out of your list of blog start-ups, and that’s a shame, because that one had the best name of all.

This says a lot about Alabama softball. Morgan is from the West Coast, twinned with Texas as hotbeds of softball talent. If the Tide can keep recruiting players like her from such talent-rich areas, the team will have consistently spectacular runs.

Head coach Patrick Murphy and the Alabama coaching staff was rewarded for its recruiting efforts as its latest signing class was ranked No. 3 in the country by ESPN RISE. The class that signed back in November and will start play in the 2011 season is comprised of four student-athletes.

via rolltide.com