Last season, the No. 1 Alabama softball team finished its season in disappointing fashion with a Super Regional loss to the University of Hawaii; it was a loss many thought shouldn’t have happened. However, for this team, that loss simply translates into motivation for this season.

Even after last season’s loss to Hawaii, the Crimson Tide remains focused on this year. For Cassie Reilly-Boccia, a junior on the team, last year’s loss in the Super Regionals served as motivation during the summer.

“Of course it’s going to hurt,” Reilly-Boccia said. “The fact that we didn’t win a national championship was motivation enough. We came out here to win.”

That motivation resulted with the Tide accomplishing something no other team has accomplished in the program’s 15-year history. When the team arrived last fall in preparation for this season, all 17 players on the team were able to run in a fitness test and pass after only one try. For head coach Patrick Murphy, the fact that the players were self-motivated the entire summer translates into one thing for this season: success.

“It was the first time ever that all kids ran the fitness test and that all 17 passed it on the first try,” Murphy said. “We were four weeks into the program when we showed up the first day.

“That a couple of them know how hard it was, and there was a lot of texting and phone calling in July, and they passed, all 17, which I think to me is a huge sign to me that they were motivated. We really have very little contact with them in the summer, and when they show up and they do that test on the very first day, it’s kind of like do or die.”

The accomplishment didn’t go unnoticed on the softball team either. For Reilly-Boccia, the team had already achieved one of its biggest milestones on the first day of practice.

“I think it was really special,” Reilly-Boccia said. “I think everybody was kind of excited. We kind of treated it like we had just won a game. It felt so good to celebrate with that team. We’re on our way to something special.”

The Tide carried its motivation into the preseason. Reilly-Boccia said that remaining motivated to compete at a high level was not a problem at all during the preseason.

“Only one team can win a championship, and that’s abnormal,” Reilly-Boccia said. “It requires abnormal behavior. Like, it’s not normal to practice in the rain, but we’re going to have to play in it. So let’s go.”

For Murphy, the message to his team during the preseason was simple.

“Just take care of the little things,” Murphy said. “All these little things add up to big things in the end. We were really trying to do the little things right. Most of the time, that’s what comes back to kill you.”

So far this season, the team hasn’t had to worry about doing the little things. In its opening weekend, the team competed in the inaugural Hibbett/Easton All-Alabama Classic in Vestavia. Of Alabama’s nine Division-1 softball programs, Alabama competed against five. Over the course of three days, the Tide beat Samford, Alabama A&M, Jacksonville State, South Alabama and Troy en route to winning the All-Alabama Classic. The Tide outscored all five of its opponents 47-1 throughout the entire weekend.

For Alabama, however, this dominating performance wasn’t so much a result of last year’s loss in the Super Regionals; rather, it reflected a desire to play against someone who wasn’t wearing crimson and white.

“We put last year behind us,” Reilly-Boccia said. “Right now we’re real excited about this team, the 2011 softball team. We were so ready to hit off another pitcher. It was a lot of fun.”

Murphy also attributed his team’s focus to the leadership of Kelsi Dunne, a senior on the team.

“She’s had her share of great victories, but she’s had some tough, tough losses,” Murphy said. “One of the first practices she said, ‘Look, we have Jackie Traina coming in, one of the best pitchers in the country, a freshman, and if she beats me out, that means we’re never going to lose a second game in the SEC series, because I’m going to be pitching it.’  And that’s a heck of a way to look at it. And she’s right.”

For Reilly-Boccia, the fact that freshmen can come in and immediately compete is a good thing. She said there was no need to try and motivate the younger players because they were already motivated to come in and be great.

“Well, I think we really do have something special,” Reilly-Boccia said. “We trust the coaches. Of course [freshmen] are going to have the ability to play here. They think right away that this is a championship program. It’s all about the team.”

For this year’s softball team, the ultimate goal, the only goal even, is to win the national championship.

“We definitely know what we’re capable of,” Reilly-Boccia said. “This team will be so much fun to watch. There’s going to be some ups and some downs. We’ll just hope our best will take us where we want to be.”