The Alabama softball team has been the top-ranked team in the nation since late March, marking the fifth consecutive year that Alabama has been ranked No. 1 at some point in the season.
Still, head coach Patrick Murphy said the team isn’t paying attention to the ranking.
“I just think it’s a really good honor and a reward for all the hard work the girls put in since August,” Murphy said. “[But] it’s a popularity contest. It’s who’s hot right now.”
Indeed, that has been the case so far this season for the Tide. In mid-March, Alabama swept the Georgia Bulldogs, the top-ranked team in the nation at the time. Then on Sunday, the Tide needed a no-hitter from Kelsi Dunne to squeak out a 1-0 win against an unranked South Carolina team.
For Murphy, it’s obvious his team can’t be satisfied with the ranking and that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done and improvements to be made.
However, Murphy said his team is showing no signs of satisfaction.
“I think the team knows we’re not where we want to be,” Murphy said. “But we’re heading in that direction.”
Murphy and the players said they still see a lot of room for improvement on the team.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” said sophomore Kayla Braud. “[But] I think the good thing is we recognize what we need to fix, and we do it.”
Junior Cassie Reilly-Boccia said, “I mean, obviously [the ranking] is nice, but our goal is to be ranked first on the last day of the season. We’re not satisfied with being ranked No. 1 right now. It’s exciting to be No. 1, but we still haven’t won a national championship, and that’s what we’re going for.”
That goal has been set in stone for the Tide all season, and even further back, to the end of last season, when the Tide lost to Hawaii in the Tuscaloosa Super Regionals. The major upset, Reilly-Boccia said, was the main motivational factor for the players over the summer.
“Honestly, that’s the best way to win, and the worst way to lose,” Reilly-Boccia said. “You have all summer to think about it.”
Still, Alabama isn’t on a mission to redeem itself after last year’s loss. They aren’t overlooking any teams, waiting for the World Series. Nor are there any green “Never Forget” signs posted around the softball complex. The only thing that matters for the Tide is getting better, right now.
“That’s the way we want to do it,” Reilly-Boccia said. “We have a goal, all day every day, to never take a day off.”
That goal seems to have worked well for the Tide this season. Now with an impressive 37-2 record, Alabama is poised to continue its dominance this season. Still, the Tide won’t change its recipe of success: working hard and focusing on the game at hand.
“We’ve gotten to the No. 1 team by being focused and playing our game,” Baud said. “One game at a time. You can’t look ahead. You’ve got to be in the here and now.”
