How Do The 2017 Alabama Softball Pitchers Compare To The Past Five Years?
By Chris Dodson
No. 1 – 2012 Alabama Pitching Staff
How can you dispute the only national championship team as the top team of the past 6 seasons? The championship was, in large part, due to a healthy and talented rotation of pitchers.
Jackie Traina led them all, with 1.87 ERA and 361 strikeouts. She attained a very impressive 42-3 record. Leslie Jury finished the season with 2.75 ERA, an 11-4 record and 70 strikeouts. Amanda Locke was right behind her with 3.36 ERA and a 5-1 record.
Unlike the other years after it, there were more than three pitchers, albeit for brief relief periods. Lauren Sewell appeared seven games five of them starts and attained a 2-0 record. Jadyn Spencer did appear in one game as a pitcher, pitching just one inning.
Alabama would go on to face Oklahoma in the WCWS. After splitting game one and two, game three was the deciding factor. After rain in the middle of the game caused a delay, most fans of softball will remember that Alabama Softball went out in the rain and tried to get the crowd fired up while Oklahoma was in the dugout. It was a 5-4 win that gave Alabama its very first Softball championship.
For some perspective on the movement of a ball thrown by a talented softball pitcher, check out these Jackie Traina warm-up throws.
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It’s is clear that Alabama Softball has had no shortage of great pitchers in its recent history. Time will tell whether this 2017 staff will become just another part of it…or maybe something greater.
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