OKLAHOMA CITY — Even those unfamiliar with Alabama softball's program have heard of Montana Fouts. The Crimson Tide’s ace pitcher uses a blazing fastball and devastating riseball to evade bats on the diamond, but her 6-foot-2 frame and Hollywood smile are hard to miss off it.

Fouts’ popularity has seen her rise to the solo-name status held by former Tide legends such as Tua, A.J., Najee and Herb.

She finished runner-up Alabama’s homecoming queen voting in 2021 and is routinely mobbed by flocks of young girls who line the aisles in Rhoads Stadium after games in hopes of scoring a picture and autograph. The social-media superstar has 164,000 followers on Instagram, more than twice as many as Alabama basketball standout Brandon Miller, who is set projected to become a top-3 pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

It’s just the type of fame Alabama coach Patrick Murphy foresaw when he recruited Fouts back when she was just a 12-year-old girl in Grayson, Kentucky.

“I was pacing in my bedroom, like a 12-year-old does whenever they're talking to Patrick Murphy,” Fouts said. “He was talking to me and said, ‘If you come here, you're going to be a rock star.’ I was like, ‘Wait, I want to be a rock star.’ The rest is history.”

Fouts has been the frontwoman for Alabama softball for the past four seasons. Thursday, she became just the seventh Crimson Tide player to earn All-American honors four times from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

The graduate has 100 wins, 1,177 strikeouts and has thrown four perfect games during her five seasons with the Crimson Tide. This season, she sports a 25-10 record and a 1.48 earned run while leading the nation with 317 strikeouts over 223 innings pitched.

You don’t have to be a softball aficionado to appreciate those numbers. Just ask Nick Saban.

Thursday, Murphy shared one of his favorite stories about his ace, revealing a time when she was stopped by the Alabama football coach following a speech earlier in her career.

“We go to practice, so we're talking out of this ballroom, and all of a sudden I hear, ‘Hey, Montana.’" Murphy recalled. “We stop in our tracks. We turn around. Coach Saban. ‘I love to watch you pitch.’”

Murphy joked that even he doesn’t get that type of recognition from Saban. Of course, the softball coach is pretty used to taking a backseat to his star attraction by now.

“Wherever we go, it is wild,” Murphy said of the fanfare surrounding Fouts. “It's the Beatles coming to town. It's Michael Jordan getting off the bus. That's the best way to describe it.”

Fouts will once again be at the center of attention this week as she continues to battle back from a hyperextended knee she suffered during an SEC Tournament game against Arkansas on May 11. After missing the NCAA regionals, Fouts recovered in time to help Alabama punch its ticket to Oklahoma City, recording both of the Crimson Tide’s wins in its super regional triumph over Northwestern.

No. 5 seed Alabama (45-20) will likely rely on its star again this week as it looks to make another run in this year’s Women’s College World Series. That’s perfectly fine with Fouts as she prepares for one final curtain call on the game’s biggest stage.

"I feel like as soon as I stepped on campus with Team 27, I knew I wanted to be a part of bringing this team to the World Series," Fouts said. "I wanted that for our freshmen, I wanted it for sophomores, juniors, they had never been, the rest of the seniors. That was my focus all year long."