Alabama shortstop makes big plays look routine

When Danae Hays was a freshman, she sat in the University of Alabama softball dugout one night after practice and shared her dream with assistant coach Alyson Habetz.

"I want to be the best shortstop Alabama has ever had," Hays said.

That was four years ago, and the senior from Morris is in her third year starting at the position. She carries a .286 batting average with three home runs, three doubles and two triples into this weekend's series with Texas A&M, but she is making a case for being the Crimson Tide's best-ever shortstop with her glove.

Just a few days ago, she made one of the top-10 plays on ESPN's "SportsCenter" when she tagged out a runner on a steal attempt in Alabama's series against Florida. Jessica Damico took off from second base and catcher Chaunsey Bell threw toward third, but the third baseman didn't cover because the UF batter was showing bunt. Hays came sprinting over, went into a full slide behind the runner, plucked the ball out of the air and applied the tag for an out.

"Who makes that play?" asked Alabama's All-American center fielder, Haylie McCleney. "Who thinks to slide, catch and tag at the same time? Nobody. She's incredible."

Hays prefers to deflect the praise.

"You want me to be completely honest with you? It should not have been that close," she said. "I got beat, but thank goodness Chaunsey made a heck of a throw. It was right on the money.

"I was playing pretty deep because the girl at bat was a dead-pull hitter. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the girl take off and I gave a little 'Oh crap' moment, so I hustled over there."

Bell didn't have to look to see if Hays was going to make it.

"It's all about trust on something like that," the catcher said. "I just threw. I knew she was going to get there."

The slide-catch-and-tag play might not have even been the best play Hays made in the game. She also charged into the infield to bare-hand a ball. The throw wasn't in time to stop an infield hit, but it showcased Hays' athleticism and her imagination.

"Not too many kinds even think of doing that, let alone catch it," Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said.

"I think what it all boils down to is pride and hustle," Hays said. "If you have those two things, you can be a good defensive player."

There is value in superior defense, even if it doesn't show up in a box score.

"Sometimes defense can do unnoticed," Hays said. "You can get to a ball and take a hit away from somebody and nobody ever thinks, 'I wonder if that ball got through the infield, that runner could have scored.' I take a lot of pride in my defense."

Hays spent her freshman year at second base, and made ESPN's top 10 plays with a running, over-the-shoulder catch at the Women's College World Series. She moved to shortstop the next season.

Each year, she has worked to improve her range and her savvy. At 5-foot-8 with long arms, Hays has snagged overhead line drives that were headed for the gap in left-center. She has drifted back to make plays in left field, raced past third base to make catches in foul territory, fielded grounders on the far side of second base and even called off McCleney for balls in shallow left-center.

"There's not many people that I want to call me off, and Danae is one of them," McCleney said. "I listen to her, absolutely.

"That arm she has, she's got a cannon. Her range, I'm convinced she could play all four infield spots if she had the chance."

Hays is content to play shortstop, and to play it well.

"I think a lot of it is just being comfortable with being uncomfortable," she said. "Sometimes you have to put yourself in an awkward position over there, you have to field it awkwardly.

"I know a lot my sophomore year and my junior year I just wanted to play straight up, every pitch. I didn't want to shade any. Now I'm starting to play the odds with it."

When the ball goes Hays' way, Murphy likes the odds. For the Alabama coach, Dominqiue Accetturo, who played from 2003-06, is the gold glove standard for shortstops.

"I think (Accetturo) only had like three errors in 66 games her senior year," Murphy said, "but she didn't get to as many balls as Danae's getting to."

Murphy is more concerned with the present than where Hays ranks in UA history.

"I've challenged her a couple of times, 'Who's the best defensive shortstop in the conference? It's your year. Let's go out and prove it.' She's doing what a senior shortstop should do," he said.

Hays can comfortably be placed alongside Accetturo, Whitney Larsen and Kellie Eubanks as one of the best ever to play her position at Alabama. Four years after she confessed her goal, however, it doesn't seem to matter as much.

"I want somebody to leave the ballpark and say, 'Hey, Danae Hays is a hustler and gives a lot of effort,' I want that to stick out in their mind," she said. "If they say Danae Hays is the best shortstop Alabama's ever had, thank you, I appreciate that. But I just want to give my team the best chance to win and I want to back my pitchers up."

Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0224.