Last weekend at a clinic in Ohio, University of Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy ran into Sue Enquist, the retired UCLA coach who took the Bruins to six national championships.
She had two questions:
"What are you most excited about?" she asked.
"Pitching staff," he replied.
"What are you least excited about?"
"Center field," he said.
That sums up where the Crimson Tide is at heading into the 2017 season. Alabama opened practice Sunday with all three pitchers returning from last year, but a big hole to fill in center field with the departure of four-time All-American Haylie McCleney.
Alabama returns senior pitcher Sydney Littlejohn (22-6, 2.28 earned-run average), junior Alexis Osorio (15-6, 2.84 ERA) and sophomore left-hander Madi Moore (9-0, 1.95 ERA) from a team that went 46-12 and made it to the Women's College World Series.
"We haven't had a senior-junior-sophomore (combination) in a long time, and two of the three have been All-Americans and the sophomore was 9-0 as a freshman," Murphy said. "It's going to be fun to see because everybody brings something to the table."
Littlejohn emerged last season to earn All-America honors. Osorio was an All-American the year before. Moore came on late in the season. They combined to strike out 369 batters with 112 walks.
"We are a very tight-knit group and we have each other's back," Littlejohn said. "It's like anyone gets on one of us, you get all of us for sure.
"I'm really excited to see what we can do."
So is Murphy. He plans to pitch the trio in accordance with the scouting report, going with the best matchup.
"It's basically going to be flip a coin to see who starts," he said.
Senior Chandler Dare and freshman Elissa Brown seem to be the top candidates to play center field.
"We just need to find that person and we're still looking," Murphy said. "It's going to be whoever's the most consistent who can catch a ball. There's lots of candidates. We just need to find the one."
Alabama should also benefit from the return of second baseman Demi Turner, who batted .421 as a sophomore last season, but missed nearly half the year with an arm injury.
Murphy likes what his balance on offense.
"I've got fast lefties, power lefties, fast righties, power righties," he said. "We haven't had that good mix. We've been heavy on one side and not so much the other, and this year I can mix and match better than I've ever been able to."
Alabama will play Towson and Coast Carolina on Feb. 10 in the Kickin' Chicken Classic in Conway, S.C., to open the season.
Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com.
