I was fortunate enough to go to the Alabama Softball coach's clinic this past Saturday and got to see the team practice for the first time this season. A couple of things that stood out to me about this team that others may not know yet is the new reclassified Freshman Kenleigh Cahalan is absolutely amazing. She has the second-best glove on the team behind Prange in my opinion and she looks to be battling Dowling for starting SS. My guess is she will start at 2B. We never saw her work at 2B but it is just a hunch. Also the lefty transfer pitcher from Michigan Lauren Esman will do quite well in the circle for us this year as a change of pace from Montana. The new pitching coach, Lance McMahon (great hire) has brought a little different pitching philosophy so I think that will actually help some as well.
While all the coaching roles were extremely easy to figure out (Murphy has infield, Ally has outfield, Ryan has catchers, Lance has pitchers), I was still left questioning who was in charge of hitting. Ryan seemed to potentially be in charge of it but it honestly wasn't clear to me. They did change their hitting routine up greatly from last season which obviously I hope pays off but it still baffles me that we don't have that major part of the game cleared up.
I still expect a very strong season from us with hopefully a trip to the WCWS as an outside chance.