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SEC Network to feature 2012 Alabama softball national title team in latest documentary
“BAMA SB” chronicles the Crimson Tide’s journey to the SEC’s first NCAA Women’s College World Series championship.
To understand the essence of teamwork and camaraderie – and the selfless acts it takes for a group of extraordinary people to achieve such a status - is to understand the 2012 Alabama softball team.
The latest “SEC Storied” documentary, “BAMA SB,” chronicles the Crimson Tide’s journey to the SEC’s first NCAA Women’s College World Series championship. It’s the first journey into softball for “SEC Storied.”
The 60-minute documentary certainly has all the on-the-field and in-game elements required for a stand-up-and-cheer look at what makes team sports great. Whether it is Amanda Locke snapping a 17-game hitting slump by connecting with a rise ball en route to a home run against Arizona, or a pick-off play to end a threat by Pac-12 champ Cal, there’s something for everyone. Cassie Reilly-Boccia’s bases-clearing hit against Tennessee certainly sets the stage.
“No more knocking on the door, they were ready to blast through,” it’s declared in this doc.
Then, of course, there was pitching phenom Jackie Traina, who rarely left any doubt when she climbed the mound.
However, to mention individual players would do this team – and documentary – a disservice.
It is the off-the-field, behind-the-scenes footage coupled with the retrospective of teammates and coaches captured by filmmaking duo Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern Winters of Lookalike Productions, alongside producer-editor Amanda Postel, that brings home the essence of what makes a championship team.
Terms like team-first mentality, gritty, resilience, togetherness, leadership and urgency are all captured in this stroll down memory lane.
Whether it was the 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado, coach Patrick Murphy’s flirtation with LSU and emotional rollercoaster that followed, or the rain-soaked, player-led impromptu pep rally in this group’s ultimate game, “SEC Storied” shows you exactly what hurdles face any team and what it takes to clear them on the way to the top.
“This was the most seamless shoot of our careers,” Lax said in a statement provided to AL.com. “These women are still the amazing team they’d always been. Give them a goal and they’ll accomplish it with passion, focus, and a lot of fun.”
Like most magical teams, this Alabama softball team wasn’t created overnight. Eight times before, the Crimson Tide had advanced to the WCWS in the 14 years under Murphy only to come up short. The Tide was not just playing for a school but for a conference, which never hoisted the trophy.
Murphy had never seen a group like those who joined the Crimson Tide in 2009. It was a talented freshman group all with the same goal. They were in sync. He predicted a national championship with this group.
“BAMA SB” builds the story from the ground up efficiently, while setting the stage for the ultimate reward. But it is that buildup that makes the final accomplishment, which we all know is coming, so much more rewarding.
“Kudos needs to go to the University of Alabama’s Archive Department,” Stern Winters said in a statement provided to AL.com. “Whatever we needed, they were there with a wealth of incredible footage and powerful photos. Amazing story, cast, people, and experience. Their legacy is alive and well.”
It’s a story about one team’s drive, chemistry and, to some degree, self-sacrifice for the ultimate – and elusive – goal of a championship.
“BAMA SB” will air on Monday, April 15, at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) on SEC Network, immediately after Alabama’s “Mic’d Up Monday” home game against Texas A&M.
An in-person premiere – hosted by SEC Network – is set for Saturday, April 13, in Tuscaloosa at the Bama Theatre with details to come.
