A Visit to Rhodes

The Rhodes House is a beautiful softball stadium with everything a fan could want. There are ample places to buy chow and souvenirs. Plenty of restroom facilities and the scoreboard has a large video screen which shows replays and other interesting images. For fans who sit in the brickyard, the outfield, there are three large TVs so that you can still watch the pitcher and batter duel up close.

  I saw Bama play on a Wednesday, that night they faced Alcorn State. While the Tide was clearly the better team Alcorn’s pitcher kept the game interesting for three innings. In the end, timely hitting and some good coaching enabled Alabama to run rule the Braves. It was interesting to watch Pat Murphy coach his charges from third base. He put on a clinic.

  In the fifth inning he was positioning his players to end the game early. He substituted, got some young people into the game, and got them into a position to score. The eighth run of the night, which invoked the mercy rule, was scored via a hit by a pinch hitter. While this wasn’t a college world series or even an SEC game, it was a game Murphy was determined to win. Yet, he also used it to get many of the younger players some experience. He succeed on both counts.

  I enjoyed the game and it was special to be able to see them at home. If there was an issue it's with the program success. Even though the seats were not nearly full the only tickets available were in the brickyard. I am assuming that most of the seats are held by season ticket holders. That speaks volumes.

  This is the Tide softball’s 20th season, so far so good. They have had some issues over the course of the year, but as the season has progressed they have gotten better and better. Hopefully, they’ll peak at just the right time.

  Roll Tide

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