ALL STAR SOFTBALL: LAMP's Russell makes most of experience
LAMP’s Caitlin Russell faced the best hitters in the state during Wednesday’s All-Star softball game at Lagoon Park. (Eddie Olszewski)
By TIM GAYLE
An opportunity to play in an all-star game with the best players in the state doesn’t always turn out the way you had hoped.
That was the case for LAMP’s Caitlin Russell, who was selected to play for the South all-stars in the Alabama All-Star Sports Week softball game at Lagoon Park Softball Complex.
Playing on her home field, the junior pitcher felt right at home when she stepped into the circle of a tie game with the North all-stars. An inning later, the North led 6-3, the product of some timely hitting, some bad luck and some less-than-star defensive play.
After Russell hit Emmah Rolfe with her first pitch, her next pitch to Emily Simon was hit past the South first baseman for a single. Camryn Bailey followed with a bloop that landed in right field just inside the foul line and suddenly the bases were loaded.
Hannah Price drilled a 2-2 pitch from Russell to right center field to drive in two runs, Macey Ogle added a bloop that barely dropped into left field to score another and suddenly Russell’s dream was turning into a nightmare.
“You’re facing some of the best hitters that are probably going to go on to play Division I-A softball,” Russell pointed out. “You have to try your hardest out there. That was hard.”
She would move to second base for the next inning and deliver a single back up the middle, then have similar misfortune as the starting pitcher in the second game, allowing a two-run single by Riley Tyree and an RBI single by Rolfe for a 3-0 lead.
It was a tough evening in the circle for a player that retiring Alabama Christian Academy coach Chris Goodman called, without hesitation, the best player in the city this past season. Former Brewbaker Tech coach Brian Pittman, one of Russell’s all-star coaches in Wednesday’s game, had similar praise.
“She’s a competitor on the mound,” Pittman said. “Defensively, she can help you. And then on top of that, she swings the bat. She’s a triple threat. You’ve got to make sure she doesn’t beat you. You’ve got to get her out or put her on (base with a walk) and let somebody else in that lineup beat you because she can single-handedly win a game on the mound and at the plate.”
She batted over .500 this past season for the Golden Tigers in leading them to the state tournament. In the postseason, she made 11 appearances with a 1.05 earned-run average and 84 strikeouts, along with 14 walks and just nine earned runs. At the plate, she batted .469 with six doubles and eight RBIs.
“I think the main thing I like about Caitlin is there isn’t any choke in her,” said LAMP coach Anthony Norris as he watched Russell on Wednesday. “She doesn’t even know what that means. The moment doesn’t get too big for her.”
As he thought back on her performance in the first game, he added, “At least for the ball she plays for me. She stays within herself. She’s real good at hitting her spots. She has real good off-speed pitches and that makes up for the fact she’s not throwing 65 miles per hour.”
Russell follows in a recent string of superb LAMP pitchers that included Reagan Watkins and Taylor Cassidy. Watkins guided the Tigers to the state tournament as a sophomore in 2015, when they went two and out, and to a runner-up finish as a junior in 2016 before transferring to Daphne. After a four-year absence, Russell helped the Golden Tigers to a fifth-place finish in the state tournament this past spring.
“She’s got a flawless swing,” Norris said. “When you finishes, that bat is always extended out in front of her. She doesn’t fly open a lot. Her follow-through is in the field, not snatched behind her. And that’s hard to coach. She’s the best hitter I’ve ever coached.”
That swing, along with her pitching and leadership, earned her an offer from UAB. She committed to the Blazers on Monday.
“It was pretty awesome,” Russell said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting that. I worked hard for it. I’m really excited. I have to work harder now than I’ve ever had to work before to get prepared for it.”
Those lessons were reiterated on Wednesday as she faced some of the state’s top athletes in the all-star game.
“It taught me there are tons of good players out there and you just have to work hard if you want to get better,” Russell said. “These are the types of people you’re going to compete against in college. It’s going to be important to work hard to compete against them and win.”