Liberty’s remarkable journey: From double-wide trailers to NCAA super regionals
When Dot Richardson took over the Liberty softball program in July 2013, the coaches’ offices, locker room and training room were located in double-wide trailers.
“We had a rec field,” recalled Richardson, a two-time Olympic gold medalist. “The previous staff had built the dugouts with cinder blocks and painted them blue. It was like a hobbit dugout. It was perfect for me, but everyone else had to bend down to get in it. Humble beginnings.”
Those sparse roots are part of the reason last weekend’s upset of No. 1 overall seed Texas A&M is so remarkable. It gave the Flames a program-record 50 wins, saddled the Aggies with the dubious distinction of being the first top seed to fall short in NCAA Tournament regionals and – most significantly – put Liberty in the super regionals for the first time in school history.
“We just played with so much to prove and a chip on our shoulder, knowing we could do it and that we believed in each other,” said outfielder Paige Doerr. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling.”
Richardson’s team won 11 games in 2014, her first season at the campus in Lynchburg, Virginia. A year later, Liberty opened a new state-of-the-art stadium and notched 29 victories. By 2018, Richardson had the Flames in the NCAA regionals.
This year, Liberty is playing in the NCAAs for the fifth straight year. And, after coming painfully close to advancing to supers last season, the Flames took that next step, beating Texas A&M on Saturday, losing to the Aggies Sunday afternoon and then rallying for the clinching 6-5 victory in the winner-take-all final game that night.
That one sent them on to face Oregon in the best-of-three super regional in Eugene starting Friday. The winner advances to the Women’s College World Series starting May 29 in Oklahoma City.
“We’ve done that through the years,” Richardson said. “But this year, we’ve been able to go over that hump. This team has never really focused on winning or losing. We’ve focused on being the best we can be. And our best was good enough to be where we are now.”
This team, Richardson says, is her most talented and complete in her Liberty tenure. After having one or two hitters she confidently could pencil into her lineups her first few years coaching, Richardson said it’s a daily struggle to find at-bats for all the capable hitters on this year’s roster.
That depth has been on display all season, as 11 players have hit multiple home runs, six have driven in at least 30 runs and six have tallied over 50 base hits, led by Rachel Roupe’s outstanding year at the plate. Roupe is batting .392 with team highs in home runs (23) and RBI (73).
In the circle, five pitchers have won multiple games and three have racked up over 75 strikeouts, paced by Elena Esocabar’s 25-3 mark, 2.43 ERA, 15 complete games and 175 strikeouts.
“I’m not surprised where we are,” Richardson said. “They just play with so much freedom. That’s what happens when you see great athletes play with freedom.”
Freedom and drive.
LIberty has reached a regional final in each of the last three years. Last season, the Flames were one out away from beating Georgia and advancing to supers, but the Bulldogs hit a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with the win.
“I think that the reason why we were here and why were able to win this game was because of last year,” sophomore catcher Savannah Jessee said. “It left such a sour taste in our mouths that we were so close and we couldn’t’ get the job done last year. But we proved ourselves. We proved we could hang with anyone. I think having the confidence from being one out away last year helped us with this weekend.”
The Flames celebrated their historic win in the wee hours by hopping a fence at the team hotel and jumping into the pool, Roupe said. The Aggies’ logo was emblazoned on the pool’s floor below them and – in that moment – Liberty was atop the college softball world.
It hopes to stay there this weekend in Oregon.
“Finally , I think people are starting to see that we don’t play around,” Jessee said. “We’re ready to take it on to the next level.”
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports