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By Tommy Deas
It took 90 minutes to sell 2,000 tickets for Wednesday night's University of Alabama softball game in Decatur.
Tickets went on sale last week for the game against Middle Tennessee State at Wilson Morgon Softball Complex, a homecoming game for senior Danielle Richard, who is from nearby Priceville. The sale didn't last long. Alabama coach Patrick Murphy got a text with an attached photo of fans standing line at 5 a.m., four hours before the ticket sale began.
"I couldn't believe 90 minutes," he said. "That's (like) the Beatles."
Richard, too, was stunned.
"I guess I thought, 'Oh, it's not really that big of a deal that we're coming to Decatur,'" she said. "In my mind it's not, but when all these people bought the tickets, oh my gosh, this is a huge deal.
"I guess, because I'm with Alabama softball all the time, I never realize the impact we have in places. I'm just speechless and excited and humbled and blessed."
There would be even more fans on hand tonight if the ballpark were bigger.
"The lady that's running the whole event, she texted me later on that morning and said if we had 5,000 seats I really think we could have sold them, which is just unbelievable," Murphy said. "For a community to come together like that, really it's an honor to Dani, in 90 minutes to sell 2,000 tickets. They're $10 apiece, we're not giving them away, so it's really cool to see for her the way they're going to support the event."
In high school and in summer ball, Richard estimates she has played in the park about half a dozen times. Those games weren't sold out, but it wasn't Alabama headlining.
"I know a lot of people didn't get tickets," she said. "I hope everyone gets to come."
Murphy has made a habit of playing games around the state to expose Alabama softball to as many fans as possible. UA has played neutral-site games over the years in Montgomery, Huntsville and Oxford. Alabama has played road games at Samford and UAB and Birmingham-Southern, at Auburn, at Jacksonville State, at Troy and at South Alabama in Mobile. UA played in a tournament in Gulf Shores to start this season.
Murphy also tries to schedule a trip to play close to home for every player at some point in her career. Alabama played at Stanford earlier this season as a homecoming for Leona Lafaele, played in former player Kayla Braud's home state at Oregon and so forth.
Richard never expected such a game.
"I'm like 2 hours from here," she said. "I didn't really think I was going to get a home trip. It's cool for Murph to put that in the schedule, it really made me realize he is such and awesome coach and he really cares about us."
By Tommy Deas
It took 90 minutes to sell 2,000 tickets for Wednesday night's University of Alabama softball game in Decatur.
Tickets went on sale last week for the game against Middle Tennessee State at Wilson Morgon Softball Complex, a homecoming game for senior Danielle Richard, who is from nearby Priceville. The sale didn't last long. Alabama coach Patrick Murphy got a text with an attached photo of fans standing line at 5 a.m., four hours before the ticket sale began.
"I couldn't believe 90 minutes," he said. "That's (like) the Beatles."
Richard, too, was stunned.
"I guess I thought, 'Oh, it's not really that big of a deal that we're coming to Decatur,'" she said. "In my mind it's not, but when all these people bought the tickets, oh my gosh, this is a huge deal.
"I guess, because I'm with Alabama softball all the time, I never realize the impact we have in places. I'm just speechless and excited and humbled and blessed."
There would be even more fans on hand tonight if the ballpark were bigger.
"The lady that's running the whole event, she texted me later on that morning and said if we had 5,000 seats I really think we could have sold them, which is just unbelievable," Murphy said. "For a community to come together like that, really it's an honor to Dani, in 90 minutes to sell 2,000 tickets. They're $10 apiece, we're not giving them away, so it's really cool to see for her the way they're going to support the event."
In high school and in summer ball, Richard estimates she has played in the park about half a dozen times. Those games weren't sold out, but it wasn't Alabama headlining.
"I know a lot of people didn't get tickets," she said. "I hope everyone gets to come."
Murphy has made a habit of playing games around the state to expose Alabama softball to as many fans as possible. UA has played neutral-site games over the years in Montgomery, Huntsville and Oxford. Alabama has played road games at Samford and UAB and Birmingham-Southern, at Auburn, at Jacksonville State, at Troy and at South Alabama in Mobile. UA played in a tournament in Gulf Shores to start this season.
Murphy also tries to schedule a trip to play close to home for every player at some point in her career. Alabama played at Stanford earlier this season as a homecoming for Leona Lafaele, played in former player Kayla Braud's home state at Oregon and so forth.
Richard never expected such a game.
"I'm like 2 hours from here," she said. "I didn't really think I was going to get a home trip. It's cool for Murph to put that in the schedule, it really made me realize he is such and awesome coach and he really cares about us."
