Finished It: A Team’S Journey to Winning It All

By Cassie Reilly-Boccia and Kayla Braud

Finished It unlocks the Alabama Softball story in a transparent and powerful way. Her stories are woven together creating the sensation you are living and learning what makes Alabama Softball special. This book shares how Coach Patrick Murphy, Coach Aly Habetz and staff have cornered the market on RELEVANT leadership. Unwavering values that withstand the test of time in an ever changing society. Her book pulls back the curtain on one of NCAA Softballs greatest collegiate programs.

Sue Enquist
Former UCLA Softball Coach-27 yrs.
11-Time National Champion
5-Time Hall of Fame

Been around this amazing game for awhile, and few have ever taken us inside the true emotion, process, preparation and understanding of what it takes to win on the biggest stage. Cassie does this so uniquely, you will find yourself applying to your own life the creative ways this special group was able to succeed both as an underdog in THE championship moment and as a difference maker in life.

Jessica Mendoza
ESPN Analyst and Reporter,
Olympic Silver and Gold Medalist

Finished It shows us there is more to winning a national championship than meets the eye the day that trophy is hoisted. Discovering the details of raw emotion and effort that goes into winning a national championship is nothing short of motivational. You can see the Alabama Softball program has developed a formula for not only winning games, but the effort it takes to develop a healthy, inspiring lockerroom from day one of a season. Any athlete, any person would be able to relate to the dedication, creativity, passion and belief in each other this team had from the get-go of their magical season.

Amanda Scarborough
2-Time All-American
ESPN College Softball Analyst

Although little can prepare you for adversity, this book will show you that when you have twenty hearts beating as one, nothing can stop you.

Jaclyn Traina
4-Time All-American
Team USA Softball Member

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491748428

Cassie Reilly-Boccia

Cassie Reilly-Boccia was a four-year starter on the Crimson Tide softball team, leading the team to several titles, including a National Championship in 2012. She was inducted to the New York State Softball Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2015. She’s a certified strength and conditioning specialist as well as a USA Weightlifting Sports Performance coach. She’s also the director of research and development and intern curriculum at Athletes Warehouse in Pleasantville, New York.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

J une 7, 2012 12:28 am

I rubbed the skin of the bright yellow softball with my left hand. It had just come in contact with the damp grass after being hit in foul territory down the first base line. It hadn’t rained since the fourth inning and by now the field seemed back to normal for the most part. The excitement from the stands faintly echoed in my ear. I looked up at my pitcher, Jackie Traina, and said calmly, Nice job Jack, let’s get this one right here.

‘Let’s get this one.’ As if this ‘one’ was just another batter in the season. I’ve told her that hundreds of times in our two years playing together. ‘Let’s get this one.’ I jogged back to my defensive spot at first base. Strategically positioned for this particular batter, for this one.

I glanced at the scoreboard before I turned around to get into my ready stance. It was the top of the seventh inning in the third and final game of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Softball National Championship Series. A best of three series between the softball programs from the University of Alabama and the University of Oklahoma. Each team had claimed one victory apiece in the previous two days.

Two outs. Two strikes. As home team, the Alabama Crimson Tide was leading 5-4 and playing defense with the national player of the year at the plate for Oklahoma. As I watched the hitter step into the batter’s box and I looked around the field at my teammates, it was hard to believe that this would be the last game for me and the five other seniors. The last time we would wear the script Alabama A on our jerseys.

Playing in a situation like this is like walking a tightrope in your mind. In order to stay balanced on the rope, you have to stay in the present. It requires the utmost sense of focus and control, all the while willing yourself to remain calm. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Stay in the present, stay in the present.’ Losing focus for a split second leaves you vulnerable and at the mercy of uncertainty. You become in danger of permitting a poisonous thought to creep into your mind; ‘We are only one strike away from winning a national championship.’ It approaches you like a whisper, almost too faint to recognize. The moment you acknowledge the venom’s presence, its paralyzing effects have already begun to take their toll. As you fall from the tightrope, a rush of butterflies will soar from your stomach to the rest of your body; your arms become numb, your hands tremor, and your legs go weak. Your heart rate skyrockets, pounding at a distracting rhythm inside your constricted chest. The thoughts in your head become deafening. The calls from your teammate just ten feet away will sound like a distant murmur. Your breathing becomes irregular, your eyes widen, nervously darting from one place to the next. It is alarming to realize how much your body is at the mercy of your mind in this situation. Deep breath. ‘Stay in the present, this pitch is coming to you.’ I’d say to myself. Deep breath.

It requires an enormous amount of mental strength to battle your mind and regain balance on the tightrope. Being in control of both your mind and your body is one tool every athlete who has played at a high level can relate to. Just like every physical aspect of the game, this skill comes from great coaching, practice, and experience.

I looked over at our second baseman and said, Hey Danae! This one is coming to us on the right side, right here; nothing gets by us.

We made eye contact and she gave me a reassuring nod. It was too slight for anyone in the stands to notice. It is amazing how teammates can have such complex conversations on the field without saying a single word.

Deep breath. ‘Stay in the present.’ The slightest reminder was enough to keep me on my tightrope.

I took a step toward our pitcher, Here we go, Jack! There is nobody better than you, you’re gonna win this pitch, we’re with you! I believe it right here, right now, Jack. Win this one.

Deep breath. ‘Stay in the present.’ Walk the tightrope… steady… balance… calm… focused… in control.

I heard the Alabama fans across the field above the third base dugout. I heard the Oklahoma fans to my left above the first base dugout. I heard the strained voices of my teammates, coaches, managers, and trainers screaming encouragements at Jackie from across the infield. I heard the OU dugout doing the same for their batter. I could feel my heart pounding but my breathing was steady. With conviction in their voices I heard the continual reassurance between our infield and pitcher. Our catcher, Kendall Dawson, remained calm and relaxed. She was the leader whom everyone on the field could look towards as a calming presence. Her voice remained solid and confident, completely absent of a quiver. I faintly heard the outfielders chatter, speaking to each other and to Jackie. I heard the scratch of my metal cleats as they scraped against the dirt on the field below me.

Deep breath.

I no longer heard the fans.

Deep breath.

No more cheers from the dugout.

Jackie got the sign and she started her motion.

Deep breath.

The field went still.

I planted my left foot, followed by my right. I was in my ready stance; a position that had became so familiar to me. I barely noticed the crunch of the dirt under my cleats anymore.

One more deep breath as I crouched low. Glove out in front, heels off the ground, ready to move. ‘Nothing by you, this pitch is coming to you, this pitch, this pitch, this pitch.’ My heartbeat was somewhere off in the distance. My vision narrowed, nothing else existed except this pitch, except this one.

INTRODUCTION

"AT FIRST THEY’LL ASK YOU WHY

YOU’RE DOING IT, THEN THEY’LL

ASK YOU HOW YOU DID IT."

A s a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide softball team, I always got asked the question, Why do you want it so badly? It was asked by people who didn’t fully understand. People who couldn’t wrap their minds around this crazy dream of ours. "It won’t change your life, it’s just a game. " they would say. Maybe there is some sense in that. Softball is technically a ‘game.’ And winning a national championship wouldn’t significantly change our lives. We wouldn’t wake up the morning after winning and suddenly find ourselves rich and famous. It wouldn’t magically wipe away all the struggles and heartaches from the rest of our lives. However, there was one thing I was sure they were wrong about, this wasn’t just a game , to us, this was so much more.

Maybe it was a desire for a legacy. Every human is ingrained with a yearning to leave something of themselves behind. However, those who find their passion interpret this insatiable desire not as just such, but also as a responsibility, an obligation, and a need.

I always had this idea that the first team to win a national championship in softball from Alabama would be cemented in history. I thought that somehow if we won it, we’d never have to experience the inevitable sting felt by athletes going through withdrawal from their sport and team their first few years after graduation. As if the trophy would keep us immune from these feelings. Winning Alabama’s first Women’s College World Series (WCWS) would be ours and ours alone. It would not be a statistical record that someone else could break. It was something that no one could ever take away from us, our little mark on history.

In June 2011, at the end of my junior year, our season had just ended with two embarrassing losses to our SEC rival in the semi-final series of the WCWS. It was then that I finally realized the answer to the question ‘why.’ I wanted to win a national championship because I wanted us to know what it felt like. That’s it. Seems simple enough, I’m sure a lot of people would like to know what it feels like. Unlike others though, we were in a position to make it happen. We had all the ingredients at our disposal to make our dream a reality. I wanted us to know so badly what the celebration felt like. We had watched so many teams before celebrate the infamous last out. On that field. Under those lights at the iconic Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

For a team to know they had won it all and to know that everything they had sacrificed, the hours, the sweat, the aches and pains, the trials and tribulations, had amounted to this would be an incredible feeling. Imagining that it would be the best possible feeling any of them could have ever experienced. The reason this feeling would be so special would be because the desire to experience it resonated not just with myself but with my teammates as well. I knew this was something that was unattainable without my teammates. It is not possible in softball to win a national championship on your own, not as a pitcher, hitter, position player, or coach. Which is why I craved the feeling even more. I wanted us to know what it felt like to be the last team celebrating in the entire country. I wanted us to dog pile, to take the iconic picture in front of the scoreboard, to feel like the nine-year-old girls that fell head over heels in love with this game. I wanted this team to be a part of something bigger than ourselves as individuals and experience something we never could have achieved on our own.

I feel like I have an insurmountable debt to this game. However, it is not a burden nor does a feeling of guilt accompany it. Instead, I feel like this game has helped me become the best version of myself. This game has introduced me to some of the best people, has given me some of the best moments, and has provided me with endless opportunities to be successful for the rest of my life. Therefore, any time I am able to share stories of our journey or any time I see a young girl say she has been inspired by the way we played, I feel like I am making a payment to this debt. And it feels incredibly satisfying to pay it back.

Because of this, I feel compelled to tell this story. Perhaps those who share the same love for the game can get something from this book. I am not an expert on coaching, the mental game, nor softball. However, what I do know is this story I’m about to tell, it worked. And although there is no perfect blueprint for ‘How to Win a National Championship,’ I do feel there is a right way to play this game. Sports are played at their best when they are played with passion, heart, and a genuine love for the game and for one another. That’s how we played this game. We knew in order to win it all, it would take leadership, selflessness, traditions, celebrations, adversity, and a supreme confidence in everything we did. It would require a willingness to fail, a willingness to give it all, and an extraordinarily ability to finish. If there was something to be learned in all of this, I wanted to share it. This is our story.

JUNE 6, 2012 9:00 AM

10 hours until game time

I woke up the morning of June 6, 2012 and the first thought that came to mind was, The next time we go to sleep, we could be national champions. We now had it dangling right before our faces; the opportunity that has eluded so many who have come before us. It was the chance to reach the pinnacle of our sport, to celebrate on that field, under those lights after we had exhausted ourselves on the field in battle. My mind drifted to the potential post-game celebration but I quickly had to snap myself out of it, ‘Stay in the present.’ That phrase would inevitably repeat itself in my head many more times throughout the day.

I’d like to say I got a good night sleep the night before because at the time I thought I did, but in reality, I had the championship game on my mind the entire time. My roommate for the week was Ryan Iamurri. The 4'10" second baseman hailed from Naples, Florida. Ryan was a winner through and through and always seemed to know exactly what the team needed to succeed. I was very grateful to have her as my roommate for the entire World Series.

Being one of the final two teams left at the WCWS was uncharted territory for Alabama Softball. In its sixteen-year history and seven previous trips to this championship event, the Crimson Tide softball program had never made it past the semi-final round. During that week as roommates, Ryan and I took time to debrief and dissect the emotional ups and downs that came with competing at the WCWS. We began to recognize a certain pattern of anxiety that arose. It did not stem from a fear of failure or a doubt of success, but more of a yearning to know. I can only compare this feeling to watching an exciting movie, sitting on the edge of your seat, intently caught in suspense, hungry for the satisfaction of the outcome. We wanted to know how our story was going to end. We wanted to know so badly who would be the last team celebrating in Oklahoma City.

Throughout the week, Ryan and I made it a habit of scribbling notes with our finger into the fog of the bathroom mirror after showering. The phrases and notes would only come to life once the fog returned the following night, they remained invisible to us during the day. As I stepped out of the shower the night before our final game, the mirror was covered with sayings in both mine and Ryan’s handwriting. Sayings that we were too afraid to say out loud, words that clearly broke the code of, ‘staying in the present.’ Imagine what the celebration will be like!, Three more wins and we will win it all, were just a few that decorated the fog covered mirror. As I surveyed the mirror on the night of June 5th I noticed a small space at the bottom that remained blank. I took my finger and wrote the last and final note of our stay in Oklahoma City: By this time tomorrow night, we’ll KNOW!

We’ll KNOW! We will finally finish the chapter on this amazing ride. No matter the outcome, tonight, June 6th, will mark the final game played in the 2012 NCAA softball season. One game, under the lights. I had this feeling like nothing could stand in our way, we had momentum on our side from a win the night before and that gave me so much confidence in my team for tonight’s game. I knew we could do this, there was not a doubt in my mind that anything would stand in our way.

As I got out of bed I checked the weather app on my phone. It was going to be a fairly cool and overcast day for Oklahoma City. I finally got to the hour-by-hour report for 7:00pm, the time our game was supposed to start. The forecast called for rain.

CHAPTER 1

IT ALL STARTS AT THE TOP.

I t was good to be with my dog and back home seeing my family. Just four days earlier we woke up one win away from making it to the championship finals at the 2011 Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. That night we went to bed with two losses, an embarrassing 16-2 run rule in the first game of the day and a 9-2 beating for the nightcap. Both losses were to our SEC rival, the Florida Gators. Absolutely nothing about those games left a good taste in our mouths. I hated losing more than anything, we all did.

I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I got the phone call. It was June 9, 2011 and I was in my dad’s old pickup truck driving home from my aunt’s house. My dog, Jake, an 80-pound Sheppard and Black Labrador mix was enjoying life, riding shotgun with his head out the window on a record high temperature day in New York.

My phone rang with an incoming call from a 205 area code indicating the call was coming from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I answered the phone (using my hands free device as to not break New York State driving laws). As I said hello, I manually cranked the windows up so I could hear the incoming caller.

Hello?

Hey, Cass. It’s Murphy.

Hey, Murph! How are you doing?

Cass, I’ve got some news and it’s not good.

Then all I heard was sobbing. Our head coach, Patrick Murphy, our leader, the guy who always knew what to do and knew what to say could not hold back his tears. I immediately thought of my teammates and their families. Since our loss four days ago the Alabama softball family was driving and flying long distances traveling back home to Oregon, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas. My first thought was worst-case scenario; did something happen to one of them in their travels? My stomach sank and my heart pounded uncontrollably in anticipation of this ‘bad news.’ What was probably only a few seconds of waiting felt so much longer.

"I got offered the job at LSU and I took