What They Said After Alabama's 5-1 Win Over Arizona in the WCWS

Ace Montana Fouts was the difference as Alabama stayed in the winner's bracket at the Women's College World Series

Alabama softball earned a convincing 5-1 win Thursday night over Arizona to stay in the winner’s bracket at the Women’s College World Series.

The Crimson Tide (51-7) was led by a dominant performance by Montana Fouts (25-3) in the circle, tying her career high with 16 strikeouts in the complete-game victory. She faced the minimum until the solo home run in the seventh and struck out the side in four of the seven innings pitched. 

Bailey Hemphill scored two of the team’s five runs and Maddie Morgan went 2-for-3 for her third multi-hit game of the season.

With the win, Alabama advances in the winners bracket and will face UCLA on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. 

Arizona (39-14) will play an elimination game against Florida State. 

Here's what was said after the game (transcript courtesy of ASAPsports): 

Alabama Crimson Tide 

Bailey Hemphill and Montana Fouts

THE MODERATOR: Bailey, it seems like that Montana gets better and better. Seems like every game she gets better, stronger. What have you seen from her throughout the year as she's gotten so strong?

BAILEY HEMPHILL: Yeah, she's just never satisfied. She can have the best game of her life, the next day, How can I get better? That mindset I think is what makes her so great. She's never complacent with what she achieves on the field. She's always striving to get better.

THE MODERATOR: Montana, talk about Bailey as your catcher. Talk about your relationship with her as a catcher, what she's meant to you.

MONTANA FOUTS: Well, we have a great relationship off the field, so I think that just rolls back on the field. I think just knowing how smart she was, how knowledgeable, she's always looking to get better on the field. As a pitcher, and she's my catcher, I think that learning from her, too, she gives me great feedback because she's been around the game so long.

I just respect her. I know she just wanting the best for the team.

THE MODERATOR: Bailey, what was sharing that moment with Abby Doerr, her hitting a home run, what did that mean to you? Why was there so much joy there?

BAILEY HEMPHILL: She works so hard. She obviously doesn't get that much playing time, but she comes in every day and she gives everything to make this team better. For her to succeed on this level, on this stage right now, that was, like, the coolest part of today, when she hit that. She was so happy. We were so happy for her.

She was like, What just happened? You just hit a home run at the women's World Series. I can't put it into words.

MONTANA FOUTS: It just means so much because she's so pure. Like Bailey said, she works so hard. You would think she's a starting nine every single game for how hard she works. She's always looking to get better too, do whatever it takes. She works hard knowing she can get that opportunity. She deserves every second of it.

THE MODERATOR: Bailey, when Montana is the circle for you, how much confidence do you have when you take the field?

BAILEY HEMPHILL: The utmost confidence. She always gives us a chance to win. I mean, she comes out and she does her thing. She gives up one or two runs, we know our offense is capable of winning that game. It's nice when she strikes out 16, that helps. Every time she steps on the field, we know we have an opportunity to win.

THE MODERATOR: Montana, for your team, how much does it help to get this first win?

MONTANA FOUTS: It is huge, like Murph was saying. In 2019 I think we dropped the first one. It helps to stay in the winner's bracket. It gives us confidence. Arizona is a great team, great pitching staff, great hitters. We can hang, deserve to be here. For all the girls in 2019, it shows them we got this thing, too.

THE MODERATOR: As you look forward to a matchup with either Florida State or UCLA, how is that preparation going to go? Are you going to watch this game, see how it develops?

BAILEY HEMPHILL: Yeah, I mean, we're going to watch the game tonight, then whoever wins we'll study film tomorrow. I think we play later in the evening, so that will help, give us time to prepare.

Either way we're just going to be prepared on both sides, pitching and hitting. We'll just go from there.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take some questions.

Q. Bailey, you get so few strikes thrown your way. How do you stay ready when you get that strike? Montana, how driven do you think Bailey is to win a championship while you're here?

BAILEY HEMPHILL: I think I've struggled with that lately. I've kind of gotten into the lull of ball, ball, ball. That was my focus this week of staying ready. If the count is 3-0, I'm still in it, looking for that strike, trusting my plan.

Yeah, I just have that mindset of just staying ready and still looking for my pitch, not giving into what the pitchers are trying to make me do.

MONTANA FOUTS: I think one of the best things, my favorite things about Bailey, is just because she's so talented, she pours into other people. I think that just shows how badly she wants it. If she's the only one doing it, the only one understanding, we're not going to win very many games. Her pouring into other people shows everything you need to know about her.

Q. Montana, could you talk about your performance tonight. You seemed very comfortable out in the circle. What was your mentality going into this game?

MONTANA FOUTS: Just, again, trusting my stuff, trusting my spin. I knew they were great hitters, obviously, experienced. They're as used to this stage as we are. I think not relying on speed, trusting spin and my defense, they made some great plays today to get us out of some innings. Just trust the process, yeah.

Q. Montana, you said before in the past Jennie Finch was one of your role models. What was it like to have the performance you did in front of her? Bailey, what was it like playing in a bigger stadium?

MONTANA FOUTS: I didn't know she was out there. I think that is pretty cool. She is one of my role models. I've looked up to her my entire life. I'm still as big a fan now as I was then. It's pretty cool that our team won and we did well on both sides of the ball.

BAILEY HEMPHILL: Yeah, I mean, the bigger stadium is nice. It just shows how much the game has grown in the past few years, and also the fans are invested. I mean, it wasn't a full house, but I'm excited for the next few games to see what it's like, I mean, packed out.

It's just really awesome to have that many people want to watch our games.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, congratulations. We'll see you tomorrow.

BAILEY HEMPHILL: Thank you.

MONTANA FOUTS: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Now joined by head coach Patrick Murphy.

We'll start with questions.

Q. How good of a player is Bailey?

PATRICK MURPHY: She's awesome. She takes a beating behind home plate. She keeps coming back for more. She's kind of led the way this year in terms of resiliency, grit.

The thing that has been a key with her this year, not a lot of people talk about it, is she holds people accountable. I know it's the toughest thing in the world for that age of kid to do that with some of their best friends. But she has done it since day one in August.

I think that's one of the keys of this team's success, is they realize she's one of the leaders. When she does say, "Pick it up," they look at her, nod their head, and do better.

You absolutely need that type of kid on a team.

Q. Talk about the decision to go to Abby Doerr there. She hits an absolute missile to give you a 5-0 lead. Talk about having the bench ready.

PATRICK MURPHY: We kind of challenged them actually. A buddy of mine had emailed me earlier before post-season play started. We really challenged whoever it might be. They never know until maybe 30 seconds before, I'll give a nod and say, "Abby, hey, be ready here."

That was one of the things that former players told me they wish I would have done. Now I give them a little bit of a warning. The rest is up to them.

But so proud of both of them. Haney just missed hers. Obviously Abby, I think it was an 0-2 count, too. She has battled and battled and battled. She has wanted to do well for this team all season long. That was certainly the biggest hit of her career.

Q. Regarding Bailey, certainly not the first hitter you've had who has drawn a lot of walks. Is there a learned trait that hitters pick up to deal with that or something about her that's unique?

PATRICK MURPHY: It's just unbelievable. I was telling Holly Rowe in the end-game interview, her hand-eye coordination is as good as Kretschman and Halie McCleney. Obviously she catches, so she sees the strike zone even more. She knows what a ball or a strike is, without a doubt. Just a great eye.

She just battles. I know it was a good question before that they asked of her about how do you stay ready, because she has seen a lot of balls all year. All of a sudden if somebody pitches to her, it's like, Oh, my God, I'm going to get a strike to hit.

She was ready for it. Just kudos to her. She's one of the best we've ever had. Probably our best right-handed hitter ever at Alabama.

Q. What does it mean for your offense going forward if you can get it from the bottom lineup?

PATRICK MURPHY: We do a little drill in practice called score and two, which means two people need to come up with a run somehow, some way. I might be wrong, but Savannah gets a single with two outs, then Maddie scored her from first on the double. Both of them, if they don't do what they do, that doesn't give Abby a chance to get up.

We scored in two really twice, the double for Woodard and then the home run with Abby. It was huge. It was huge insurance that we needed because obviously Miss Harper hit a home run in the top. But it was huge insurance runs for us. Two-out hitting is key in the post-season.

Q. Your thoughts on Montana, where does this rank among the great performances you've ever seen?

PATRICK MURPHY: One of the best. I couldn't believe it. I keep the stats in the dugout. I think from four all the way down to nine, I don't think anybody put the ball in play. I could be wrong. But what a performance.

I mean, that's a great hitting team. Nothing to take away from them. That is a hell of a hitting team. For a kid to do that against an Arizona team that's legit, that was pretty special to watch.

Q. Just knowing how last year, there wasn't a game, now here in this moment it just brings back the memory of what we missed. How did it feel to be back here, the fans' excitement through it all?

PATRICK MURPHY: It's awesome. You're coming back, it's Christmas morning. It's just an incredible feeling. Even at our hotel, our team hotel, there was a gentleman in the lobby, I walk in, he said, "Hey, good to see you, Murph." I didn't see him for two years. Not like I've been at that hotel. It's been two years and they remembered us.

It's just a cool feeling. The whole city embraces this event. The crowd was awesome tonight. To see the facility like it is, it's really, really cool for a female student-athlete right now that's playing softball to be able to take advantage of this facility and this sport. It's a great time to be a softball student-athlete.

Arizona Wildcats

Jessie Harper and Janelle Meono

Q. What will you say to your teammates after the loss? 

JESSIE HARPER: I'm going to say, hey, we have another game left. I choose to go with my team, to work with my team. I'm proud of us. We've shown one hell after fight to get here, we're excited to go here. I'm glad to step on the field today and I choose us.

Q. Janelle, you were one of the players that got a hit off Montana. What were you seeing? Why is she so difficult as a pitcher?

JANELLE MEONO: I think the one thing she has on us was her speed. It was difficult, I guess, for a couple of us to get on time. But I think we did adjust towards the end. We just needed to see more pitches and extend our at-bats. We'll be back, ready for the next game.

Q. What is kind of the mindset at this point? You have a day to kind of think about things before you play again. Kind of the mindset of the next day until you play.

JESSIE HARPER: You live and you learn. You take what you've done this game and you move forward. You trust in your teammates, you trust in yourself and in your preparation.

I would go to war with my team. I'm ready. Going to go hit tomorrow. Work on the little things. As long as you have trust in yourself and the people in front of you and behind you, you'll be good to go.

We are wearing Arizona on our chest, so we have a target on our backs no matter what. If we come out and play our game, we'll be good to go.

JANELLE MEONO: Coach tells us as long as we have innings to play, we have a chance to win. We are taking that mindset. We're still have games to play, innings to play, so we're ready to win.

Q. Describe what's going through your head right now going into the loser's bracket. Does Coach say, "You have to stay in the winner's bracket, it's brutal in the loser's bracket"? What is going through your head looking forward? How confident are you that Arizona as a team has the tools to march through the loser's bracket?

JANELLE MEONO: I'm super confident in our team. I trust every one of them. I believe in every one of them. They all have skills to play this game. They're really good at it. I'm not worried. I feel that we've prepared for this moment, and we're going to be fine.

JESSIE HARPER: I'm excited. We have another game left. I get to put on this uniform again. Our team is going to be ready. We're going to do whatever we have to to make it back to the top.

But, hey, it's softball. We're playing it. That's all we can do is just keep playing our game, but be super thankful that we're here. We've earned the right to be here.

We're going to do what we have to do to make it back to the top. It's going to be a grind. I trust ourselves, I trust our teammates, so we're going to be good.

Q. Jessie, what does it feel like to hit the home run?

JESSIE HARPER: I told myself that I'm getting Dejah another at-bat. Dejah is super special. I love watching her at the plate. I trust in her 100%. If we could get Dejah another at-bat, it's going to be good.

That was my mindset, is just, Hey, you're not going to beat me again. Let's get Dejah up, and let's see what we can do from there. So yeah.

Q. How important is it to maintain a positive team cohesion coming off of that loss?

JANELLE MEONO: I think we have to remain positive all the time, especially now that we've fallen in the loser's bracket. Just trusting in one another, believing in one another, keeping each other up is a big part of the game, yeah.

JESSIE HARPER: This game's tough mentally and emotionally. But, hey, we just need to lean on each other, just get excited to put on this uniform again. This uniform is so special. Stepping out on that field with my teammates is so special. We need to enjoy the little things, just look forward to the next game. We have another game. We're going to make this our last run and make it as far as we possibly can. But just have trust in yourself and be super confident. At the end of the day we've put in the body of work and we've earned the right to be here.

Q. (No microphone.)

THE MODERATOR: I apologize.

JESSIE HARPER: Go out and win. We're going to try to do the best to play Arizona softball. We're going to trust in our preparation, go out there and play hard. It's going to be a grind, but I choose us every day.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time.

JESSIE HARPER: Thank you.

JANELLE MEONO: Thank you.

Coach Mike Candrea

Q. Can you talk about the performance of starter Hanah Bowen?

MIKE CANDREA: She had a couple mistakes, but overall competed, did a good job. I felt like if we could go into the last innings with a 2-0 ballgame, it would be a little bit different. I thought Reyna's call kind of changed some momentum in the game.

We're at the College World Series. This is what happens. We need to just kind of reset and move forward.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about Montana Fouts, what you were seeing?

MIKE CANDREA: She was outstanding. My hat goes off to her. She threw a hell of a ballgame. We really didn't have any answers for the majority of that game.

I think early on, you know, we were just not catching up to the speed or we were actually making ourselves react quicker than what we needed to instead of trying to slow it down and get good pitches.

I thought early in the game we looked at pitches we probably could have hit, gave her the opportunity to throw the rise ball up in the zone and we started chasing.

She's a good pitcher. 72 miles an hour is not easy to hit. Even if it's straight. Well, Montana has not only the velocity, but she has good movement. We knew it was going to be a challenge. I thought we would obviously be a little better than we were today. We just couldn't figure it out, ran out of innings.

Q. What is tomorrow going to look like for your team?

MIKE CANDREA: Yeah, we're going to continue to do what we normally do. We got a day off tomorrow, quote, day off. We're going to go out and practice, do some hitting, get prepared for Saturday.

Q. When you have to pitch to a player like Hemphill, how do you approach that as a team? How do you try to make sure things don't happen when you know she can hit it well?

MIKE CANDREA: Well, truthfully you try not to give her anything she can hit. That's easier said than done. She ended up hitting a backdoor curve. The ball got over the plate, she squared it up. So you tip your hat to her.

But like I said, I think the thing of today was Montana Fouts. I thought she truly threw a very good ballgame, really kept us at check. When you don't have an offense, sometimes I felt like a ghost at third base, there's not much you can do. All you can do to win a game like that is to match them pitch for pitch. We didn't quite do that.