Oxford, AL – Smash It Sports Vipers’ Women’s Professional Fastpitch softball team loses to Texas However, it is estimated that 600 fans bought tickets to attend the their new Oxford team’s opening game at home.
By Joe Medley
Autumn Parsons’ trained softball eye was able to see everything that happened during her first game at Smash It Sports Vipers’ first home game since they moved to Oxford.
The most important part was the disappointment. The region’s first Women’s Professional Fastpitch team lost 6-2 to the Texas Smoke on Friday on Choccolocco Park’s famous field. The team went on to finish 0-5 during the first season of the team in Oxford.
Like the roughly 600 fans who purchased tickets to the Vipers opening game at home However, Parsons along with her whole family gathered to enjoy the full experience of softball by sitting in the stands that topped the dugout in the home stadium. Parsons, a recent Wellborn High graduate and former Panthers All-Calhoun County star is able to relate.
“The behind-the-scenes preparations, the warmups, and getting getting into the rhythm You can see the way they’re executing all the effort they’ve put into,” Parsons said. “As an athlete in softball there’s a moment when you realize that you’re in the right place.”
The crowd of more than 600 players’ families were able to gather in the grandstand in front of them, which includes both top-of-the-dugout grandstands as well as the two new grandstands behind the outfield fence with sponsors.
The home team was able to get a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Karly Heath batted an RBI single, and Suzy Brookshire took the ball from home.
They also watched the Smoke’s Jenae Jefferson score two-run home runs in the fifth in the fifth.
The WPF team of Austin, Texas, made the owner who was a guest and the former Atlanta Brave Brandon Phillips happy by scoring seven runs over the course of the seventh. Phillips watched from on the first row in the grandstand in the middle.
White Plains High softball player Kannon Slaughter and her family were able to watch from an outfield grandstand. Slaughter observed a team that was not disgruntled despite slow beginnings in the new season.
“I observed many positive items,” she said. “There was great level of communication during the entire game. grit when an error was made, and determination.
“It was also a joy to realize that regardless of the level, there are mistakes, strikeouts, as well as pop-ups.”
The result of the game didn’t reduce time for autographs, which was 45 minutes long. Vipers players sat on the fold-out tables and autographed balls, as well as other memorabilia to local youngsters.
Vipers General Manager Don DeDonatis saw a positive performance in the team’s preparations for home.
“The opening game of the day was fantastic,” said DeDonatis, who didn’t invite Vipers head coach Gerry Glasco or players available for interviews following the game. It was a great game. Everyone was involved. The crowd was there. They were there every single pitch until the final.
“They were thrilled. They’re fans. They’re not here to watch the game due to something that’s new. I believe we’ve got genuine fans. We’re going to build on this and it’s going be a fantastic year.”
In news regarding players In player news, the Vipers have signed 17 players on Friday, including the third baseman Kelsey Bennett, from Virginia Tech. They also signed an ex- Ole Miss infielder Mikayla Allee during their home game against the Smoke earlier this week.
The Vipers kept putting off top draft choice Ashley Rogers. The star pitcher who led Tennessee in World Series in Women’s College World Series did not pitch on Friday, but took part in signing autographs.
“She’s experienced some training,” DeDonatis said. “While we’re putting things together and creating the squad … the team is putting off her. It’s likely that she’ll be back following the first game of July, or perhaps later in the season.”
The only player who is not expected to play this season is second-round draft selection Ally Shipman, the catcher from Alabama.
“Shipman is likely done,”” DeDonatis said. “She’s has tendon tears in her thumb and is likely to need surgery and a splint, so it’s unclear if the healing process will speed up now, she’ll likely not play this summer. I’m not sure, however.”
DeDonatis stated that he hasn’t received any information regarding the situation of the former Alabama player Montana Fouts’ knee injury. The Vipers were the first team to draft her in April.
Local fans were treated to a glimpse at the Vipers who were playing on Friday.
“It’s amazing,” Parsons said. “We haven’t had a sports team of this kind come to Oxford for a long time, and it’s amazing to watch people who play professionally in our community and also to be able to see the faces we see on television in Oxford and around the country.”
Slaughter was able to see something that was aspirational.
“I consider it to be really cool to have an elite softball team at Oxford,” she said. “It’s something special to have, particularly for the younger players who are coming up. It provides them with something to admire and something to work towards.
“I’m very looking forward to seeing what’s to come in the coming season of”the Vipers!”
Postgame autographs
