by Wesley Harris
I spent four memorable days with the Louisiana Tech softball team at the Conference USA tournament several weeks ago. I saw incredible plays. I sensed players rising to the occasion. I felt heartbreak. I witnessed love.
I’ve said it before—what happens on the field is as important as what happens in the classroom. Not so much in the hits, runs, and won-loss record but what players learn about the game of life.
Some lessons aren’t found in a textbook or heard in a professor’s lecture.
Some lessons come hard on the ball field. But tough lessons can be tempered by the abiding faith in something bigger than a player’s speed or power or strength.
Many college softball teams promote values like accountability, commitment, and perseverance, principles that align closely with Christian teachings. For many athletes, their faith provides emotional resilience and a sense of purpose that transcends the highs and the lows, the wins and the losses.
After the tournament early in May, I couldn’t help but reflect on the performance of several players, the faith and character they displayed, and how their experiences will translate into their futures.
In the very first game, Allie Floyd, the workhorse pitcher the Bulldogs relied on all season, severely injured a calf muscle after only 11 pitches.
Allie appeared to be done for the tournament and the year, a brutal blow to a team that had trusted her with most of its pitching. She left the field in tears and the stadium on crutches.
But Tech continued to fight and managed to record a miraculous come-from-behind win in that first game, thanks to the bats of Addison Snyder Reagan Marchant, both in their first year in a Tech uniform.
Trailing 4-1 and down to their final out against New Mexico State, Marchant — who had already tied Tech’s single season home run record — blasted the record-breaker to pull Tech to within 4-3. There was still a glimmer of hope.
Nicole Hammoude then earned a walk.
It came down to Snyder who had never hit a home run in college. Honestly, as I watched, I believed the game was over. It was just too much to ask of the redshirt freshman with two outs and Addie’s .230 batting average. I lost hope.
But on a 1-2 pitch, she slammed a no-doubter over the center field wall to give the Bulldogs the walk-off win. Snyder wiped away tears as she rounded second base, and they didn’t stop until well after every teammate had congratulated her at home plate.
Head coach Josh Taylor called it a “top five” moment of his 20-plus year coaching career.
No one gave the sobbing Snyder a bigger hug than KB Briley whose career ended in brutal fashion three days earlier after a base runner collided with her in the final regular season game. A concussion ruled KB out for the tournament, her last chance to play college ball.
KB had already missed two years from the Bulldog lineup due to injuries and surgeries. Frustrating, especially after missing her junior year in high school with injury followed by a COVID-shortened senior year.
Refusing to quit, KB kept going back to the game she loves, not because it was easy, but because that’s where God led her. During this fifth and final year at Tech, KB wore two simple plastic bracelets, one bearing a simple cross of her faith and one citing Colossians 3:23—”Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…”
KB could have stayed home but insisted on attending the tournament and supporting and encouraging her teammates, particularly Jina Baffuto who took her place at second base.
KB told others God had a plan for her, and she trusted He knew best. In her last social media post as a Bulldog, she wrote in part, “This sport has taught me so much about resiliency and never giving up . . . these trials made me stronger, and I would NOT trade my experience for anything. Thank you Jesus for giving me the ability and talent to chase my dreams. Your unwavering love and grace was so evident in my career.”
Liberty blanked the Bulldogs 8-0 in the second game the next day with Floyd unavailable.
But something you need to know about Allie Floyd. She is not a quitter. And she’s not shy in sharing her reliance on her Christian faith. She’s been interviewed by the media and explained God’s place in her life. She’s written about her faith in moving social media posts. And she lives what she preaches.
For two days after the injury, Allie worked through exercises to relieve some of the pain. With that and lots of prayer, Allie experienced a near miraculous recovery, stunning everyone by pitching eight innings for a win in Tech’s third game, moving the team closer to the championship match.
I’m reluctant to go on for fear I will list every team member or leave a critical player out. But kudos to the Tech defense. Seniors Claire Raley and Alexis Gilio performed herculean feats, snagging hard hit balls that batters assumed were destined to be base hits. Freshman left fielder Elena Heng, just honored as the best collegiate player in the nation at her position, leaped high to intercept one home run ball before it could clear the fence.
The other defensive players delivered sterling performances as well. Tech recorded only two errors in its four tournament games.
In the fourth and final game, the Bulldogs faced Liberty again in a contest filled with multiple umpire reviews, controversial calls, and a coach’s ejection. A roller coaster ride of emotion for everyone.
Alyssa Martin pitched nine and a third innings in Tech’s fourth game—the longest outing in her collegiate career. She gave up only two runs in a stressful, high tension game. It too was a masterful performance, a long way from her start with the program as a team manager washing uniforms.
Alyssa also places her faith at the forefront. Not to show off but as a natural expression of her beliefs. She prayed discreetly with her catcher before taking the field. A contemporary Christian worship song played when she entered a game. If you wanted a Bible study partner, Alyssa was who you called.
It took extra innings for the Liberty Flames to eke out a base hit to score the winning run and move on to the championship game. It was heartbreaking for the Bulldogs to fight through the bracket and come so close and lose by one run. Tough for fans and moms and dads who realized some of these kids— Alexis, Alyssa, Claire, KB, and Nicole—just wore the Bulldog uniform for the last time.
I thought our team would never come off the field. After the coaches concluded their remarks, the players remained, consoling one another with tears and hugs. Finally, the sobs changed to conversations and then to laughter. The moment was about more than a game. Or a season.
The Bulldogs weren’t the regular season champs, nor did they win the conference championship, but their extraordinary individual efforts, and their reliance on something bigger than themselves, synergized into a team performance that those who saw it or played in it will not soon forget.
The Bulldog season record bested six of the other nine teams in the conference. But forget the scores. What matters is how these players lived, learned, and fought to be their best.
This team consisted of some of the finest young women to ever play for Tech. Academically, on the field, in public, they always exhibited the conduct and character you expect to see.
If you’re not following this program, you’re missing an opportunity to be inspired and entertained by some of the best kids to ever play ball.
