Sophomore pitcher emerges as key player in championship pursuit

“We saw a glimpse of it last year,” Alexander said of McMullan. “She pitched some big games for us last year.”

Then she went to work on her craft, perfecting another pitch for her repertoire during the off-season.

“She really developed a change-up,” Alexandar said. “She’s got good speed, good control. She added that change-up this year, and it’s really kind of elevated her. We knew last year, watching her, she had the potential to be really good this year. And she has.”

For the year, she’s 27-1, her loss and the team’s only loss to South Warren from Bowling Green, Kentucky, an undefeated team listed with Orange Beach as one of the nation’s top 10 softball teams. McMullan is also on the watchlist for Rivals National Player of the Year.

“She’s been really good on the mound but also really good at the plate for us,” Alexander said. McMullan is batting .447 on the season with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs.

The team sits at 42-1, fresh off an undefeated run through the Class 4A regional tournament in Gulf Shores. Oxford has been kind to the Lady Makos since first stepping onto the dirt infields of Choccolocco Park in 2021, where they have yet to lose a game.

“Home away from home,” Alexander said.

Orange Beach is one successful state tournament away from several records, including the sixth straight title. No team has won more than five in a row, last accomplished by perennial softball power Pisgah in 2001-05.

Alexander also said his team is closing in on the season record for home runs for all classifications with 85, chasing the 89 dingers hit by G.W. Long in 2019.

Besides McMullan’s work on the mound, three seniors, Teagan Revette, Katie King, and Ava Hodo, have been at work at the plate, supplying many of those home runs as they close in on the record. Third baseman King is the leading home run hitter with 19 to go with a .580 batting average and 23 stolen bases on the year. Hodo has 14 home runs, and Revette has 13 for the Lady Makos. Taylor Poland has added nine home runs and Jayde Palmer six.

Hodo and Revette are the last remaining players from the first 2021 state championship team, both playing key roles as seventh graders, including Hodo’s walk-off title-winning two-run homer in 2021 to beat Pisgah, 3-2.

Ironically, if McMullan might need some pitching help in Oxford, Alexander chuckled when reminded that all of his other pitchers are undefeated.