Yesterday, gamecockillustrated.com had the opportunity to speak with Allie Barker of the Jacksonville State Softball team. Allie is a Senior Catcher on the Softball team and the daughter of JSU sports’ legend Butch Barker. The Alexandria product hit .366 on the season and over 400 in the Knoxville Regional. Here are her thoughts on the Knoxville Regional and advancing to the Tuscaloosal Regional.
Q: What are your feelings headed down to Tuscaloosa?
A: We are just excited. We are two wins away from being where we want to be and that’s getting in the World Series. This is what we have dreamed about since we were little kids. It’s like we’ve been saying ever since we came back from Regionals—we are just living the dream!
Q: That has kind of become a team motto hasn’t it?
A: It has. We just kept saying this is the dream, then that became “living the dream.”
Q: How is the team health wise?
A: We were a little sore, but we have that worked out and we are good to go. Lord willing we will be healthy.
Q: Is it an advantage or disadvantage having previously played Alabama?
A: I always think it's an advantage because we have seen [their pitchers]. I’m sure they have improved, but its always an advantage having seen someone before.
Q: Do you like playing in Tuscaloosa?
A: We love playing at Alabama. Their facilities are really nice. Their infield is a little bit quicker than ours, but I don’t think it's as quick as UT’s so I think we will be fine. We like playing there. It’s a good atmosphere.
Q: Are the Bama fans tough on you?
A: Yes, it’s a tough place to play. They pull for Alabama a lot but they do heckle a lot too.
Q: Do you expect a good JSU contingent like you had last year?
A: I sure hope so. In Knoxville, our fans were awesome. We have been calling them the 10th man because they impacted us a lot and helped get us thru. I know a lot of them are trying to come back to Alabama.
Q: How does the ESPN coverage impact you?
A: It's exciting, but the biggest thing that is a factor is that we are not used to being on tv and they have all of the regulations as to what you can and can’t do. [For instance], you have to sit there and wait between innings. We are trying to play and they are saying you can’t go yet. As far as being on ESPN, it's exciting, but it's not going to get to us where it impacts us negatively at all.
Q: You guys had a great year (39-13) only to lose 2 of 3 in the OVC tournament, what is your view of what happened?
A: Everybody has bad weekends. The best thing I can tell you though is that it is all part of God’s plan. . . . God tells us to pray and that if you ask for it in the right manner to glorify Him, he will give it to you, but it's on His time and not on our time. We wanted to go to Regionals so badly, but we wanted it on our time. But then we were given an opportunity to go to Regionals and glorify Him. [God] has taught us so much in this and brought us closer together. It's just all Him and I don’t want to take any credit for that.
Q: What was your mentality going up to Knoxville?
A: We knew what we were fighting for and we were fighting with everything that we had. We were just clawing with everything we had to get to the next level. That is the mentality we had going into Knoxville. We lost that first game, but we beat ourselves with errors. So we sat down and talked about it and said to ourselves if it comes down to who wants it the most, we are winning this thing. It really showed that we had more fight. . . . We had the fight that weekend.
[Also], this [past weekend] you could tell in everyone’s eyes and everyone’s actions that no matter what they were doing, whether they were on the field or on the bench, that everyone was giving everything they had. We just fought and gave everything that we had and left it on the field. It was an amazing feeling to know that we put every ounce of effort into [our play] and then we were rewarded for it.
I just hope we can continue it [in Tuscaloosa] because we know what we are fighting for- its going to be an all out battle this weekend.
Q: After having only one hit in the OVC tournament, you hit over 400 in Knoxville. Tell me about that?
A: There again, it’s the Lord. But everyday after practice, I go and take extra work in the cage. Its not just me, a lot of our teammates are getting in the cage to get that repitition. If you are hitting good, you keep feeling good or you can fix something minor. So, [after the OVC] I just went up to the cage and found my swing again. It just felt good. I’ll be in there again today.
Q: Was winning in Knoxville the hilight of your career?
A: Winning the conference tournament last year was awesome and going to Regionals and doing pretty well, but not as good as we wanted to. But, you can’t beat last weekend [because] that’s everyone’s goal to see how far they can go. Our goal since the very beginning of the season was to go to the World Series. Until last year, noone truly believed it could be done. Since last year, our Coaches have been saying “One step further.” Now, that we have taken it one step further, we want to keep it going.
Q: JSU has two big time pitchers in Ashley Eliasson and Karla Pittman. Tell us about working with them?
A: Karla has so much energy and so much fight. She will put you on her back and carry you to wherever you need to go. She has carried this team so much. She can do so much with her fastball and changeup that it is unreal.
Ashley has grown a lot this year. She really grew in the Knoxville tournament. She used the corners so well and stayed up the whole time. She was in the game the whole time mentally.
Q: Your Dad, Butch Barker, was a 2 sport star for JSU. How did that impact your decision to sign with Jax State and what other factors were involved?
A: My family is from right down the road [Alexandria]. I grew up watching JSU and loved the coaches and came here for the coaches. My Mom was big on me staying somewhere close to here so she could support me. I am really glad I did stay close. My family is at every game to support me. She would probably be at practice if I would let her!
Q: How are you doing academically?
A: I’m a marketing major. I have a 3.3 GPA.
Q: What do you want to do when you graduate?
A: I would like to coach in college hopefully. I would like to be a graduate assistant somewhere and get a masters in sports management. I’d love to stay here, but I don’t know what will happen- it will be whereever the Lord leads me.
Q: What are your interests outside of softball?
A: Anything athletic. Also, me and one of my best friends go fishing any free chance we get.
Q: The baseball team is headed to their conference tournament on Wednesday. Are you guys tight with the baseball team?
A: Yes. They come to our games and we go to theirs and scream our lungs out. One of my friends on the baseball team says we have motivated them. . . [They have struggled lately], but you never know what can happen in the tournament. I keep telling my friends [on the baseball team] that if they believe it and fight they can do it. We have seen them beat Georgia twice. . . . We all know they can do it. We wish them the best.
Q: Allie, the Gamecock Nation is proud of you. Good luck this weekend.
A: Thank you.
We want to thank James at www.jsufan.com for the photo above.
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