Broken foot hasn't slowed down Tide star

TUSCALOOSA | It’s got to be the boot.

Charlotte Morgan didn’t limp into Wednesday’s press conference at the Alabama Softball Complex, any more than she limped into the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide’s sophomore first baseman/pitcher has been walking tall despite playing for almost the last two months with a broken foot.

Going into Thursday’s Tuscaloosa Regional, Morgan is one of 10 finalists for national player of the year, ranking among the country’s leaders in home runs (16), RBIs (69) and batting (.425). She is also 15-2 as a pitcher with a 1.43 earned-run average.

The native of Mareno Valley, Calif., has done it all while wearing a protective boot when not playing since mid-March due to a stress fracture on top of her right foot.

“My foot’s good,” she said. “Every team has injuries. As an athlete I don’t think anybody is 100 percent in a college sport. I’m in the boot when I’m not playing and take it off when I play. It doesn’t hold me back. It’s just a stress fracture.”

Morgan’s foot problems began in the offseason and got worse during the year. At one point, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy considered holding Morgan out this season.

“You wear the boot,” he told her. “It’s up to pain tolerance. If not, you’re redshirting.

“I don’t think she wanted to redshirt.”

Morgan will wait until after the season to see whether the injury will heal without surgery. The pain comes and goes.

“It has its good days and its bad days,” she said. “It depends. I don’t feel it sometimes at all and then sometimes I do. It’s a high tolerance, but it’s something that I can handle.”

Morgan isn’t the only injured Alabama player. Second baseman Lauren Parker has missed 18 games with a shoulder injury and played as a non-starter in 10 others. She returned to the lineup for last week’s SEC Tournament as a hitter only, and will probably play a similar role in the regional.

Murphy said Parker has hit in batting practice the last two days and hit a home run in Monday’s session.

“I doubt if she plays defense [in the regional], but you never know,” Murphy said.

UA has brought in extra bleachers for the hill beyond right field and atop the knoll along the right-field line. Fencing has been added to block off access to the hill for those without tickets.

As of Wednesday afternoon, around 800 all-session tournament passes had been sold. All-tournament passes are priced from $15 to $25, with individual single-game tickets available for $10 ($6 youth) at the gate.

Murphy wants Alabama fans to show up in force for Saturday night’s championship game, which will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

“I hope we have a record crowd and there’s 3,000 people and the whole nation will see what softball means to Tuscaloosa and this community,” he said, “but we need to take care of the business before that and play one game at a time and hopefully we’ll be there Saturday night.”

Reach Tommy Deas at tommy.deas@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0224.