Slugging leadoff hitter Alaynie Page key to USC softball team’s success
Alaynie Page's sophomore season didn't live up to her standards.
The South Carolina outfielder’s average dropped to .208 as she drove in only 12 runs in 2014. After a standout freshman season, she found the drop-off unacceptable.
"I had to sit back and say, 'What do I want to be? What do I want to do at this school for this program?' It was like a gut check," she said. "It focused me and got my mental game very strong."
That renewed focus has produced an impressive stat line through the USC softball team's 48 games. She's batting .435 with 46 runs scored, 70 hits, nine doubles, six triples, 14 homers, 42 RBIs and 11 stolen bases -- all team highs. She also has compiled a .826 slugging percentage and .521 on-base percentage.
Her 14 homers are a new single-season school record, breaking the mark of 12 set last season by catcher Sarah Mooney. Page wasn't even aware she secured the mark until after the game.
She hit No. 13 Friday night in a 6-4 win over Kentucky in Lexington. She added No. 14 in the 11th inning of Saturday's 7-6 victory in the second game of a doubleheader that clinched the program's first SEC series victory against a ranked foe on the road.
"I knew I wanted to do big things here," Page said. "That's why I came. I knew I had it in me. I just wanted to show everybody else that I did."
When the 5-foot-6 Page arrived from Boiling Springs High as a freshman, shefound a spot in the starting lineup and batted .250 with nine doubles, seven homers, 36 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. That made her sophomore season all the more perplexing, although USC coach Beverly Smith never doubted that Page could rebound.
"I'm not surprised," Smith said. "She really came back this year with a renewed focus and energy. I would say competing is a decision, it's a choice, and she made up her mind that she was disappointed in her season (last year) and she wanted it to be different."
Page has her sights set on All-American status, and she's producing some big games, like her two-homer effort in an 8-0 win over No. 9 Tennessee on March 13.
"I'm not trying to hit home runs. I'm just trying to put a good barrel on the ball," Page said. "I don't think my swing changed. It's just my focus and my aggressiveness this year."
Page bats leadoff, where Smith is convinced she can do the most damage. Opposing pitchers have to try to get her out four or five times a game.
"I want them to face our best hitter as much as possible," Smith said. "Certainly, we've gone back and forth about having her in the three-hole just for RBI production, but she has done such a great job in the lead-off spot. The bottom of our order has done a nice job getting on so she has a lot of RBIs."
Page has made a name for herself in conference circles, although all her teammates know her as "Boo." She first got the nickname as a seven-year-old.
"I was the smallest girl on my travel ball team and my coach said, 'Hey, Boo Boo,' like in Yogi Bear (cartoons), and it kind of stuck," she said. "Now when somebody at practice says 'Alaynie,' I'm like, 'Who's that?'"
USC is 31-17 with two weeks left in the regular season.
"Our games have gone how she (Page) has gone," Smith said. "That's one of the nice things about her being at the top of the order. If she has a great at-bat, it infuses the rest of the team with confidence. She has given us a tremendous spark."
This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Slugging leadoff hitter Alaynie Page key to USC softball team’s success."