Softball World Series 2012: Alabama Finally Crushes Demons with Thrilling Win

There were several moments in the last inning of this year's softball College World Series where it seemed like Alabama was doomed to suffer the same fate it has suffered in each of the last three seasons.

And then, the Crimson Tide escaped, and those three years of suffering were worth it.

Alabama's 5-4 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday to prevail in a three-game set in the WCWS didn't come easy. It took more mental fortitude than can be asked of most.

The Crimson Tide had to withstand a rain delay in the midst of a fourth-inning rally before withstanding a furious Sooners rally to close out the game, while in the back of their minds, the possibility lingered that this game could end the same old heartbreaking way as all the others.  

During that late Sooners rally, there's no way Alabama wasn't thinking about the ways in which each of its championship dreams have ended in the last three years. Twice, the Crimson Tide had been so close to getting to the championship but succumbed to seventh-inning, two-out rallies which left them empty-handed.

They were good enough right up until the moment it mattered most, when they fell apart. 

This time, they led 5-3 entering the seventh inning when WCWS Most Outstanding Player Jackie Traina surrendered a two-out homer to Oklahoma. Suddenly, the lead was just one, and another rally threatened to rob them of glory once again.

But this time, Traina struck out Keilani Ricketts, and it was game over. No more demons, no more almost-champions. This time, they got it done, becoming the first WCWS champion in Alabama history and the first SEC team to ever win the tournament, accumulating 60 wins for only the third time in school history.

Afterward, Crimson Tide head coach Patrick Murphy told the Associated Press: 

"

It was a heck of a run for us. It's a dream come true for everybody at Alabama. For us, I don't think it's sunk in yet. It's been a long time coming. 

"

It wasn't easy. Alabama had to battle downpours and an early 3-0 deficit, which it erased with a fourth-inning rally. After the Crimson Tide added a fifth run in the fifth inning, all they had to do was hold on.

For a while there in the seventh inning, it looked like the seniors' worst nightmares were going to come to fruition. It looked like they were going to leave Alabama right on the edge of glory, with nothing to show for it. 

Instead, they were able to live up to their season-long mantra, which was proudly displayed on a sign on the dugout wall all season: FINISH IT.