Ralls adds power to the Notre Dame lineup

~ The Bulldogs batted .389 and scored 230 runs as a team this season.

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett declared at the start of the season that he was looking to Alexis Ralls to account for much of the power his lineup lost after graduating last year's top slugger, Kristain Burger.

Ralls felt the pressure of the high expectations.

"I knew I would have to be the power hitter," Ralls said. "I was kind of frustrated because the pressure was on me of having to get the hits. The first few games I was hitting fly balls and striking out."

Ralls felt she had big shoes to fill, and she did. Burger had set Notre Dame single-season records with nine home runs, 55 runs batted in and a .543 batting average. The slugger also holds school records in five other offensive categories.

Alexis Ralls leads Notre Dame with 32 runs batted in this season. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

But Ralls soon realized that she had to play her own game.

"Watching her hit all those home runs made me feel like that's what I needed to do next year since she was going to be gone and try to live up to her," Ralls said. "After a while I just knew I had to do my own thing and be confident in myself and just hit the ball."

Offense appeared to be a concern for the Bulldogs at the beginning of the year. The departure of Burger and the loss of her cousin Paris Burger, a junior leadoff hitter who tore her ACL on July 28, created two holes at the top of the lineup.

Ralls has done her part filling in at the No. 3 spot in the batting order. She has looked more relaxed at the plate as the season has progressed.

The junior has four home runs, 32 RBIs and a .437 batting average. She has scored 29 runs and collected 38 hits, including 12 doubles.

And while Ralls has not broken numerous hitting records like Burger, she has helped the Bulldogs (28-0) to a better regular-season record and a deeper playoff run. After losing in the sectionals last season, Notre Dame will play in the state final four, dueling Webb City at the Rainbow Softball Center on Friday at 2 p.m.

Much of Ralls' success after the first few games can be attributed to the time she spends practicing her hitting. Her constant work on her swing both during the season and offseason has rewarded her with much success in her junior year.

"Alexis has done a tremendous job for us adding that home-run pop that Kristain brought to the table," Graviett said. "The teams the past few years have been built on speed and power in the middle of the order. We knew we had speed coming back but we knew we were missing that power.

"The whole season she [Ralls] has done a good job at putting the ball in play when we need her to and driving the gap when we need her to. I expect her to have a big weekend and be ready for the task at hand."

Ralls, who began playing when she was about 7 years old, takes batting practice and hitting lessons at Southern Premier Sports on Highway 74 once a week during the offseason. She typically starts her sessions by hitting soft toss and taking dry swings and then she takes approximately 200 to 250 swings off the pitching machine.

"Probably the thing she brings to the table is the fact that she is working on her game during the winter months and even through the summer," Graviett said. "All of our girls do that in some aspect.

"I don't think it is as much as what she's being taught as that she is getting in the swings and doing the doing the little things and working on her game. And sometimes that's overlooked with the time you spend away."

Ralls said her power originates from her quick bat speed. To generate power, Ralls said, she must work on swinging fast while also turning her hips just right and staying in back of the ball as it comes toward the plate.

She also hits off a whiffle ball machine and performs other drills during the offseason to help her improve and maintain power-hitting form.

Ralls is only about 5-foot-4 so she might not look like someone who can belt a homer over the fence. But Graviett said that her small frame does not matter.

"She is just tremendously strong for a girl and has great pop and a lot of it is timing," Graviett said. "Smaller-stature people can have just as good of pop as big ones. It's just a timing thing.

"And she has a good swing because she spends a lot of time working on it and fine-tuning the little fundamental things."

Ralls also works on her swing during games. She tries to adjust to opposing pitchers as the game progresses. She knows that with more difficult hurlers she will face at state this weekend, she will need to adjust her swing and not always depend on her power.

"If I'm having trouble, I will usually go behind the dugout with a weighted bat and that usually helps my bat speed because my bat feels lighter and it is easier to get it around," she said. "I do also sometimes try to shorten up my swing, and if they're pitching outside on me, I move closer to the plate."

Ralls also credits her success this season to the other batters who hit around her and get on base. She said the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters -- Erika Reinagel and Britney Schott -- have done well getting on base in front of her and Heather Menz, Whitney Eftink and Lauren Reinagel have added more power to the lineup.

Ralls has not been the only one who has had to pick up some of the loss production from last year. Players such as Erika Reinagel, who moved into the leadoff spot to replace Paris Burger after hitting No. 2 last year, are familiar with the pressure Ralls faced.

"Everyone thought with losing Kristain that we were going to be worse than we were last year," Erika Reinagel said. "I think she [Ralls] has come through a lot.

"But I think our team picked it up."

Ralls and the rest of the offense will try to continue what it's done all season -- hit .389 as a team and smack a few timely big hits when needed.

So how many homers does Ralls think she'll hit?

"I don't know," she said, laughing. "I'll try for one but I don't know if it will happen. I'm so excited. I can't wait until we go up there and play and see all the excitement of our fans there."