Success all about timing for ex-Alabama LB Jeff Torrence and daughter Jaala | Goodbread

OKLAHOMA CITY − It took 13-plus hours for Jeff Torrence to make the drive from Dothan to the Women's College World Series this week, but he didn't mind. Even with his wife, LaToya, making the trip by plane − who wants to be stuck in a car that long? − there's something about what Torrence described as "the long haul" that appeals to him.

The important thing for the former Alabama linebacker is getting there on time. The Crimson Tide's softball season has been a long haul for his daughter, Jaala, as well. And like her father, Jaala Torrence's arrival came right on time.

Tournament time.

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She struggled in her season debut against LeHigh, and again against UCF a week later. She spent two straight months working out of the bullpen, from mid-March through the SEC Tournament. All the while, however, she was constantly making adjustments, tweaking pitches − getting comfortable with the spin on her drop ball was the focus − and searching for a more effective formula. She found it in the NCAA postseason, just when coach Patrick Murphy needed her most, with ace pitcher Montana Fouts injured with a hyperextended knee. Torrence pitched 27 consecutive scoreless innings in NCAA Regional and Super Regional play, filling the void left by a recovering Fouts well enough to help UA reach the WCWS for the 14 time.

Now, with Alabama having been eliminated from the Women's College World Series after back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Stanford, she looks ahead to 2024 as the potential anchor for the Crimson Tide's next pitching staff.

Jeff Torrence doesn't talk to Jaala about softball much, because he knows how much of her time the sport already takes up. But he has impressed upon her the importance of being at her best when the lights are brightest.

"My only real message has been, 'Hey, it's a long season.' You've got a preseason in Florida, non-conference games, then the SEC, then it's tournament time, and that's for all the marbles," Torrence said. "You don't have to be great at the beginning of the season. But you need to be great when the tournaments come around."

Forgive Dad if he's a bit dismissive of February softball, but for a guy who won an Alabama football national championship in 1992, it is, of course, all about the rings. Five of them, in fact, are proudly displayed in a glass case in the Torrence living room: Jeff's 1992 ring, plus two high school state title rings he won as a coach at T.R. Miller in 2000 and 2002. Also in the case: Jaala's SEC title ring from 2021, and another she won on the very field where the Crimson Tide is playing this week, as the star pitcher for the Birmingham Thunderbolts travel team. They tease one another about all the bling; Jeff reminds her he's got the only Alabama national title ring in the case, and she's been known to point out how small it is − title rings have gotten bigger over 30 years − than her's.

She heard her share of postgame coach speeches growing up, although Jeff has since hung up his whistle and now works on the administrative side. Jeff's father, Cornell, coached high school football and basketball, and the Escambia County High School gym now bears his name. He passed away March 20, and Murphy allowed Jaala to miss Alabama's game against UAB two days later in order to attend services.

Cornell Torrence's career haul was a long one, too − nearly 40 years.

"He had a huge impact on both me and my dad," Jaala said.

As for Jeff, it was an ill-fated flight to see Alabama's road series at Missouri that turned him off of plane travel. A canceled flight caused him to miss the Crimson Tide's 4-0 win on March 31, and during the Saturday game, also a 4-0 UA victory, he received a text from the airline that his flight home had been canceled as well.

"I told (LaToya), I'm not sitting in that airport all day again," Torrence said. "So we got a rental and I just drove it back. But I like the road trips anyway. You just get to see more."

Long hauls are no problem for him. This isn't even his second drive to Oklahoma; he's driven to see UA play OU in Norman as well. But whether it's a 13-hour drive or the grind of the regular season, for the Torrence family, it's about how you finish.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Success all about timing for ex-UALB Jeff Torrence, daughter Jaala