Ratcliff makes pro football team

ETBU has its first pro football player in... its all-time softball home run king?

Allison Ratcliff, who slugged 34 home runs with the Lady Tigers from 2003-06 and is still the leading home run hitter in the ASC, tried out for and was accepted to the East Texas Saberkats of the National Women's Football Association (NWFA). The team held an open tryout this past Saturday in Marshall and will conduct another tryout in a couple of weeks.

I talked with Allison this morning and she's excited of course, but still not quite sure of what she's getting herself into. The team's coaches told her Saturday they envision using the former ETBU slugger at defensive tackle and/or center. Al was impressive enough in her tryout that she was already named team captain as well, she said.

"I don't know what all that means really other than I will have a big 'C' on my jersey," Al said with a chuckle.

The Saberkats will begin playing in the NWFA next spring. Al is currently an assistant softball coach at Waskom High School near Marshall.

Best of luck to this former Lady Tiger who certainly made an impact in a lot of areas here at ETBU during her days as a student-athlete. Al was a dynamite softball player, particularly with a bat in her hands; she was a good student, being named to the ASC's All-Academic team; and she was very active in campus groups such as the BSM.

Now apparently she'll get the chance to blaze new trails on the football field.