The River Smokies only lost one game this summer, and Ally Supan was a big reason why. The Smokies went 22-1 on their way to the Scenic City Collegiate League championship, and Supan hit her way to league MVP honors in her first summer collegiate ball experience.
Her numbers were off the charts. Supan hit .597 for the Smokies with a .652 on-base percentage and a 1.091 slugging percentage. She added nine home runs, 32 RBIs, 11 doubles and 49 runs scored. In a four-week league built around reps and player development, the Mississippi State Bulldog turned nearly every trip to the plate into a problem for the opposing pitcher.
She saved one of her best performances for last. In the championship game, Supan went 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored as the Smokies ran past the Red Bats 14-0 to close out the title.
For all of that production, none of it was what she pictured when she signed up to spend a month in Chattanooga. Supan came into the summer without a single collegiate summer league game to her name, and she was not sure what the experience would look like or how it would go.
“I was very unsure, but in a good way, because I’ve never played in a summer league before, so this was my first year,” Supan said. “And it has been everything and more than what I thought, and I’m so glad I got the opportunity.”
The approach that carried her never got complicated. Supan credited River Smokies coach Joe Guthrie, the head coach at Northeast Alabama Community College, with keeping the message simple from the first day of the summer to the last. The plan was to stick to a plan, and Supan bought in without overthinking it.
“I think it was really just buying in from day one,” Supan said. “We’re all here to have fun and get reps, so I think that’s a big key takeaway.”
The championship and the major numbers were only part of what made the summer worth it for her. The piece Supan went back to is the group she shared a dugout with, a roster of players who turned into friends almost as fast as they turned into a winning team.
“The girls are amazing,” Supan said. “We gelled since day one, and that’s what makes this league 10 times better, is when you get to make friendships outside of the game.”
Her trust in Guthrie, who was named Scenic City Collegiate League Coach of the Year, did not start this summer, either. Supan has known him going back to her travel ball days in her 16U and 18U seasons, and years of being around him are a big part of why buying in came so easy once she got to Chattanooga.
“I’ve been around Coach Joe for a while now, from travel ball, 16U, 18U, and this man is very wise,” Supan said. “He knows exactly what he’s talking about, and he knows the game of softball very well.”
What stuck with Supan most was how evenly Guthrie spread that attention around the roster. In her eyes, no player on the Smokies got more of him than another, and that showed up in the way he coached every game.
“He’s there for every single player,” Supan said. “He doesn’t just give one something and the other one not. He’s poured into every player in every game.”
Now the championship and the summer numbers head back to Starkville with her. Supan stayed in touch, when possible, with Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts through the summer, even as Ricketts was busy as head coach of the American Samoa national team. Guthrie also kept the Bulldogs staff updated on Supan’s progress, and her hitting coach sent along new drills to keep building on.
One matchup stood out from the rest of the schedule. Supan had the opportunity to play the Atlanta Smoke, a professional team that is stacked with major talent. For a player who grew up watching some of those players, getting to share a field with them was the kind of night that sticks.
“It was awesome,” Supan said. “I looked up to a lot of those girls when I was younger and growing up loving the game of softball. So getting to play against them and alongside them was amazing.”
She came away impressed with the atmosphere and the people around the game, and she framed the whole night as a clear look at where she wants her own career to go.
Now, Supan will soon be back in Starkville, where a Mississippi State team is coming off its first Women’s College World Series appearance in program history. Supan is bringing a summer of great work and experience, and she is ready to showcase her skills in the Southeastern Conference.
“I think next year will be a really fun one to watch,” Supan said.
