The Difficult Road to The Joe

TUSCALOOSA, Ala — The path for every athlete, or every person even, is unique. For some, the road is more straightforward; for others, it can be more complicated.

For Alabama outfielders Richie Bonomolo Jr. and Bryce Fowler and pitcher Zach Kitrell, their paths to Alabama have been the latter.

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Bonomolo Jr.,  a native of The Bronx, N.Y., made his first pitstop of his collegiate career in Mount Caramel, Ill., at Wabash Valley College. Bonomolo Jr. spent two seasons with the Warriors, recording 188 hits, 134 RBIs, and 105 stolen bases during that span.

Fowler began his career with Southern Miss, eventually transferring out of the program after only seeing three at-bats over two seasons in Hattiesburg.

The Columbia, Miss. native then took his talent to Pearl River Community College for his redshirt sophomore campaign, where the now-Alabama leadoff man shined. Fowler hit .419, knocking 88 hits, 14 doubles, 11 home runs, and 52 RBIs in his lone season with the Wildcats.

Fowler entered the transfer portal following the season, eventually committing to Alabama.

Fowler and Bonomolo Jr were brought into the program with a difficult task: aiding the replacement of all three starters, plus William Hamiter, who spent time at the end of the season as the everyday option in right field. Evan Sleight, TJ McCants, Ian Petrutz, and the aforementioned Hamiter recorded 229 hits and 159 RBIs for Alabama last season.

While Bonomolo Jr. and Fowler can't replace all of the outfield production last year by themselves, they've done an excellent job filling the shoes left behind by the four former Tide outfielders through the beginning of the season.

Through five games, the duo combined 14 hits, three doubles, 13 walks, and four stolen bases while notching a .411 batting average.

For Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn, this is simply what he expected out of the two when they stepped foot on campus:

"I hate saying it's what we expect, but it's what we expect out of them. Both of these guys [Fowler and Bonomolo Jr.] were guys that came in and had really prolific junior college careers... the path to Alabama, the path to division one baseball, is different for everybody. These guys went a path that's not always the easiest. The only guys that take those paths are the ones that really care about developing and being special. That's what they've done. They've been great since they've stepped on campus, the people they are, the way the go about their business everyday is exactly what we want from a player here at Alabama."

For Alabama pitcher Zach Kitrell, his route to Tuscaloosa has been similarly tricky, but with its unique twists.

Kitrell transferred into the program this off-season along with Bonomolo Jr. and Fowler. However, the Saraland, Ala., native hadn't pitched in over a year due to undergoing Tommy John surgery last March, an injury that would keep him off the mound throughout Fall Ball and most of spring practice.

Despite not being on the bump in nearly a year and a half, Kitrell has dominated in his three innings of action across two appearances — tossing four strikeouts while allowing zero hits.

Vaughn also sang his praises of Kitrell's toughness and grit, two of Vaughn's three 'pillars of the program, following his start Wednesday night, stating, "Same thing with Kitty [Kitrell], man. The guy's path to get here is pretty awesome. He came in and was injured; went about a year and a half without pitching. When you watch that kid play catch, you know it's a special arm. But there's a lot more to this game than a special arm. I've been really proud; he missed the whole fall. He didn't pitch at all this fall. Even coming out this preseason, we were kind of intrigued to see Zach Kitrell. We've seen videos; we knew what it was before he got hurt. But we hadn't seen it. And man, he's burst onto the scene. It's just power stuff. It's a real fastball, it's really hard to get above that heater, and it's a really good breaking ball. What I think I've been the most impressed with him is his ability to manage a game, to slow it down."

The Crimson Tide are only five games through a 56-game regular season; however, they seem to be in good hands with these three.

Rob Vaughn & Co. will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., to participate in the Jacksonville College Baseball Classic. The Crimson Tide's first pitch of the weekend is on Friday against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 5 p.m. CT. Tide 100.9 will publish a weekend recap on Monday following the tournament, as we will do following all of Alabama's series away from The Joe.

For more Alabama Baseball, Basketball, and Football content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.