They were the first PAC-10 not named “UCLA” or “Arizona” to win the Women’s College World Series. Their championship was only the sixth time since the NCAA took over governorship of the Women’s College World Series that a team other than UCLA or Arizona had won the title. To get to the point of hoisting the championship trophy, they had to go through those same juggernaut Wildcats in the WCWS title game.
Members of the 2002 Cal Golden Bears softball roster gathered in Berkeley this weekend to mark the 20th anniversary of their national championship run.
A 4th-place finish in the conference standings was not an unredeemable result during the regular season; in fact, the Golden Bears owned 48 wins entering the postseason, at one point assembling an 11-game winning streak that year.
In the postseason, the Bears shined. A perfect 4-0 showing at the Fresno Regional included a shutout win over archrival Stanford. Two wins over Cal State Fullerton to close the opening round of the NCAA tournament vaulted Cal into the Women’s College World Series. It would be the program’s 7th overall appearance in the championship tournament and their fourth straight year ending the season in Oklahoma City.
Postseason dominance remained the name of Cal’s game in the Women’s College World Series; three consecutive wins sent the Golden Bears into the WCWS title game where they would face off against 2nd-seeded Arizona. There was no best-of-three championship series at the time; there was only one winner-take-all championship game.
Jocelyn Forest dazzled in the circle for Cal in the championship game, throwing a complete game one-hitter and striking out eight en route to securing the title for the Golden Bears. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for her efforts in guiding the Bears from the circle.
That Cal championship roster included some incredible talent – slugger Veronica Nelson and infielder Chelsea Spencer also earned all-tournament team honors in addition to Forest – as well as some recognizable names that even present-day softball fans will know. Spencer, of course, returned to her alma mater as head coach in 2020 after lengthy stints on staff at Oregon and Texas. The starting catcher on that Cal championship team was one Courtney Scott, now Courtney Deifel, head coach of the twice-defending SEC champion Arkansas Razorbacks.
Legendary coach Diane Ninemire collected a total of 1,355 wins during her head coaching career, becoming the winningest Cal coach regardless of sport, and was inducted into the athletic department’s Hall of Fame in 2019. She retired due to health reasons in 2020.
Following their championship, the Golden Bears continued their streak and went back to the Women’s College World Series in each of the next three consecutive years, including playing in the national title game in both 2003 and ’04. They would lose to UCLA both times. Since 2005, the program has returned to OKC only twice, in back-to-back years in 2011 and 2012.
