RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
The only blip on an otherwise amazing weekend for Patty Gasso and her Oklahoma Sooners powerhouse team was a second loss of the season—the Big Team fell to rival Oklahoma State 6-4 on Friday—but bounced back to clinch the Bedlam series in Stillwater with a 6-4 win on Saturday and a 11-8 victory on Sunday over the Top-10 rated Cowgirls.
More importantly, the No. 1-ranked softball team clinched a ninth straight Big 12 regular season and did it behind Oklahoma’s terrific trio of freshman: Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings and Nicole May.
As noted in the OU game recap, May (now 12-1) got the win in the circle after entering in the bottom of the 3rd inning with the bases loaded and collecting the third out via strikeout to leave the runners stranded.
Jennings hit her 23rd home run of her first-year campaign on a solo shot in the fourth inning to go with two RBIs on the day.
And then there’s Coleman, who picked up where she left off Saturday, batting in three runs in Sunday’s finale to go with one hit by pitch. The freshman finished the weekend batting .625 with six RBIs, one home run, one double and nine putouts from centerfield.
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿! ☝️@OU_Softball locked up its 9th straight regular season title and the seeds are now set for the #Big12SB Championship next weekend! 🏆
Bracket ➡️ https://t.co/5XURouJjBG
Details ➡️ https://t.co/B9Bd8je0oI pic.twitter.com/b3m9wAryeP— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 9, 2021
If there’s one player you’d want to submit as the future of fastpitch softball, it’d probably be Jayda.
- Top 10 finalist for National Player of the Year? Check.
- All-American candidate with a .500 batting average in 44 games played with 58 hits, 59 runs scored, 40 RBIs, six home runs, 18 steals, 27 walks and just five strikeouts? Certainly.
- USA (Junior) National Team Member? Yep… very impressively.
Before her stellar 2021 freshman campaign in Norman, Oklahoma, Jayda had a storied high school and club career that included the following:
- #1 Ranking in the 2020 Extra Elite 100,
- Extra Inning Softball All-American,
- Gatorade National Player of the Year (2019-20),
- Texas state high school title at The Colony High,
- Record setting career marks including 279 career hits, 261 runs, a .702 batting average and 209 stolen bases.
Coach Gasso put it best when she spoke of her freshmen, notably Jayda and Nicole May helping OU win another Big 12 regular season:
“I don’t know that we would be holding up a trophy without either one of them right now,” the legendary coach began. “Really proud of them. To be able to have these experiences as a freshman and come through over and over is just telling everyone something about what our future is going to look like, which is very bright.”
First big 12 championship🤩 pic.twitter.com/9uIwJOpuDp
— Jayda Coleman (@jaydac00) May 9, 2021
To honor Jayda’s fantastic freshman season, we’re going to look back at one of 124 articles we’ve done in the last three 3-plus years that reference her!
This one is titled:
17 Things You Didn’t Know About 2020 Extra Elite 100 #1 Jayda Coleman
Originally published Nov. 4, 2019
On Friday, we announced our Top 10 of the 2020 Extra Elite 100 and heading the list was a repeat selection, Jayda Coleman from The Colony, Texas.
Jayda has been on the national scene ever since she made some jaw-dropping players for the DirectTVGenies, coached by her father, Cedric, at the 2014 PGF 12U Nationals.
Both father and mother, Deana, are coaches and have done a wonderful job of raising Jayda to be a success on and field the softball field.
And, boy, is she good between the lines.
Kevin Shelton, her coach on the Texas Glory 18U team, may have put it best when describing Jayda’s softball IQ when he said, “Jayda is playing chess while most are playing checkers.”
But that could describe her softball skill set in many ways.
*** To see the complete list of the 2020 Extra Elite 100, click HERE.
Today, the current high school senior has continued to elevate her game, earning All-American honors in high school, winning National Championships with Shelton’s Texas Glory team, committing to Patty Gasso and the Oklahoma Sooners, excelling with the USA Softball U-19 Women’s National Team and just about everything else you can do at a high level in softball for her age.
Last year, when she was named as the top player in the 2020 Extra Elite 100 at that time, we ran a short clip of Jayda as interviewed by Coach Shelton and you get a sense of her personality:
But there’s a lot more to Jayda and we thought it would be fun to ask HER: “What are some things people generally don’t know about you?”
Here’s what she came up with… and we think you’ll agree she’s had a pretty interesting and very accomplished life so far!
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1. I played my first select softball game when I was still in day care. People would ask me what grade I was in and I said I go to Kids Count Too (that was my daycare). My mom would have to drive me around in the car at tournaments so I could have my naptime.
2. The first time I went to a softball camp was at Oklahoma State University. I was in the 5thgrade. The coaches asked me when I graduated. I remember saying “I don’t know, hold on… Mom, what year do I graduate?”
3. I was the 2019 Homecoming Queen at The Colony High School.
Congratulations to our 2019 Homecoming King Keith Miller and Homecoming Queen Jayda Coleman. pic.twitter.com/30RFDB8yJY
— The Colony HS (@TheColonyHS) October 3, 2019
4. I have also played varsity volleyball since I was a freshman. I have almost 1,000 career kills (991) and 1,000 career digs (987) with at least two games left in the season. I missed the first month of the season when I was playing for the USA Softball U-19 Women’s National Team.
*** Scroll down to see more fun facts and tidbits about Jayda… including who her favorite softball player is, the food she’s addicted to and her favorite part of playing for Team USA!