Oklahoma Does It Again: Another Top 5 2025 Player Headed to the Sooners with Commit of Kai Minor

There’s a difference between having a great recruiting class and dominating a recruiting class and the latter is what Patty Gasso and her Oklahoma Sooner program is doing this year.

After picking up verbals commits from 2025 Extra Elite 100 Top 10-rated players in infielder Lexi McDaniel, catcher/third baseman Kendall Wells, pitcher Sophia Bordi and infielder Alyssa Parker, the three-time defending Women’s College World Series champions aren’t just recruiting… they’re reloading.

Late last week, Kai Minor, a terrific outfielder from Southern California committed to OU after taking her official visit to Norman.

She told Extra Inning Softball Sunday evening:

“I went on a visit the previous weekend and gave my verbal commitment to Coach Gasso a couple days after I got home from my visit.”

How important is the pickup of the standout centerfield who attends Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) High?

It’s hard to compare players, certainly, but don’t be surprised if Kai is the next Jayda Coleman, the OU outfielder who is a three-time 1^st Team All-American who has won a trio of National Championships and was the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2023.

We’ll get to stats in a second, but keep in mind that the high school junior plays for one of the top 18U club teams in the country, the OC Batbusters led by Mike Stith which has won the last two Alliance National Championships.

Here’s what Coach Stith had to say about his prized player:

“Kai is a young athlete that is searching out all she can do to be better,” the esteemed club coach says. “‘Learn more, see more’ are motivating factors for her as she wants to be a professional and certainly has the drive to do that. Our sport is changing with more technology and more opportunities available and I think Kai will be in front of those new opportunities as she matures and grows. Oklahoma is a great fit for her and the path and the goals she has in sight and it should be interesting to watch her develop and grow over time.”

Now, let’s talk numbers:

For the summer of 2023, Kai batted .426 with a .511 on-base percentage and had eight home runs on 63 hits in 148 official at-bats with 36 RBIs, 14 steals and a whopping 25 walks showing how much the opposing pitchers and managers respected her skills at the plate.

Her hits and runs led the championship Batbuster team and, when it counted the most, the speedy lefty hitter elevated her game impressively.

In the Alliance 18U National Championships Series, Kai batted a stellar .519 with a .576 on-base percentage and an OPS of 1.409 with two home runs including a three-run smash that helped the Batbusters take home the title:

In that series against a strong Aces Fastpitch squad, Kai also drove in 11 runs and walked five times.

Kai says winning that travel ball championship was, understandably, a memory she’ll never forget.

“The highlight of my club career is hitting that three-run homerun in the second and final game of the 18U Alliance Championship Series to help secure the title,” she reflects.

“The second title was extra special as our goal was to go back-to-back and it seemed like we got everyone’s A-game when they played us. This was an extremely emotional series for me as I was close to many of the (Batbusters) seniors that graduated. It was a passing of the torch as now I am one of the leaders on the team.”

Another highlight was Kai’s hitting a walk-off hit for her Orange Lutheran team against Villa Park Hark High in last year’s CIF playoffs. Villa Park was one of the favorites to win the CIF and the two powerhouses battled through 10 innings before Kai ended the game with what was essentially the equivalent of a walk-off home run as she tripled and then scored the winning run on an errant throw.

Here’s a clip of that exciting game-winning play.

Communicating with Kai is like talking to a mature adult who has her act together and knows what she wants in life; she certainly knows what she wants to do when she gets to Oklahoma and it’s not just play championship-caliber softball.

“I am going to do Biology and Pre-med,” she explains. “I want to go to medical school and become a surgeon after I finish playing softball.”

Fortunately, for us softball fans, she still has a lot of fastpitch to play and the future is so bright for this once-in-a-generation talent who can do it all on the field. When asked what aspect of her game she’s most proud of, Kai gave an insight answer.

“I am most proud of my versatility as a hitter,” she said. “I love to hit home runs, but there are times where I need to lay down a bunt or slap. Using my speed to stretch a single into a double or a double into a triple fires me and my team up. I think my versatility and speed can keep other teams off-balance.”

Kai is also excited to be part of what is surely the No. 1 recruiting class of the 2025’s and she’s already friends with those who will be freshmen when they all step on campus together.

“The other four 2025 commits are the best in class,” she says humbly, “and I am extremely excited for us to move into the dorms together and play in the new Love’s Stadium. Sophia Bordi and I are close friends and current teammates (with the Batbusters 18U team)”

Amazingly, four of the five Sooner commits all were in the one Alliance Championship Series.

“Sophia and I faced fellow OU commits Allyssa Parker and Lexi McDaniel in the 18U Alliance Championship finals this past summer,” Kai remembers. “Allyssa Parker held down the top hitting and scoring travel ball team in the country to a one run in Game 1 of the finals but Bordi countered with pitching a no-hitter.”

The SoCal outfielder already has “scouting reports” on her fellow commits and it’s all positive.

“As a hitter, I would rather have these young ladies on my team versus facing them,” she laughs.”

“Lexi has a cannon for an arm and made every tough out in the infield. Kendall Wells led her team to a Top 5 finish at PGF Nationals and she hits a lot of home runs, which obviously fits the Sooners’ offense.

“This incoming 2025 class is loaded with championship caliber talent, and we hope to continue the tradition of competing for national championships.”

Oklahoma is at the top of the mountain right now when it comes to elite college softball programs, but why exactly was Coach Gasso’s program the right fit for her, we asked Kai.

Her detailed answer, not surprisingly, shows a sophistication well behind her years.

“First and foremost,” Kai began, “it is the coaching staff. The attention to detail, the meticulous preparation and thoroughness, and the focus on making me a complete woman and just not a softball player.”

“I love hitting and being coached by the hitting guru, Coach JT Gasso, was the icing on the cake. I am eager to get in the lab with him to continue my development.”

She touched on her familiarity of the current team players and also the style of play that she’s comfortable with now on the Batbusters squad.

“Norman feels like home as much of the current roster (Kinzie Hansen, Tiara Jennings, Alyssa Brito, Nicole May, Hannah Coor, Maya Bland, Ella Parker) and current commits (Gabby Garcia, Sophia Bordi, Corri Hicks) are also OC Batbusters. The OC Batbusters are extremely tight-knit and all of them have been extremely supportive to me during my decision process.”

“Also, the coaching styles/philosophies of Coach Mike Stith and Coach Patty Gasso are very similar. I have heard from many of the past and current Sooners that playing for Mike Stith prepares you to play at OU.”

The high school junior—who has won eight national titles including ones at Alliance Tier 1, Boulder IDT, Triple Crown Nationals and Top Club and finished runner-up in three more—says the opportunity to continue on the winning path was also a key factor in her choosing the three-time National Champs.

“I want to play and compete with the best,” Kai explains. “Iron sharpens iron and I love how Oklahoma has that Championship Mindset mentality. The current freshman class has two of my closest friends and former teammates (Maya Bland and Ella Parker). The 2024 commit class is also strong and has two of my current Batbusters teammates (Gabby Garcia and Corri Hicks).”

Now that she’s on the other side of the recruiting process, what advice we asked Kai would she give to those young players who want to someday follow in her path.

“My biggest advice would be to focus on getting better every day, work hard, and play on a team that gets you exposure today,” she stresses.

“You have to be a student of the game and put in the work, even when you are tired. I literally hit every day and work out four to five days a week in addition to practice; my workouts including lifting and speed training.

“Know too that recruiting does not start September 1 of your junior year. September 1 is just the official day that coaches can contact you. The recruiting process starts years before.”

“Many of the top recruits in my 2025 class were getting noticed and observed at the 14U level. I have used the last two summers to showcase my talents and having that exposure was instrumental in my recruiting process.”

“My team played in several national tournaments like Top Club, Clearwater, IDT, TCS Nationals, Alliance Super Cup, and the Alliance Nationals. College coaches want to see you play at a high level, and they need to see you often. Many of them want to see how you fail and how you respond to that failure; so, the more opportunities and exposure you get is critical to get on the coach’s radar.”

“Bottom line,” Kai finishes, “focus on yourself and just get better every day.”

— Brentt Eads/Extra Inning Softball