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We are scouring the Internet and Social Media and keeping our ears to the street for the latest going on in the softball community.
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Here’s our TLI for Tuesday, March 22:
EXTRA ELITE PROFILE: JESSICA OAKLAND
Minnesota-bound SS Jessica Oakland, #43 in the 2022 Extra Elite 100, recently talked to Extra Inning Softball about her softball journey with Cal Nuggets 18U-Woods and Saint Francis High in Mountain View, CA, recruiting tips for younger players, Zoom calls, juggling and her greatest softball moment…
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: Jessica Oakland
Hometown: San Jose, CA
High School: Saint Francis High
Club Team: Cal Nuggets 18U-Woods
Graduation Year: 2022
Height: 5-foot-9
Position: SS
Nickname: “Jess,” “Oak,” and “JO”
Twitter: @jessoakland9
Honors: #1 in Bay Area Softball Top 45; San Jose Sports Authority Athlete of the Year; West Coast Preps Female Athlete of the Year; Bay Area Softball Player of the Year; State Softball Player of the Year; MaxPreps 1st Team All-American; and San Francisco Chronicle Player of the Year.
Travel Ball Highlights/Fall Stats: 9th place at Boulder IDT, 17th place at PGF Nationals and 5th place at TCS Nationals.
High School Highlights: CIF-CCS Open Division runner up (2019) and CIF-CCS Open Division champion (2021).
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them?
I currently play for Haley Woods on Cal Nuggets 18U-Woods and have played for her since I was 11. I first made the switch to Nuggets because I wanted to play for a high level organization that would help me get recruited and my friend’s sister had been playing for Nuggets for a long time and absolutely loved it, so we made the switch together.
Cal Nuggets made me fall in love with the game of softball. All my coaches and teammates from the Nuggets have pushed me into the player that I am today. I am so grateful for the experiences I had, friendships I made and lessons I learned.
Can you talk about your experiences at St. Francis and how you are approaching this high school season?
I have had an amazing experience at Saint Francis. Every year I am in awe of what we are capable of. I feel like we have gotten so much better each year and I can’t wait to see the program evolve even when my class graduates. Last season, we were unstoppable. We went 26-0 with a CCS championship sprinkled in.
Approaching this season, I know we have a huge target on our back, so during each game I know I have to stay focused and not let the moment get too big. This year, we are playing better competition compared to last year because we could not play outside of our county. I’m very excited to see what we are going to accomplish this season.
Can you talk about the recruiting process and how you chose Minnesota? Do you have any recruiting tips for younger players?
I had a very interesting recruiting experience because everything was virtual and online. Before September 1 of my Junior year, I was planning on staying on the West Coast because I wanted to stay close to home, but after weeks of phone calls and Zoom meetings with Minnesota I slowly realized that Minnesota was the place for me.
Throughout the whole process I felt like the coaches really made it a point to get to me personally and family. That meant a lot to me because during that time I felt like some colleges weren’t making the same effort or attention as Minnesota was. After I verbally committed in November of 2020, I went out to the campus with my mom and I immediately felt like that was home.
Some tips I would share with younger people would be to be patient and keep your options open. The recruiting process can be very stressful and there are a lot of things thrown at you all at once, so the best thing to do is stay calm and be patient.
Do you have a secret talent/skill?
Not really, haha. I do play basketball though if that counts. I can also juggle, which I think is interesting.
What’s your most memorable softball story?
My favorite softball story happened this fall in Arizona. We were playing Batbusters-Stith, who had beat us earlier in the season, 4-2. The game had been going back and forth the entire time. It was the last inning because of the time limit and we were down 11-9 with two outs. We had the top of the lineup up to bat … hit by pitch, then walk. I was up next 1st and 2nd with two outs. The pitcher pumped a riseball at my face for the first pitch. It was a ball. Next pitch was a change-up tossed in for a strike. Next pitch coming in was a screwball. I swung. Foul ball.
Finally, the pitch I was waiting for… another change-up. The pitcher hung it right over the plate. I blasted it to left field over the fence for a three-run, walk-off home run. Man, it felt so good. To add the cherry on top, Coach Rich from Minnesota was there to watch the whole thing. Definitely, my favorite softball moment!
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