The Top 15 Softball Stories of 2021: #6… Oklahoma Sooner Domination, Team-Wise & Individually

We continue our list of the Top 15 Softball Stories of 2021, which will run through December 31^st when we’ll present our No. 1 story of the year.

Here are the previous stories (clink on link to read):

• #15… Ty’Liyah Hardeman Foregoes Playing for Bethune Cookman to Support Family after Mom Dies, Now at Kennesaw State
• #14… Dakota Wagner Promotes Tourette Syndrome Awareness Through Her Successes On & Off the Field
• #13… Sara Goodrum, the Trailblazing Former Oregon Duck Softball Player, Makes History in the MLB Ranks
• #12… USA U-18 Team Goes Undefeated in International Play This Fall (& Valerie Cagle Leads the Way!)
• #11… Women’s College World Series Expands & Explodes in TV Rankings Thanks to Great Teams, Games & Storylines
• #10… James Madison’s Cinderella Run & Odicci Alexander Wears the Slipper
• #9… Avery Flatford Signs with Tennessee Tech… While Dealing with Cystic Fibrosis
• #8… The Pro League Status in Softball, Ongoing Developments Both Good & Bad
• #7… College Coaching Legends Retire

Also, on New Year’s Day 2022, we’ll list all 15 of the top stories of the year as well as run 15 more that were considered.

We’ve surveyed the softball community and talked internally as well to come up with what were the most impactful and relevant stories of the year pertaining to the world of fastpitch softball.

Where applicable, we are providing the text to the original articles and/or references when the story first happened.

• Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2020
• Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2019
• Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2018

To provide comments, insights or thoughts, email: info@extrainningsoftball.com.

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Today’s Story of the Year: #6

Oklahoma Sooners Dominate, Both as a Team & Individually

Entering the 2021 college softball season, it was clear that the Oklahoma Sooners would field a potent lineup.

Slugger Jocelyn Alo was at full strength, young stars like Kinzie Hansen and Grace Lyons had already begun to make themselves household names in the sport, and some incoming freshmen were bursting with potential.

Just how potent that Sooner lineup was became clear in the first game of the season.

Facing off against the UTEP Miners, the Sooners opened their season with a 29-0 victory in El Paso; the win included a 13-run first inning and 13 total home runs. It was a lopsided win that took more than two hours to complete, despite being a 5-inning run-rule game, but the Sooners’ dominance set the tone for how much of the year would go.

The Sooners scored 498 runs in 44 regular-season games, including 22 shutout victories and 24 games themselves scoring double-digit runs.

OU’s only two regular-season losses came to teams that they went on to beat resoundingly – after losing a 9-inning game against Georgia, the Sooners bested the Dawgs 12-3 in Game 2 of a doubleheader.

In the final Big 12 series of the regular season, the Sooners lost Game 1 of Bedlam to rivals Oklahoma State but responded by beating the Cowgirls in back-to-back games to close the weekend and win the series.

When the postseason dawned, the Sooners were undefeated in the Big 12 tournament – including two run-rule wins, over Baylor and Oklahoma State – and also swept through their hosted Regional and Super Regional, putting 24 runs on a very good Wichita State team in the regional and run-ruling Pac-12 foe Washington to clinch a WCWS berth.

After losing an extra-inning affair to James Madison to open the Women’s College World Series, some may have thought that the Sooners’ incredible season had come crashing down.

Not so: the squad responded by winning four straight games with their backs against the wall, including two straight games against the same JMU squad in the WCWS semifinals.

After eliminating Georgia, UCLA, and JMU from title contention, the Sooners lost Game 1 of the WCWS Finals against Florida State.

Their response?

Two more wins with their backs against the wall to clinch a national championship, the fifth in program history.

In 2021, the Sooners’ offense was historic. Their utter dominance of nearly all comers was, at times, unbelievable. But after capping off the season with a National Championship, last season’s Oklahoma team will be long remembered.

— Justin McLeod, Extra Inning Softball

To provide comments, insights or thoughts, email: info@extrainningsoftball.com.

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Here are some of the articles Extra Inning Softball published featuring Patty Gasso’s juggernaut with most recent first…

Inside Pitch: “Sooner” Rather Than Later… A Season That Almost Wasn’t Ends in an Oklahoma Title

Originally published June 11, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

This was how it was supposed to go.

Since Day 1, when Oklahoma scored 29 runs against UTEP on opening day of the 2021 season, the Sooners have been the title favorites.

A historic offense, one that set records for home runs and runs scored in a single season, blasted its way to more run-rule wins than they had conference victories – and they only lost one game in Big 12 play. Couple that offense with a more-than-capable pitching staff and you have a dynamite championship team.

Jocelyn Alo now stands just a few home runs away from breaking Lauren Chamberlain’s all-time record. One of the most incredible hitters of our lifetime, Alo is in position to easily top triple-digits in home runs before her career ends.

One of the highlights of OU’s season was their ability to adjust mid-game and, sometimes, mid at-bat.

Even when they were down late or perhaps had failed to score the first time through the lineup, the adjustments that were made before the second time through often proved to be game-changing.

The Sooners lost just twice during the regular season – once to Georgia in Athens, once to Oklahoma State in Stillwater. In both instances, the Sooners responded by beating the same team in the next game, and did so in impressive fashion.

Look no further than Oklahoma’s freshman class to see how talented and well-adjusted this Sooner team was.

Pitcher Nicole May was the staff ace in the circle for a period of time this year. Tiare Jennings found a home in the leadoff spot and became as great of a power threat as Alo herself. Jayda Coleman became one of the sport’s most polarizing stars and embraced the role.

In the Women’s College World Series, the Sooners lost their opening game to James Madison and proceeded to win four straight elimination games to get to the WCWS Championship Series.

That streak included two wins over the same JMU team, continuing their season-long streak of never losing to the same team twice.

Giselle “G” Juarez pitched her best softball, possibly ever, in her final week as a collegiate softball player. Juarez went 5-0 in the WCWS, with every win coming in an elimination game.

Crowned the Most Outstanding Player of the WCWS, Juarez averaged more than a strikeout per inning in the championship tournament and allowed just four runs.

This year was tough at times in college softball.

For a while, we weren’t sure that this season was even going to happen and, if it did, what it was going to look like. Even once the season began, there were some weekends when more than a dozen teams had to cancel full series’ and games because of COVID-related reasonings.

An unexpected ice storm in February cancelled some of the top games scheduled for opening week of the season. Bad weather wreaked its traditional havoc all throughout the year.

But we made it through, and it’s a season that we’ll not soon forget.

— Justin McLeod, Extra Inning Softball Correspondent & Publisher of Justin’s World of Softball

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Women’s College World Series: Finale Day 3 of the Championship Series… Oklahoma Never Trails in 5-1 Win over FSU to Capture 5th National Championship

Originally published June 10, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

Oklahoma captured its fifth national championship with a 5-1 victory over Florida State in Game 3 of the WCWS Championship Series Thursday.

Patty Gasso’s team was the first No. 1 overall seed to take the title since Florida did it in 2015 and only the fourth to ever come back and win it after losing Game 1 of the Championship Series according to ESPN.

Another impressive stat: only five #1 seeds have won the title since national seeding began 16 years ago so it’s not so easy to do—even when you’re the record setting offensive juggernaut that is OU softball.

Still, it was a pitcher that came up the biggest for the Sooners over the last two days after OU lost Game 1 and needed to shut down the aggressive hitting and baserunning attack that was so effective for Florida State.

Giselle “G” Juarez was lights out on Wednesday in Game 2 to help her team win 6-2 and tie the Series and then went the complete seven innings today giving up just one run on only two hits.

Juarez, who ran her record to 5-0 in the WCWS and gave up just four runs in 31.1 innings over the last few weeks, was named the Most Outstanding Player for the 2021 World Series.

G was engulfed by her teammates after the final out was a weak popup that landed harmlessly in her glove and secured the win for Oklahoma, which finished 56-4 and, impressively, would beat every one of the four teams it lost to either that same day in a double-header or in a subsequent game that week.

With all the great offensive candidates for the Sooners who could have won the MVP, it goes to an outstanding pitching performance this week:

Your 𝐖𝐂𝐖𝐒 𝐌𝐕𝐏: @ggotgame45

🐐🐐🐐 pic.twitter.com/4lz35F8xRH

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 10, 2021

Each of the three games in the Championship Series had a different script:

• Game 1 saw FSU jump out to an insurmountable eight run lead;
• Game 2 turned late in the contest when the Sooners took the lead for good on a two-run Jocelyn Alo blast,
• Game 3 witnessed a strong start by Oklahoma with five runs in the first three innings and the lead from the opening scoring via another Alo blast, this one a solo shot in the first inning.

Jocelyn Alo opens the scoring with, what else, a mammoth blast:

🤙 𝐉𝐨𝐜𝐲 𝐁𝐎𝐌𝐁 🤙

No. 3️⃣4️⃣ on the year and the #Sooners strike first!

B1 | OU 1, FSU 0 | 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/pU64vZvdzX

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 10, 2021

Alo’s home run was her school-record 34^th of the season and fourth of the WCWS. It also extended the team’s DI single-season record of 161 which was set in yesterday’s game. The previous record-holding was Hawaii.

The offensive star of the title-clinching game today, however, was freshman outfielder Jayda Coleman, the #1 ranked player in the 2020 Extra Elite 100, who homered in the second inning to push the lead to 2-0 and then cleared the bases on a third inning two-out double that pushed the lead to 5-1, which would stand for the rest of the game.

More of the key moments in Thursday’s championship clinching action:

Jayda Coleman extends the lead to 2-0 with this home run.

https://twitter.com/OU_Softball/status/1403075610629529609

Coleman clears the bases with her double to push the lead to 5-1:

JAYDA COLEMAN WITH THE BASES-CLEARING DOUBLE!

She makes it 5-1 for the Sooners! @OU_Softball #WCWS pic.twitter.com/0Ylt4pkpwx

— ESPN (@espn) June 10, 2021

The last out and the mandatory dogpile!

🏆 𝐖𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐆𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐊𝐂 🏆 pic.twitter.com/XQoDpJ4Hrb

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 10, 2021

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After today’s end to the 2021 Women’s College World Series, here is the complete list of DI champions…

* Indicates undefeated teams in final series.

#-UCLA’s 1995 national championship was later vacated by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions

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Women’s College World Series: Day 2 of Championship Series Finale… Oklahoma Roars Back with Six Unanswered Runs to Win 6-2; One Game Now Decides It All!

Originally published June 9, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

For the first time since 2016, we’ll need a decisive Game 3 to figure out who the 2021 Women’s College World Series Champion will be.

The National Champion that year?

Oklahoma.

Will history repeat itself five years later? Well, the Sooners certainly wouldn’t go down without a fight, as they defeated Florida State, 6-2, on Wednesday night at Hall of Fame Stadium.

Oklahoma’s win also means that for the first time since the WCWS expanded to a championship series in 2005, all 17 possible games of the tournament will be played.

For the first five innings, it appeared that Florida State would end the college softball season with its second consecutive win over the Sooners after winning 8-4 in Game 1.

Kathryn Sandercock took the circle after picking up a save in the first game of the championship series and started strong. She’d work out of a two-on, nobody-out jam by getting Kinzie Hansen to ground into a double play before Nicole Mendes grounded out to second.

Sydney Sherrill singled with one out in the home first and watched three-hole slugger Elizabeth Mason club a 3-1 pitch over the left center field fence to give Florida State a 2-0 lead.

Cassidy Davis walked on four pitches in the next at-bat to make it look like the ‘Noles would have more in store, but Oklahoma starter Giselle Juarez struck out Dani Morgan and Kalei Harding to end the threat.

Mason’s homer was all Florida State could get. Juarez allowed a hit from Davis in the fourth and from Anna Shelnutt in the fifth along with two more walks.

Aside from that, the lefty got better as the sun got lower in the Oklahoma City sky, throwing a complete game on 106 pitches, striking out six Seminoles and lowering her ERA to 2.24 on the year.

Oklahoma rewarded Juarez effort with runs. Well, eventually.

Jana Johns gave the Sooners a leadoff solo homer in the third to crack Sandercock’s shutout.

Florida State’s ace fought back and retired nine of the next ten she faced. But as Oklahoma has continued to do this postseason, the Sooners’ lineup got better in the late innings.

A four-run sixth inning started on a throwing error by Josie Muffley. Next at-bat, Sandercock’s 2-0 offering to Jocelyn Alo became historic. The senior crushed a two-run shot, Oklahoma’s 159th on the year, breaking Hawaii’s mark of 158 in 2010.

✔️ 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝-𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫.
✔️ 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫.
✔️ 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.

🤙 @78jocelyn_alo 🤙 pic.twitter.com/tSXvnxqbDR

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 10, 2021

Lost in it all was that Alo’s side suddenly had a 3-2 lead. Three straight singles – the third an RBI knock from Mackenzie Donihoo – made it 4-2 and forced Lonni Alameda to go to Caylan Arnold out of the bullpen.

The Sooners welcomed her to the game with an RBI single from Jayda Coleman to make it 5-2. Mendes added on a sacrifice fly in the seventh to cap off the four-run lead, which was more than enough for Juarez, who struck out a pair in the final frame to keep Oklahoma’s season alive.

Thursday’s game will mark a chance for Oklahoma to earn its fifth National Championship all time, while Florida State can win its second in program history. It will also move up a few hours in timeslot, broadcasted live on ESPN at 3 p.m. Eastern from Oklahoma City.

— Will Turner, Extra Inning Softball

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Women’s College World Series: Day 1 of Championship Series Finale… Florida State Offensive Explosion Too Much for Oklahoma to Overcome in 8-4 Seminole Win

Originally published June 8, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

For the second day in a row, the Florida State offensive jumped out to a huge lead—it was 8-0 over Alabama on Monday in the semi’s and 7-0 in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series against Oklahoma.

In both games, the favored higher speed clawed back—#3 Alabama scored five runs, #1 seed Oklahoma four–but FSU’s pitching was able to shut the door and now the Noles are one game away from winning its second National Championship in four years… amazing!

Using great defense (see below), clutch pitching and timely hitting, here’s how the team that didn’t even win its conference—Clemson won the ACC regular season crown and Duke took the SEC tournament title—is on the verge of winning the most important tournament of them all!

Check out this amazing relay from the outfield to nail a Sooner baserunner at home:

😱 https://t.co/GEc670ks6Z

— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball) June 9, 2021

Here’s how crazy this FSU offensive outburst was today:

Oklahoma has trailed by multiple runs just seven times this year before Game 1–and never by more than four runs in the 58 games this year for the Sooners’ season—which makes the 7-0 lead at one point that much more impressive.

For Oklahoma, there is a positive trend to focus on (even though teams that win Game 1 of the Championships Series win 80% of the World Series championships!): each game the Sooners have lost so far this season—to Georgia, Oklahoma State and James Madison, in the first game of the Women’s College World Series—they’ve turned around and beat those teams the next time they played them.

They’ll have to do it a fourth time or their 2001 season will, by their standards, come up short. The next 24-48 hours will reveal all!

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#10 Florida State 8, #1 Oklahoma 4

The following article by Bret Clein was originally published Tuesday, June 8, 2021 on Seminoles.com…

The No. 10 Florida State softball team (49-11-1) handed No. 1 Oklahoma (54-4) just its fourth loss of the season and second loss of the Women’s College World Series on Tuesday with an 8-4 win over the Sooners.

Kaley Mudge recorded three hits on the night to bring her WCWS total to 13, tying Jessie Warren of FSU (2018), Brittany Lastrapes of Arizona (2010) and Michelle Moultrie of Florida (2011) for the most hits in a single WCWS.

The Seminole offense was clicking as it scored eight runs, tying the most runs scored against OU this season. Oklahoma had only allowed four stolen bases against them all season, the Seminoles had three on Tuesday.

Danielle Watson started for the Seminoles, making her first start since Pittsburgh on May 8. Watson retired the first 11 batters of the game before allowing back-to-back home runs. In total, Watson pitched 5.2 innings with five strikeouts while allowing four runs on her way to her 12^th win this season.

Kathryn Sandercock entered in relief with two outs in the sixth inning, she allowed just two hits and no runs in 1.1 innings of work, recording her second save of the season.

After a pair of scoreless innings to start the game, the Seminoles put up two runs in the top of the third inning. Anna Shelnutt led off the inning with a nine-pitch walk. Three pitches later, Kalei Harding sent one deep to left field giving the Noles a 2-0 lead.

.@kaleiharding had herself a night and it was all started by this 2️⃣ run 💣 in the third!#OneTribe | #HowBoutIt pic.twitter.com/HQl2yzX46E

— Florida State Softball 🥎 (@FSU_Softball) June 9, 2021

The Seminole bats exploded in the fourth inning. FSU scored five runs on six hits and an Oklahoma error. All five runs came with two outs.

After a single and a walk, runners were on the corners for Harding who doubled to right center, clearing the bases. Kaley Mudge then singled up the middle, putting runners on the corners, this time for Sydney Sherrill. Sherrill singled to right field giving the Seminoles a 6-0 lead. Elizabeth Mason added the fifth run of the inning and seventh of the game, scoring Mudge on a single through the left side.

Oklahoma rebounded in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back two-out solo home runs from Kinzie Hansen and Nicole Mendes.

The Sooners narrowed the Seminole lead to three in the sixth with two more runs. After a single and a hit batter, Mackenzie Donihoo singled to right field, scoring Nicole Mendes and Rylie Boone to draw OU to within three… but that was the closest Oklahoma would get.

Lou delivers 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍‼️

2-RBI single and we're within three! @kkenzienncole | 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/jzwPrrNGdv

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 9, 2021

The Noles rebounded in the seventh with an insurance run to make it 8-4. With one out, Josie Muffley and Shelnutt walked to bring Harding back to the plate. She singled to left field scoring Muffley. Harding was 3-for-4 on the game with four RBI.

The Seminole defense shutdown Oklahoma in the seventh, only allowing one hit as the Noles are now one win away from the program’s second national championship.

*** Click on this link to catch all the highlights from Game 1:

📼 WCWS HIGHLIGHTS: (10) @FSU_Softball defeats (1) @OU_Softball, 8-4, in game one of the Championship Series.#WCWS pic.twitter.com/yfhMtFhUI5

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 9, 2021

Scoring Summary

• T3 | Kalei Harding hit a two-run home run to left field. (FSU 2, Oklahoma 0)
• T4 | Kalei Harding doubled to right-center, scoring Josie Muffley and Carson Saabye. (FSU 4, Oklahoma 0)
• T4 | Sydney Sherrill singled to right field, scoring Kaley Mudge and Kalei Harding. (FSU 6, Oklahoma 0)
• T4 | Elizabeth Mason singled through the left side, scoring Sydney Sherrill. (FSU 7, Oklahoma 0)
• B4 | Kinzie Hansen homered to center field. (FSU 4, Oklahoma 1)
• B4 | Nicole Mendes homered to center field. (FSU 4, Oklahoma 2)
• B6 | Mackenzie Donihoo singled to right field, scoring Nicole Mendes and Rylie Boone. (FSU 7, Oklahoma 4)
• T7 | Kalei Harding singled to left field, scoring Josie Muffley (FSU 8, Oklahoma 4)

Up Next

Florida State plays Oklahoma in Game 2 on Wednesday, June 9 at 7:00 pm ET in the second of a best of three series for the National Championship.

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Video: See the “Sooners Sweep” Moments Tuesday When Alo & Jennings Earn National Player of the Year, National Freshman of the Year

Originally published June 2, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

There are some great backstories to the Oklahoma Sooner sweep on Tuesday of the National Player of the Year award, won by Jocelyn Alo, and National Freshman of the Year, given to Tiare Jennings.

Some things we observed:

• a nice Polynesian connection between the two Oklahoma National Players of the Year, Alo and Keilani Ricketts (who won twice, 2012 and 2013) as both are of Samoan descent. They also know each other–through the connected heritage, sure–but also because Keilani has been a volunteer coach at OU and worked up close and personal with and next to Jocelyn!

I am one proud Aunty🥺NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR!! It has been an honor to watch you grind it out through the highs & lows & have such a special season w/ your teammates thus far. That award means a heck of a lot more when there’s a natty trophy next to it so go get u 1 now🤪 pic.twitter.com/y7Lo8gckVo

— Keilani Ricketts Tumanuvao (@laniricketts10) June 2, 2021

• Tuesday’s sweep for Patty Gasso’s players marks the first time in the history of the two awards that one program has captured both national honors.
• Tiare’s win of the Freshman of the Year honor means OU has taken the trophy three times in the seven-year history of the award! The others: Paige Parker in 2015 and Alo in 2018.

• 

  Only twice before has a university had two of the three players up for Freshman of the Year at the same time. Along with Jennings, Jayda Coleman was also up for the honor. Notice in the video below that Jayda (second from the left) is sitting next to Tiare and when the announcement is made is sincerely and enthusiastically happy for her friend and teammate, despite not getting it herself. Sure she’s disappointed personally, as any competitor would be, but you can see that she is truly and unselfishly happy and that is one reason OU is the #1 seed!

• Interestingly, Tiare was #2 in our 2020 Extra Elite 100 rankings… guess who was #1? Yep, Jayda! We’re thinking Tiare is happy that she came out on top last night in this friendly competition!
• Extra Inning Softball did a podcast in November of 2019 with these two crazy talented and classy players… you can listen to it by Clicking HERE.
• Both OU winners yesterday–Jocelyn and Tiare–play for Mike Stith and the powerhouse OC Batbuster program.

Below are more excerpts from a great piece the Oklahoma softball program released with details of the ceremonies including video of when both Alo and Jennings realized they both were winners!

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Sooners Sweep: Alo, Jennings Claim National Awards

Originally published June 1, 2021 on SoonerSports.com

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Breaking News: Oklahoma Slugger Jocelyn Alo Selected as the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

Originally published June 1, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today that the University of Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo has been named the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

The award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.

The Oklahoma senior utility player has paced the potent Sooner offense during the 2021 season, holding the nation’s lead in home runs (30) and slugging percentage (1.1135) while ranking second in RBIs (82) and batting average (.482).

“I am so grateful and honored to be named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year,” said Alo. “Thank you to my parents for being with me every step of the way and to Coach Gasso and the rest of the Oklahoma coaching staff for taking a chance on a kid from Hawaii. I’d also like to thank all the coaches before them that helped me get to this moment. I am truly speechless and feel so grateful to be honored with this award.”

The Big 12 Player of the Year and First Team All-Big 12 and All-Region selection totals 84 home runs in her career at the University of Oklahoma and enters the 2021 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) with 30 home runs, which ties the program record set by herself in 2018 and Lauren Chamberlain in 2012 and 2013.

The senior slugger has registered a hit in 47 of OU’s 52 games while sending a home run out of the park in 28 contests during the 2021 season. Additionally, Alo set a program-record 40-game consecutive hit streak from Feb. 21, 2020 to April 3, 2021, which put her just three games shy of the all-time NCAA record.

The other finalists for the 2021 award were 2021 Pac-12 Player of the Year Rachel Garcia from UCLA and 2021 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Gabbie Plain from Washington.

Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award have been:

• Stacey Nuveman (UCLA, 2002)
• Cat Osterman (Texas, 2003, 2005 and 2006)
• Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State, 2004)
• Monica Abbott (Tennessee, 2007)
• Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech, 2008)
• Danielle Lawrie (Washington, 2009 and 2010)
• Ashley Hansen (Stanford, 2011)
• Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma, 2012 and 2013)
• Lacey Waldrop (Florida State, 2014)
• Lauren Haeger (Florida, 2015)
• Sierra Romero (Michigan, 2016)
• Kelly Barnhill (Florida, 2017)
• Rachel Garcia (UCLA, 2018 and 2019)

A 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award was not given out due to the COVID-19 pandemic and season cancellation.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country as well as past winners of the award.

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Breaking News: Oklahoma’s Tiare Jennings Named 2021 NFCA / Schutt Sports Division I National Freshman of the Year

Originally published June 1, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

University of Oklahoma’s Tiare Jennings was named the 2021 NFCA / Schutt Sports Division I National Freshman of the Year, the Association revealed during a live virtual presentation co-hosted by USA Softball on Tuesday night.

Jennings, the third Sooner to win the award, is one of many catalysts for the high-scoring OU offense. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year homered three times in her first collegiate game and continued to showcase her power in 2021. She is the nation’s top run producer with 84 RBI and 1.42 runs scored per game.

A top-10 finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year, she also ranks in the NCAA’s top five in slugging (2^nd / 1.059), home runs (t-2^nd / 25), doubles (3^rd / 22), hits (4^th / 82) and batting average (.485).

Hailing from San Pedro, Calif., Jennings flashes the leather at second and third base. She has made just three miscues in 106 chances for a .972 fielding percentage.

Jennings sits alongside four-time NFCA All-American Paige Parker (2015) and current teammate Jocelyn Alo (2018) as OU Sooners to receive the award.

Joining Jennings as top three finalists were Clemson’s Valerie Cagle and her Sooner teammate Jayda Coleman. It marked the second time (2016 – Amanda Lorenz & Kelly Barnhill – Florida) two student-athletes from the same program were in the top three. Prior to the announcement, Lorenz had a message for the finalists.

In 2021, the NFCA will award National Freshman of the Year honors to a student-athlete from NCAA DI, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII and NAIA. For more information about all NFCA Awards, visit nfca.org.

Previous winners of the Division I award:

• Annie Aldrete (Tennessee, 2014)
• Kasey Cooper (Auburn, 2014)
• Paige Parker (Oklahoma, 2015)
• Amanda Lorenz (Florida, 2016)
• Rachel Garcia (UCLA, 2017)
• Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma, 2018)
• Danielle Williams (Northwestern, 2019)

The award was not presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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College News: Jayda Coleman & Other OU Freshmen Help Sooners Clinch Ninth Straight Big 12 Title

Originally published June 10, 2021, on Extra Inning Softball

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 3^rd 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.”

https://twitter.com/jaydac00/status/1391488940834762755

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY2gcewUPhA

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!

*****

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 5^thgrade. 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!

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