Throwback Thursday: Oklahoma Slugging Sophomore Kinzie Hansen… A No-Doubt Talent from Back in her Norco & Batbuster Days!
By
@BruntjensElla
April 1, 2021
Super sophomore Kinzie Hansen has hit 14 home runs in her first 23 games played this year for Oklahoma. Photo: Sooners Softball.
There are many reasons the Oklahoma Sooners are undefeated as they head into a three-game home series with Kansas starting tonight, and having six players hitting over. 500 (with at least 30 at-bats) is one of the many!
One of the half dozen that is killing the ball with the .500 or better clip is sophomore infielder Kinzie Hanzen, who has started all but two of OU’s 25 wins, and in those 23 games has 38 hits in 75 at-bats including 14 home runs and 33 RBIs as of Thursday and, impressively, hasn’t struck out all year.
Kinzie, mostly playing first base in 2021, also has a .992 fielding percentage with just one error so far in 133 chances.
From Norco, California, she was mostly a catcher in her pre-college days and had great success playing for the powerhouse Norco High team that won titles as well as with Mike Stith’s championship OC Batbuster teams.
In 2019, we selected Kinzie as an Extra Inning Softball 1st Team All-American and wrote the following about her:
Sr. Kinzie Hansen, Norco CA
Kinzie was selected as the California Ms. Softball and is a three-time All-American. Facing strong competition, the Oklahoma signee hit .467 with five home runs and 36 RBI and her 148 career RBIs ties her with fellow senior Paige Smith. A repeat 1st Team All-American and four-time CalHiSports.com All-State pick, Kenzie helped the Cougars win the CIF-Southern Section title for the second time in three years this spring.
She was also a Top 10 player in 2019 Extra Elite 100 and at one time was the #1 overall-ranked player before suffering a knee injury. She came back and by the time she graduated was ranked #6… here’s what we wrote about Kinzie then:
Kinzie as a junior at Norco.
6—Kinzie Hansen, C/1B, OC Batbusters – Stith (Oklahoma)
Kinzie is an elite player who had a knee injury a year ago that made her miss the fall season and the first six games of the high school season, but she came back strong with a big year that saw her win 1st Team Extra Inning Softball and MaxPrep All-American honors as well as 1st Team All-State recognition by CalHiSports.com. Kenzie has been the State Junior, Sophomore and Freshman of the Year for CalHi the last three years–an amazing accomplishment as she’s continued to produce despite all the pressure and efforts of opposing teams to shut her down. She batted .519 with 44 hits, 35 RBI and a 1.409 OPS with only two games in the 25 she played for Norco (California) High where she didn’t get a hit. She, along with fellow 2019 Extra Elite 100 teammate Paige Smith and pitcher Sarah Willis, a 2020 Extra Elite 100 pick, lead the Cougars to the CIF Southern Section Div. I championship. On her Mike Stith-led club team, Kinzie rotated at catcher and first and helped the Batbusters finish 2nd at the PGF 18U Nationals. Said one coach, “Her presence and leadership are great… she is having a great fall and understands there’s more to do, but we see a different player who’s getting better and better and has the work ethic to be one of the best.” A 5-tool catcher, Kinzie is a great all-around athlete and can do so much on the field and at the plate that she’ll break the line-up quickly at Oklahoma.
We were write about the last sentence: she started every game as a freshman last year and is blowing up as a super sophomore.
As sharp, likeable and personable off the field as she is talented, dangerous and accomplished on the field, Kinzie is what’s right about softball in every way and is a great ambassador for the game.
We have over 50 stories referencing her on our site… below are just a few of our favorites!
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
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Video Interview: Kinzie Hansen Looks Back Over Softball Career, Looks Forward to Oklahoma
Originally published August 3, 2019
Kinzie Hansen won high school titles at Norco High and club championships with the A’s-Mercado & OC Batbuster organizations.
One of our favorite players, both on and off the field over the last few years, has been catcher Kinzie Hansen who had an All-American career at Norco (California) High and was named as the Ms. Softball Player of the Year in California by CalHiSports.com.
Considered one of the Top 10 players in the 2019 Extra Elite 100, Kinzie also won club championships with the A’s – Mercado and the OC Batbusters organizations and capped off her career by playing in the PGF All-American Game last Saturday (July 27, 2019).
Last November, she signed with the University of Oklahoma and you can read more about that big day for her by clicking HERE.
We caught up with Kinzie a week ago as she was getting to play what would be her final day in an OC Batbuster uniform….
Here’s the video interview:
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Cal-Hi Sports Announces Kinzie Hansen as California’s 2019 Ms. Softball
Originally published June 12, 2019 on Extra Inning Softball
Ms. Softball State Player of the Year Kinzie Hansen hopes to keep the applause coming as she moves from Norco to the University of Oklahoma. Photo: @NorcoHSSoftball / Twitter.com.
Ms. Softball 2019: Kinzie Hansen
It’s not as if Kinzie Hansen of the Norco High softball team was preordained to be the 2019 Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Softball State Player of the Year, but it did prove to be too difficult for anyone else to win the honor after she was selected State Junior of the Year in 2018, State Sophomore of the Year in 2017 and State Freshman of the Year in 2016.
Kinzie has been one of the top catchers in the country for the last four years. She’s seen here helping Norco win a Southern Section title in 2018.
Hansen is indeed the 2019 Ms. Softball for the state and joins a long list of previous winners that includes three others from Norco in just the last eight years. Hansen was especially proud to be joining her former teammate, Taylor Dockins, who was Ms. Softball just two years ago despite battling the effects of cancer treatments.
“She deserves everything that she has gotten, all the honors and awards, and has been an incredible teammate,” Hansen said of Dockins (now at Cal State Fullerton). “To share this feat with her is very cool. It’s a great honor.”
The other two from Norco who have been honorees are Kylie Reed for 2013 and Emily Lockman of 2012. Other previous Ms. Softball winners have included Keilani Ricketts of Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) for 2009, Jordan Taylor of Valencia for 2007 and Lisa Fernandez from St. Joseph of Lakewood for 1989.
“After every year since I started, and especially after Taylor won, I thought that I really wanted to continue the (Norco Ms. Softball) tradition,” said Hansen, who will play next at Oklahoma. “I said that was my goal for this year as a senior. I’m happy, but it was easy playing with these girls. They made it fun.”
To see the All-Time List of Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Softball State Players of the Year click HERE and scroll down!
Career stats have been a factor in every Ms. Softball player of the year selection ever made and Hansen’s at Norco have been extremely consistent even though the team annually plays one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
Hansen started out as a freshman batting .426 with seven homers and 37 RBI. She followed that with .456 to go with three homers and 43 RBI as a sophomore and then last year she batted .519 with four homers and 32 RBI (missing six games with injury).
Hansen reacts after getting an RBI double to get the party started for No. 1 Norco in its win over Mater Dei Catholic when that team was No. 2 in the state. Photo: @NorcoHSSoftball.
This season, Hansen went for a .467 average with five homers and 36 RBI. Her 172 career hits are good enough for third in school history and to gain entry into the state record book. Her 148 career RBI also tied a school record with teammate Paige Smith even though Smith generally batted right behind her in the batting order.
Looking at Hansen’s stats a little more closely also reveals how she did against the best competition that Norco faced. Hansen batted .527 with five home runs and 27 RBI in the team’s tournament (including the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions and Michelle Carew Classic) and playoff games.
Plus, she hit .556 with 15 RBI in the 12 games against teams that finished in the Top 20 of CalHiSports.com’s final state rankings.
“Last year, I had the highest average of my four years, but a lot of my hits were in the 5-6 hole,” Hansen said. “This year, I was trying to make better contact. Even some of the outs I was making came after making good contact. When players make defensive plays, you can’t do anything about that.”
It takes much more than offensive numbers, though, to be Ms. Softball. Hansen has been one of the most highly rated catching prospects for college that the state has seen in the last 10 years. And it’s her leadership and what she did behind the plate that probably impressed Norco head coach Rick Robinson the most.
“To see how she grew as a player from her freshman to senior year was just amazing,” Robinson said. “It wasn’t just being a leader, but being able to run things through her. We changed our entire sign system in between the third and fourth innings in our CIF (Southern Section) championship game. I don’t know of any player I’ve come across who could do that like her. She was like having a coach on the field.”
In the final three years of Hansen’s career, she helped the Cougars go 33-1 (lost in CIFSS D1 final to Los Alamitos), 28-3 (won CIFSS D1 title) and 32-1 (CIFSS D1 title). They finished No. 2, No. 2 and No. 1 in the final State Top 40.
When Dockins was selected Ms. Softball two years ago, the deliberation process took about two seconds.
Sarah Willis gave up just three hits in Norco’s 2-0 CIF-SS Div. I win over Great Oak.
This year, it was much different and one of the main reasons for that was the big-time pitching of Hansen’s teammate at Norco, junior Sarah Willis. Robinson was not asked for his opinion on the topic because we’ve learned it’s unfair to put a coach into that position. In fact, when talking to him about Hansen for Ms. Softball, he spent more time making a final pitch for Willis to be State Junior of the Year.
“Sarah is one of the greatest players I’ve been around,” Hansen said. “Me and her have just clicked. If you would have picked her, I would not have been disappointed. She’s an amazing athlete.”
Hansen and Willis were not the only players battling at the top of the Ms. Softball pecking order. There also was junior Nicole May from Foothill of Pleasanton. She led that team to a 28-0 record with impressive hitting and pitching numbers and already has been the Gatorade State Player of the Year.
Believe it or not, but a three-way tie would not have been that crazy, except that in the history of Cal-Hi Sports (40 years) there has never been a tie for a team ranking or player honor.
The other three finalists for Ms. Softball for this year as announced two weeks ago were Maya Brady of Westlake Village Oaks Christian (a teammate of Hansen’s on the OC Batbusters travel team), Lexi Sosa of Chula Vista Mater Dei Catholic and Lexi Webb of Oakdale.
May also plays for the OC Batbusters despite being from Northern California and will be a teammate of Hansen’s at Oklahoma, which just lost to UCLA in the NCAA College Softball World Series final.
“UCLA and Oklahoma have such huge fan bases and right now a lot of us players just get big ol’ laugh when they’re playing each other,” Hansen said. “But I love the pressure and love it when a lot of people are watching. I’m really excited to see what kind of woman I turn into in college and what kind of player I become. My goal is to keep excelling as a freshman (at OU) next season.”
“From the day (Kinzie) walked on our campus, she’s been one of the top 10 recruits in the country,” Robinson said. “But she’s never been satisfied. She’s always asking, ‘How can I get better from something?’”
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Signing Recap: Kinzie Hansen… Looking to Close Out Her Career With Two More Titles
Originally published Nov. 17, 2018 on Extra Inning Softball
Kinzie Hansen signs with Oklahoma in front of (l-r) her mother Nicole, brother Cole and father Jason Hansen on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.
Kinzie Hansen has already had a storied career winning championships at both the high school level as her Norco (California) High team won the CIF-Southern Section Div. I championship this year as Kinzie led the Cougars with a .519 offense and helped as a catcher break in two new pitchers.
The Oklahoma signee earned 1st Team Extra Inning Softball All-American honors and was the CIF MVP as she also had 29 RBIs, and a .992 fielding percentage.
Kinzie has been one of the top catchers in the country for the last four years. She’s seen here helping Norco win a Southern Section title last season.
She won 12U and 14U PGF National Championship at the club level in 2014 and 2016 with Athletics teams coached by Dave Mercado and came up just short this summer at the 18U level with the Mike Stith-led OC Batbusters which finished 2nd.
Entering her final year, the Top 10-ranked player in the Extra Elite 100 has a chance to win more titles as both her Cougars and Batbusters teams are strong and return key players, Kinzie especially.
After she signed, Sooner head coach Patty Gasso said of her standout signee: “Kinzie is a right-handed catcher who is one of the top recruits at her position in the country. She’s proven to be a great leader and a power hitter with a strong arm. She is the complete package, and she has been a part of many championship games in her career and brings a confidence the fans will love.”
Here’s more on Kinzie as we caught up with her this week…
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NAME: KINZIE HANSEN Club Team: OC Batbusters-Stith High School (City/State): Norco (Norco, California) Position(s): Catcher/Infielder College: Oklahoma
1. Where did you sign your Letter of Intent Wednesday?
I signed my letter at school with my teammates.
2. Did it end up being a big day or quiet for you and your teammates at Norco?
It was a big occasion with all of the signees’ families and coaches.
3. Did you do anything afterwards to celebrate?
We had a big breakfast with the team to celebrate.
4. What date did you actually commit to Oklahoma?
I committed four years ago on November 17th, 2014.
5. What highlight stands out to you about the recruiting process?
My recruiting highlight was the personal decision on my school at such a young age.
Kinzie has won several national titles at the club level.
6. When did you first realize you wanted to be a Sooner?
I knew my program was right for me when I stepped out of the airport!
7. What does signing with such a successful program as OU mean to you?
It means a lot to me to make my parents proud. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today without them. Signing to Oklahoma was a sign of all my sacrifices, failures, and hard work paying off.
8. How much Sooner gear and/or product do you have in your home so far?
There is too much Oklahoma gear to count in my household!
9. What does 2019 hold for you as your wrap up your high school and club career before you head to Norman?
This year, I will be continuing with my Batbuster team and playing at Norco High School for my fourth and final year.
10. Did you ever think this day—signing with your dream school—would come?
I knew this day would come eventually and I couldn’t be more honored and excited. Waiting four years to officially sign was a long while.
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