Video Throwback Thursday: My Interview with Oklahoma All-American Jocelyn Alo… From July 2017!
By
@BruntjensElla
March 17, 2022
Jocelyn Alo was the MVP of the Louisville Slugger Hit Club and was interviewed on July 30, 2017.
Oklahoma senior Jocelyn Alo became the NCAA’s all-time home run record holder when she smacked the 96th home run of her career last Friday night in a win over Hawaii at the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
Jocelyn’s 8th homer of the year broke the tie she was in with another Sooner legend, Lauren Chamberlain,
In case you missed it, here’s a clip of the historic shot (love the announcer’s call, by the way!):
Jocelyn was the 2021 National Player of the Year and has been crushing the ball ever since she arrived in Norman in 2018 and as a freshman hit 30 home runs with 72 RBIs in 62 games.
One of my favorite clips of her hitting a long ball is this one where the sound alone makes it clear that ball is headed to the stratosphere:
As I wrote last year when describing my interactions with Jocelyn in her pre-college days, contrary to the danger that she is on the field with the bat, I was always impressed at how gentle, kind, articulate and, well yes, sweet she is… off the field (and sweet probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind for opposing pitchers!)
Jocelyn attended Campbell High in Ewa Beach, Hawaii and would travel to the mainland to play for Mike Stith’s powerhouse OC Batbusters which has produced dozens of players who have came through the Anaheim-based program including Amanda Lorenz (Florida) and Morganne Flores (Washington) and had great success at the college level and even beyond.
The reason I mention those All-Americans is because they were also participants (in different years) of a fun weekend event called the Louisville Slugger Hit Club which I oversaw and that ran between the two weeks of PGF Nationals.
The Hit Club, the brainchild of Jennie Ritter, gave 10-12 players the opportunity to get some training and evaluations with softball greats such as Amanda Freed, Jessica Mendoza, Lovie Jung and Crystal Bustos and also do cool stuff like go to Disneyland and a Dodgers or Angels game.
When we announced that Jocelyn was invited to the Hit Club, I did a short release on her which included the following info:
*****
HIT CLUB PLAYER: JOCELYN ALO
Position: catcher/first base High School (City/ST): Campbell (Ewa Beach, Hawaii) Club Team: OC Batbusters – Stith University: Oklahoma
Jocelyn was a feared power hitter pre-college, both at the club and high school levels.
Key Stats & Honors: 1st Team All-American, PGF All-American, Gatorade State Player of the Year (twice), USA Today 1st Team All-American, MaxPreps All-American, led team to Hawaii Div. I title, ranked as the #9 prospect in the 2017 top 100 rankings; batted .571 with an .804 on-base percentage and a 1.450 slugging percentage and had 58 walks in 107 plate appearances including almost all her playoff bats as teams were fearful to pitch to her, as a junior batted .612 with eight home runs in 18 games.
Scouting Report: Jocelyn is the most feared power hitter in her class—one coach described her at the plate as “violent”—and she has a great work ethic and focus. Personable with a winning demeanor, Jocelyn doesn’t let pressure affect her; in fact, it’s the opposite as she makes the game simple. Still, for the opposition every at-bat is an adventure to watch as she rarely gets cheated and often hits tape-measure shots that clear the fence by a mile. Against elite pitching at the So Cal A’s Invitational (2017), the Hawaiian slugger had four home runs in her first four games with 12 RBI including a grand slam. Her power is natural and comes from being a skilled wrestler—she won the Hawaii state wrestling championship as a junior—but she’s so good at softball, she commutes regularly from the Islands to work out with Coach Mike Stith. The question in college will be where she lines up, be it behind the plate or perhaps at a corner or in the outfield or even as a DP, but there’s no doubt her bat will get her in games and early in her career as she’s shown she can mash against elite pitching.
Jocelyn attended the 2017 Hit Club and after being honored on-stage at the PGF Opening Ceremonies for the 16U and 14U age divisions on Monday, July 31, 2017, the Hit Club athletes gathered for a final dinner where it was announced that Jocelyn was chosen as the 2017 Louisville Slugger Hit Club MVP based on evaluations done during hitting drills earlier in the day overseen by Freed and Jung.
I wasn’t surprised, because she impressed not only in the softball related drills but also was well-liked by her peers.
Here’s what Amanda Freed, the former UCLA National Champion and Olympic Gold Medal winner, said after seeing Jocelyn’s batting cage swings:
“Quick hands with a lot of power. Nice, strong base through swing.”
The day before, Sunday, July 30, 2017, I sat down at PGF HQ and interviewed Jocelyn and each of the Hit Club attendees.
Below is Jocelyn’s interview in it’s entirely but first an “outtake” where she apparently didn’t like how she repped where she’s from (she will probably kill me for this… remember, Jocelyn, sweet, not violent)!
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
*****
Outtake!
Interview
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