Current:Home > Contact-usOklahoma softball completes four-peat national championship at the WCWS and it was the hardest yet-LoTradeCoin
Oklahoma softball completes four-peat national championship at the WCWS and it was the hardest yet
View Date:2025-01-11 02:08:53
Not one, not two, not three …
Four.
And for the Sooners, the fourth was the hardest.
Division-I college softball had never seen a four-peat national champion. Not until Thursday night in Oklahoma City, when Oklahoma beat Texas 8-4 to sweep the championship series.
“People say, ‘Let’s go win one,’” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said. “You’re like, ‘OK.’ It’s not like that. It’s very difficult. Everything has to go right. The thing about them is they’re resilient. They have a lot of pride in that.
“With that, it’s hard for me to comprehend.”
It’s been a presidential term of dominance for the Sooners. The Fab Five of Rylie Boone, Kinzie Hansen, Nicole May, Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman have 20 rings between them. They won as freshmen, won as seniors, won as sophomore and juniors.
“This one was the hardest one that I’ve ever had to work for in my life,” Jennings said. “This team, the adversity that we went through, we did it and we overcame everything.”
“This team has fought and fought all season long,” Hansen said.
Added Boone: “This was the most grinding one.”
A four-peat.
It’s ridiculous, really. A feat without precedence on the softball diamond. Four seasons ending in dog piles and confetti angels, of the Sooners flipping bats and raising trophies.
“We expect ourselves here, which is crazy to expect yourself winning the national championship every year,” May said.
Four-peats have only happened on other fields of play. Among the notable ones this century: Penn State volleyball (2007-10), Connecticut women’s basketball (2013-16), Oklahoma men’s gymnastics (2015-18).
In Division I, only Stanford men’s gymnastics, with five straight, has a longer active streak of national championships. Twelve teams compete in Division I men’s gymnastics compared to softball’s 291.
“We knew it was historic,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said on the field after the game. “Of course we wanted to finish it off. I don’t know that I can truly verbalize how magnificent this is.”
May also struggled to describe it.
“Being a part of something that hasn’t been done before is pretty special, especially with this group,” May said. “I don’t think it’ll hit me, it never hits me for another couple weeks.”
Oklahoma softball joins Southern California beach volleyball and Virginia women’s swimming and diving in active four-peats.
Needless to stay, college softball is played on a much grander stage.
A championship record crowd of 12,324 packed Devon Park. Those who didn’t have a seat were lined up three and four deep on the concourse. Every pitch landed with a thud of anxious anticipation. Then the Sooners broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Sooner-heavy crowd was jubilant.
In the seventh inning, Boone told herself not to cry.
“Please don’t do that,” Boone said, “because if they hit a grand slam I’m kinda screwed.”
Gasso even toyed with Texas, at least it seemed, en route to winning her eight national title — tying former Arizona coach Mike Candrea for the most in softball history. Gasso and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha tinkered with their pitching rotation like never before.
The Sooners started Liberty transfer Karlie Keeney in the circle. The only move more surprising than that was who replaced her: Wisconsin transfer Paytn Monticelli. The Sooners used their No. 4 and 5 pitchers to open a national championship closeout game.
May followed, then Kierston Deal. Finally, it was Kelly Maxwell who entered as closer. Maxwell was named the WCWS Most Outstanding Player.
“It worked exactly how it was supposed to,” Gasso said. “To a T.”
It was a difficult year for Maxwell, ostracized for crossing Bedlam lines and transferring in after four years at Oklahoma State.
The rest of the Sooners concocted obstacles if necessary.
“Everybody hates us, no one wants us to win anymore, but that’s fine,” May said. “We just got a fourth, so it’s OK.”
The three-time defending champions convinced themselves that they were underdogs entering the series against No. 1-seeded Texas - a team they had split four games against during the regular season and Big 12 tournament..
“There were so many times that we could’ve been defeated … ‘Are they gonna do it, are they not?’ But we just fought,” Boone said. “There was a lot of failure, more than what at least this class is used to and this team is used to. The adversity, I think it helped us be able to stand here and say that we won a fourth one.”
The Sooners have been crowned champs in six of the last eight Women's College World Series. In what used to be a West Coast-dominated sport, this century has belonged to Gasso’s Sooners.
Eight national championships. Four in four years.
“Just unreal,” said Jennings, still catching her breath. “We just did the impossible.”
veryGood! (56)
Related
- Why was Jalen Ramsey traded? Dolphins CB facing former team on 'Monday Night Football'
- Dismembered goats, chicken found at University of Rochester: Deaths may be 'religious in nature'
- Law enforcement cracking down on Super Bowl counterfeits
- New Justin Hartley show 'Tracker' sees 'This is Us' star turn action hero
- Volkswagen, Mazda, Honda, BMW, Porsche among 304k vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
- Biden won’t call for redactions in special counsel report on classified documents handling.
- Dakota Johnson says being on 'The Office' was 'the worst time of my life'
- Why Dakota Johnson Calls Guest Starring on The Office The Worst
- Surprise bids revive hope for offshore wind in Gulf of Mexico after feds cancel lease sale
- Rihanna's New Super Bowl-Inspired Wax Figure Is Exactly What You Came For
Ranking
- Cavaliers' Darius Garland rediscovers joy for basketball under new coach
- Why aren't more teams trying to clone 49ers star Kyle Juszczyk? He explains why they can't
- Shariah Harris makes history as first Black woman to play in US Open Women's Polo Championship
- Who is Michelle Troconis? What we know about suspect on trial for allegedly covering up Jennifer Dulos' murder
- 12 college students charged with hate crimes after assault in Maryland
- Massive World War II-era bomb discovered by construction workers near Florida airport
- 17-year-old boy shot and killed by police during welfare check in Columbus, Nebraska
- US water polo star prepares for Paris Olympics as husband battles lung cancer
Recommendation
-
Steelers shoot for the moon ball, but will offense hold up or wilt in brutal final stretch?
-
Sheriff’s deputies corral wayward kangaroo near pool at Florida apartment complex
-
She asked for a Stanley cup, he got her an NHL Stanley Cup replica: A dad joke for our time
-
Americans left the British crown behind centuries ago. Why are they still so fascinated by royalty?
-
2025 Medicare Part B premium increase outpaces both Social Security COLA and inflation
-
Sheriff’s deputies corral wayward kangaroo near pool at Florida apartment complex
-
Vornado recalls 2 million garment steamers sold at Walmart, Amazon and Bed Bath & Beyond due to serious burn risk
-
Ohio backs off proposed restrictions on gender-affirming care for adults
Like
- Jordan Chiles Reveals She Still Has Bronze Medal in Emotional Update After 2024 Olympics Controversy
- Vornado recalls 2 million garment steamers sold at Walmart, Amazon and Bed Bath & Beyond due to serious burn risk
- Wyoming, Slow To Take Federal Clean Energy Funds, Gambles State Money on Carbon Sequestration and Hydrogen Schemes to Keep Fossil Fuels Flowing