Oklahoma Softball: OU’s Super Seniors Will Leave Lasting Legacy in Norman

OKLAHOMA CITY — 5 Sooners simply had the dream ending to their collegiate softball careers.

Jocelyn Alo, Lynnsie Elam, Taylon Snow, Jana Johns and Hope Trautwein, OU’s tremendous seniors, will go away a legacy at Oklahoma bigger than the Nationwide Championships they performed an element in.

Greater than every senior’s contribution on the sector, all of them helped foster Patty Gasso’s championship tradition in Norman, mentoring the remainder of the roster to arrange future OU groups for fulfillment.

“One of many largest issues that I’ve realized from (Alo) is to simply actually simply go away all of it on the market,” true freshman pitcher Jordy Bahl mentioned after OU gained all of it on Thursday. “You are by no means going to remorse placing within the further work when you do not need to. She’s one of many hardest staff, and for her it is all paid off.

“Additionally, with all of the highlight she’s gotten, she continues to be probably the most humble teammate ever. She’s on the market working for us, not for herself, however simply to proceed to be a selfless individual, and she or he handles every part with grace. So simply all that from her.”

Even in probably the most hectic moments of the pandemic, Elam nonetheless went out of her method to make sure all the incoming freshman felt welcomed to this system and had been taken care of by the veteran gamers.

“Final yr the primary time I stepped on campus,” second baseman Tiare Jennings mentioned, “there was nonetheless COVID protocol. So I could not actually hang around with the crew a lot, however each time we did, Lynnsie was, like, ‘okay, you are coming over and I am making you dinner.’

“She at all times helped the freshmen. She made us at residence. She took us beneath her wing. Each time we had questions, go to Lynnsie. Her character, I’ve by no means met anybody like her, and I am simply so grateful that I get to be taught from her as a result of I’ll by no means meet somebody like Lynnsie Elam once more.”

Subsequent yr, loads of gamers will tackle bigger roles off the sector.

Gamers like Grace Lyons, Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hansen, Jennings and Bahl will grow to be the faces of this system, main the Sooners right into a season the place they appear to go back-to-back-to-back as Nationwide Champions — a feat solely achieved by UCLA from 1988-90.

Gasso is certain to reload, as she already has a gifted signing class in place.

The Sooners landed Kierston Deal, a left-hander from Winston Salem, NC, who was rated the highest participant in your complete 2022 class by Further Inning Softball, in addition to prime 20 recruits in infielder Avery Hodge, utility participant Jocelyn Erickson and pitcher SJ Geurin.

If the brand new crop of recruits can are available in and get acclimated, Gasso has confirmed she’s greater than keen at hand taking part in time to freshman who earn it on the observe fields.

The switch portal may very well be a significant factor as effectively, because the tradition in Norman has allowed Gasso to seamlessly combine a lot of key contributors over the previous couple of years.

Snow and Johns have been in this system for a couple of years, and Trautwein and Alyssa Brito got here in final offseason to play a significant function on this yr’s title-winning marketing campaign.

Now, the accountability of serving to the subsequent era of Sooner stars get acclimated will fall on the brand new management core, and so they’ve been ready for this function for years.

“The tremendous seniors taught me the ability of being teammate,” Hansen mentioned. “… Everyone has that tremendous senior that takes them beneath their wing, and mine was Jocy. To see her go, she’s going to go the baton down.”

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