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Oklahoma

Team effort highlights Oklahoma’s national championship win

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Team effort highlights Oklahoma’s national championship win


In Oklahoma’s magical run in 2023, the Sooners reset the standard for excellence in college softball. Their 61-1 record made them the winningest team in history after extending the game’s best all-time winning streak to 53 games.

On the final night of the season, in the game that clinched the Sooners’ third consecutive national title, Oklahoma’s deep roster powered the Sooners.

Alex Storako gave Oklahoma four strong innings before giving way to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Jordy Bahl. Storako allowed three hits and one run in the start. Though the home run put the Sooners behind in the game, she was able to limit the damage when she found herself in danger with the help of some excellent defense behind her.

The Michigan transfer had been a huge key to Oklahoma’s success early in the season when Bahl was going through a bit of a sophomore slump. And on the grandest stage, Storako had a fantastic performance to keep Oklahoma in the game long enough for the bats to take off.

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In the Sooners’ next at-bat, back-to-back home runs from Cydney Sanders and Grace Lyons put Oklahoma up 2-1 in the game. That was both players’ ninth home run of the season. Sanders and Lyons each had more than 20 home runs in 2022, but this year the long ball was more difficult to come by. But when it mattered most, the two power hitters powered Oklahoma to a lead and, ultimately a national title.

And that’s what has been special about this team. On a night when Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings go hitless, the Sooners have a lineup full of players that can hurt the opposition with one swing of the bat.

Their depth was the difference all season long. As Oklahoma dealt with injuries in the early part of the season or with early season struggles, the depth helped keep them afloat. And as the season wore on, it came through in critical moments, as it did on Thursday night.

In the wake of making their trip to the championship series, the Sooners celebrated with chants of “we too deep.” In their sweep of Florida State for the national title, they put that depth on display.

Best photos from the Sooners’ national title win



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Oklahoma

Education secretary hopeful demands students watch video of him praying for Trump

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Education secretary hopeful demands students watch video of him praying for Trump


Oklahoma’s chief school officer and Trump administration education secretary hopeful is now demanding that students in the state watch a video of him praying for Donald Trump.

In an email circulated to Oklahoma public school superintendents last week, Ryan Walters ordered them to play the video to “all kids that are enrolled” in their districts as well as to the students’ parents.

Walters wrote that it was “a dangerous time for this country” and that students “rights and freedoms regarding religious liberties are continuously under assault,” the Oklahoman reported.

In the bizarre video, Walters announced a new office in the state called “the Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism.”

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“For too long in this country we’ve seen the radical left attack individuals’ religious liberty in our schools. We will not tolerate that in Oklahoma. Your religious Liberties will be protected,” Walters said, before bowing his head in a prayer for Trump.

“I pray for our leaders to make the right decisions. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring about change to the country,” he said.

When grilled by CNN’s Pam Brown about what gives him the authority to demand schools play the video to their students, Walters accused Brown of pushing a “left-wing narrative” and maintained that Trump “has a clear mandate.”

Ryan Walters bows his head in prayer for the president-elect in the video

Ryan Walters bows his head in prayer for the president-elect in the video (Oklahoma State Department of Education/YouTube)

“He wants prayer back in school. He wants radical leftism out of the classroom. He wants our kids to be patriotic,” he said. “He wants parents back in charge with school choice. We’re enacting upon that agenda here in Oklahoma.”

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Several school districts in Oklahoma said they have no intention of showing the video, the Oklahoman reported.

The office of the state’s Republican attorney general, Genter Drummond, also weighed in and said that Walters cannot mandate schools to play the video.

“There is no statutory authority for the state schools superintendent to require all students to watch a specific video,” Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, told the newspaper.

“Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents’ rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights.”

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent, is thought to currently be in the running to be named Trump’s new education secretary

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Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent, is thought to currently be in the running to be named Trump’s new education secretary (@ryanmwalters/X)

Walters, who ordered schools to incorporate the Bible into classrooms and backs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s pledge to scrap the federal Department of Education, is thought to currently be in the running to be named Trump’s new education secretary.

In June, he notified all Oklahoma state schools to “immediately” incorporate the Bible into classroom curriculum, drawing immediate outrage and threats of lawsuits.

“Effective immediately, all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum” in grades five through 12, according to the notice from the Republican school superintendent.

“The Bible is one of the most historically significant books and a cornerstone of Western civilization, along with the Ten Commandments,” the notice reads.

At a press conference at the time, Walters said that every school in the state “will have a Bible in the classroom,” and that every teacher “will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”

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The move, which led to him being sued by more than 30 educators and parents, propeled him into the national spotlight.



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Oklahoma

Man Arrested, Accused Of Attempted Armed Robbery At Tulsa Bank Of Oklahoma

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Man Arrested, Accused Of Attempted Armed Robbery At Tulsa Bank Of Oklahoma


Officers said Xavion Paggett went to the BOK near 71st and Sheridan to cash a check, but he pulled out a gun and demanded money.

Monday, November 18th 2024, 9:57 pm

By:

News On 6

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A man was arrested on Thursday after police say he pointed a gun at a bank teller and demanded cash.

Officers say Xavion Paggett went to the Bank of Oklahoma near 71st and Sheridan earlier in November to cash a check.

Instead, authorities said he pulled out a gun, pointed it at the clerk and demanded money.

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Investigators say Paggett ran off without the money when another employee showed up.

He’s charged with attempted robbery. His bond was set at $250,000.





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Watch At 7: Oklahoma's Own Originals Special '75 On 6'

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Watch At 7: Oklahoma's Own Originals Special '75 On 6'


In an Oklahoma’s Own Originals special, watch “75 on 6” at 7 p.m.

Click here to watch it on News On 6 NOW.

It’s a celebration of the role KOTV News On 6 has played in the community since 1949, keeping Oklahomans safe, informed, and entertained.

You’ll see plenty of familiar faces, and perhaps a few you haven’t seen in a long while.

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The special can be seen on News On 6 as well as the News On 6 website, news app, and streaming apps for Roku, Amazon Fire stick and Apple TV.





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