• last year
AllSooners Softball Show Ep. 1
Transcript
00:00 2024 softball season is just three weeks away.
00:05 That's right.
00:06 It's already back as the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to go
00:09 not one, not two, not three,
00:11 but four years in a row hoisting the national title
00:16 at the end of the women's college world series.
00:19 Welcome to the All Sooners softball show.
00:22 I'm Ryan Chapman and allsooners.com is gonna be your home
00:25 for Oklahoma softball all season long wall-to-wall coverage
00:29 as you know, if you've been around before,
00:32 you know what we do here.
00:33 And if not, welcome aboard.
00:34 We hope you enjoy our coverage all season long.
00:38 Today though, a little bit of a season preview.
00:40 I've got three massive questions
00:43 Oklahoma will have to answer this year.
00:45 Coming up here, stick with us
00:47 on the All Sooners softball show.
00:50 (upbeat music)
00:58 Like I said, hope you enjoy coming along
01:01 with us this season.
01:01 We're gonna try something new a little bit.
01:03 We've got a ton of prep content as always,
01:05 allsooners.com head over there,
01:07 as well as all the videos, coach Gasso,
01:10 all the players, midweek interviews, postgame interviews,
01:13 all that good stuff will all be at allsooners.com.
01:16 But we are gonna try and have this,
01:18 the All Sooners softball show twice a week.
01:21 The stated goal gonna be Tuesday, Thursday.
01:24 Tuesdays during the week,
01:25 wrapping up what I saw,
01:27 what we saw throughout the weekend's games,
01:30 things like that.
01:31 And then we'll reconvene on Thursdays
01:32 to preview the week ahead,
01:34 hit all the news and storylines from the week.
01:37 It should be a ton of fun.
01:40 But like I said, today here, season preview,
01:42 we've got three massive questions for Oklahoma to answer
01:46 headed in to the 2024 softball season.
01:49 And up first, we have the big one, the obvious one.
01:53 How's Oklahoma gonna replace Jordie Ball?
01:56 That pitching staff from a year ago
01:58 was absolutely lights out.
02:00 A three-headed monster of Jordie Ball,
02:03 Alex Staracco, Nicole May,
02:04 and then Kirsten Diehl came on strong.
02:06 You remember her bedlam heroics
02:08 and what that did to propel her into the postseason.
02:11 Well, Alex Staracco graduated out,
02:13 Nicole May, Kirsten Diehl still in Norman,
02:16 but the big news that dropped
02:17 right after the Women's College World Series
02:19 was of course that Jordie Ball
02:21 was entering the transfer portal,
02:22 headed home to Nebraska to play for the Cornhuskers,
02:26 which left Oklahoma with a little bit of work to do.
02:29 You had Nicole May, you had Kirsten Diehl.
02:31 That's a righty-lefty combo there for Patty Gasso.
02:34 She absolutely loves that, as well as Jennifer Rocha,
02:37 the associate head coach, pitching coach.
02:38 She does great work with those lefties historically.
02:41 Then you also had S.J. Guerin, who is red-shirted.
02:43 We saw a little bit of her during fall ball.
02:46 She packed some punch early.
02:47 She's a hurler.
02:49 Lineup got to her a little bit more.
02:50 We shall see what that looks like
02:51 when it's not Oklahoma's lineup.
02:54 And so Patty Gasso went into the offseason
02:56 thinking May and Diehl,
02:58 but we know she likes to have a staff,
03:01 and oh, did she ever add through the transfer portal.
03:04 She picked up a veteran,
03:06 Carly Keeney coming in from Liberty, if you missed it.
03:09 Liberty was one of the successes last year,
03:11 and Carly Keeney was huge at the top of that.
03:15 Unfortunately, we did not get to see
03:18 Carly Keeney through fall ball.
03:20 That was something that she sustained,
03:22 a finger injury, and Patty Gasso talked about it.
03:25 She's not actually gonna get to see
03:26 Carly Keeney pitch competitively until about right now,
03:30 as she ramps up into the season.
03:31 So it'll be a big question mark
03:33 as far as what Keeney's gonna bring.
03:35 She also got, Patty Gasso did a transfer
03:37 from Wisconsin in Peyton Monticelli.
03:39 She's a bit younger, kinda replicates the fact
03:42 that Jordie Ball was gonna have a couple of years left.
03:44 Peyton Monticelli has a couple of years
03:46 of eligibility left as well.
03:47 So that was kind of a like for like matching eligibility.
03:51 We'll see what Monticelli can bring
03:52 as she also was pretty successful during fall ball.
03:54 But then the big one, Kelly Maxwell entered the portal
03:58 from Stillwater at Oklahoma State, the Cal Girls ace,
04:02 and she landed in Norman.
04:05 So now what you're looking at is you're gonna have
04:08 multiple options for Patty Gasso's,
04:11 both the righties that we talked about,
04:12 and then Kirsten Diehl and Kelly Maxwell,
04:15 a pair of left-handers.
04:16 It's gonna be a ton for Jen Rocha to work with
04:21 to really build out that pitching staff.
04:23 Now, what we've seen, Kelly Maxwell obviously
04:26 has done a great job as the ace for the Cal Girls,
04:30 working through Big 12 play.
04:31 A couple of Big 12 title pushes
04:33 in the regular season didn't get it done.
04:35 Two years ago though, Oklahoma State was able
04:39 to upset Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship,
04:43 the tournament that is.
04:44 And so Kelly Maxwell was a big part of Oklahoma State
04:47 winning that Big 12 tournament championship.
04:49 What can she do now that she's stepped on it?
04:52 You've seen Hope Chatwine and Alex Starocco
04:54 in back-to-back years really benefited
04:57 from not having to be the sole pitcher,
04:59 the only one, and what that they can kind of do.
05:02 But Kelly Maxwell, Kenny Gaiuskas did a really good job
05:05 managing her workload a year ago.
05:07 So it's not a situation of, oh my gosh,
05:09 almost 300 innings pitch
05:10 or something absolutely outrageous
05:12 and gonna get clocked all the way down.
05:13 But the difference is gonna be behind Kelly Maxwell.
05:16 What can she do to attack hitters differently
05:19 now that she has Patti Gasso's defense?
05:21 She has Oklahoma's defense behind her,
05:23 as well as the style, the really aggressive style
05:26 that Jen Rocha's had.
05:27 She's someone that traditionally has come in
05:30 and with Hope Chatwine, with Alex Starocco,
05:32 helped them take their game to another level.
05:34 Can Kelly Maxwell get that?
05:36 'Cause she's someone that has a ton
05:38 of Women's College World Series experience.
05:41 Three trips the last three years for Oklahoma State,
05:43 three visits for Kelly Maxwell.
05:45 She's posted a 2.62 ERA, 50 strikeouts
05:48 through her three trips
05:49 to the Women's College World Series for Oklahoma State.
05:51 Kelly Maxwell comfortable on that stage.
05:53 So is Nicole May.
05:54 Nicole May has that experience
05:55 and she's had that experience leading the way, right?
05:58 Think back to her freshman year.
06:00 She helped Oklahoma through Regionals,
06:02 Super Regional play against Washington,
06:03 and then she rolled into the Women's College World Series
06:06 and that's when G. Warrens kind of took it to another level.
06:09 Her numbers, Nicole May's in Oklahoma City,
06:12 kind of skewed a little bit.
06:13 She was thrown out there in the Championship Series
06:16 against Florida State and when that game
06:17 was kind of a lost cause, Padagaso left her out there.
06:20 So she's got a 5.49 career ERA
06:23 just at the Women's College World Series.
06:24 But if you look at her numbers
06:25 all throughout last year, Nicole May,
06:27 actually ERA, her whip, her walks, hits per innings pitch,
06:32 all of that stuff was tracking pretty much
06:35 with Jordie Ball's numbers from last year.
06:37 The difference being Jordie Ball was given
06:39 a lion share of those innings
06:40 at the Women's College World Series.
06:41 Nicole May, a little bit different low
06:44 be put on her and Kelly Maxwell's shoulders
06:46 as those two are gonna have to be the ones to power through.
06:49 Oklahoma has the deepest pitching staff in the country,
06:51 probably has the most top end experience
06:53 between Keeney and May and Maxwell.
06:56 It's just gonna be who does Padagaso give the ball
06:59 in those big moments.
07:00 Kelly Maxwell accustomed to that, Nicole May's had those,
07:03 but with no Jordie Ball, one of those two
07:05 gonna have to lead the way
07:07 when it's the business end of the season this June.
07:09 Question number two for the Sooners this season,
07:15 who will replace Grace Lyons?
07:18 Grace Lyons, you know her, you loved her.
07:21 Padagaso talked over and over again across multiple seasons.
07:25 The best defensive shortstop,
07:27 Padagaso said she's ever seen.
07:29 On top of that, she brought quite the stick
07:31 into the batter's box, a power hitter when you needed her,
07:34 Captain Clutch, that's what Grace Lyons had been.
07:38 A stalwart of Oklahoma's infield, straight up,
07:41 a great, great, great resource for any pitcher to rely on,
07:44 but she has graduated out,
07:46 which means the Sooners will have to have
07:48 a new shortstop in 2024.
07:51 Who is that going to be?
07:54 We saw a couple of different options rolled through
07:57 by Padagaso throughout the fall,
07:59 and really, we got a little peek into it last year
08:02 when Grace Lyons missed a couple of games here or there.
08:05 The first one, Tiare Jennings,
08:07 could she slide over from second base around to short?
08:10 That is one option.
08:12 Alyssa Brito, who played some shortstop
08:14 at Oregon as a freshman,
08:16 she's been playing third base for the Sooners this past year.
08:19 Could she slide in to third, or to shortstop, excuse me,
08:22 that would probably bring Alina Torres out of the outfield
08:25 into third base, where she played at Arizona State.
08:28 You got Avery Hodge, could she step in
08:31 and play some shortstop there?
08:33 It'll be interesting to see what happens.
08:36 One thing we know, Padagaso loves to recruit shortstops,
08:39 which she can move them all across the field.
08:41 That brings a lot of really, really high-level infield,
08:44 just defensive play in general.
08:46 If you're asking me, though, my bet would be
08:49 that you have Alyssa Brito slide over to shortstop.
08:52 I think that keeps Tiare Jennings at second base,
08:54 who's a great captain of that infield.
08:57 Padagaso's talked about just the voice
08:59 that Tiare Jennings brings defensively,
09:01 leaving her at the spot that she's kind of accustomed to.
09:04 Alyssa Brito has an absolute cannon.
09:06 You've seen it from her when she's playing over at third.
09:09 And Torres is comfortable at third.
09:11 We saw in the Bedlam series when Alyssa Brito
09:14 had to miss the first half of a game there.
09:17 Torres came in at third, and that gives you some options
09:19 out in the outfield, whether you want to throw
09:22 one of the freshmen out there, Ella Parker,
09:24 Cassidy Pickering, Maya Bland, Nelly Macaromaritas,
09:28 whatever you want to do with that.
09:30 Or do you throw Hannah Core or Avery Hodge out
09:33 in the outfield, give you a lot of athleticism
09:36 out there to pair with Riley Boone, who
09:38 played left field last year.
09:39 Obviously, the stud, Jada Coleman, out in dead center.
09:42 And what does that do as far as who
09:44 do you want to use for your DP?
09:45 If you used it for a pitcher, we saw Hannah Core.
09:48 What she can give you defensively,
09:50 missed her a little bit last year for that red shirt.
09:53 Padagaso talked about her working back from the back
09:56 stuff that she went through a year ago during fall ball.
09:59 Catch those videos at allsuiters.com.
10:01 But she was hitting the cover off the ball during fall ball.
10:03 Do you slide Core out there with her bat as well?
10:07 And that lets you DP over for the pitcher.
10:10 It'll be interesting to see what that situation is
10:12 going to look like.
10:13 But that'll be something different for Oklahoma.
10:15 You got Sydney Sanders at first.
10:16 And in that scenario, Tiare Jennings at second.
10:19 Alina Torres, again, who's played some third base.
10:22 And Alyssa Brito.
10:23 That would give you a very experienced infield.
10:25 That's a championship infield, as well as Riley Boone, Jada
10:28 Coleman, and whoever you throw out as your third outfielder.
10:31 That would make a ton of sense.
10:33 You'll have Kinsey Hanson behind the dish marshaling it all.
10:37 That would lead to probably a lot of experience
10:40 without having to upset a ton of what's going on.
10:43 So I would imagine that's what you see at shortstop.
10:45 But Padagaso also will use the Port Avalade College
10:48 Challenge, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
10:50 Those weekends will be huge for her to mix and match and kind
10:53 of see.
10:54 Nope, she'll mess with that lineup a little bit
10:56 so that she has that settled once they hit Big 12 play.
10:58 And of course, obviously, the business in the postseason.
11:02 Question number three.
11:04 And that's one that surrounds Oklahoma softball
11:05 every single year.
11:07 But it'll be especially pressing it this year for the Sooners.
11:11 How does this new crew handle the pressure that comes along
11:14 with Oklahoma softball?
11:15 You saw a year ago, it almost was absurd how insulated
11:21 and how laser focused and eye on the prize
11:23 this program was despite everything going on
11:25 in college softball, despite everything
11:26 going on with the Sooners.
11:27 Yes, that Sooners team that was 61 and 1, that Sooners team
11:31 that ended the year on a 53 game winning streak
11:35 after that loss to Baylor at the Getterman Classic.
11:38 They are back.
11:39 Oklahoma will technically start the year on that win streak.
11:42 But things will look so different.
11:45 Seven Sooners outgoing between the transfer portal
11:48 and graduation.
11:49 And they are bringing eight in this year.
11:51 We've already mentioned the pitching staff,
11:53 the contributions, the four freshmen.
11:55 There's also Riley Ludlum who came in.
11:58 She will be a part of that battery behind the plate,
12:01 giving Kinsey Hanson the opportunity
12:02 to have some days off.
12:03 And she was swinging a big stick throughout fall ball as well.
12:06 How does she factor in a potential designated player
12:09 that Patty Gasso said is super, super raw coming in,
12:13 but someone she's excited to work with?
12:15 And for all of the newcomers for Oklahoma, many of them
12:18 dealt with the reality that as though you softball in fall
12:20 ball for the freshmen, certainly, for Riley Ludlum,
12:23 certainly, the most people they had ever played in front of
12:27 was during Oklahoma's scrimmages.
12:30 Scrimmages, right?
12:31 Now you're going to have Loves Field, over 4,000 seats there
12:34 between the seating capacity and standing room.
12:37 Only, obviously, any time Oklahoma
12:39 heads to Hall of Fame Stadium, whether that
12:41 be for the Big 12 tournament, whether that
12:43 be for postseason, whether that be for a Friday game
12:46 like we saw with Texas last year.
12:47 That was one in Oklahoma City, two back in Norman.
12:51 There is a ton of attention that comes
12:53 with playing softball at the University of Oklahoma via
12:56 social media, media requests, all that stuff.
12:58 And then there's the pressure of everyone, everyone
13:00 that steps on the field with Oklahoma
13:02 is going to give the Sooners their best shot.
13:06 What does that leadership look like to help the newcomers get
13:09 bedded in and get ready to rock and roll?
13:11 That's always a question to head in.
13:12 But the good news is there are a ton of those leaders,
13:16 from Kinsey Hanson to Nicole May.
13:19 Just look all the way around.
13:20 Alina Torres, been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
13:22 Alyssa Brito, check.
13:23 T.R.A. Jennings and Jada Coleman and Riley Boone,
13:25 certainly experienced leaders there,
13:27 as well as Sydney Sanders.
13:28 Then you have Kelly Maxwell, who's
13:30 played big time college softball,
13:32 has been part of a team, Oklahoma State, that's
13:35 another one of those teams to beat, especially Big 12 play.
13:38 Another level with Oklahoma, but she's used to teams
13:40 giving them their best shot.
13:41 And she'll have the best support and cash she's ever had as
13:45 well.
13:46 The real question will be, what is the message from Patty
13:49 Gasso, and how well is that able to get through to the players?
13:52 Every single year about this time,
13:54 we have media day, the early stages of the year.
13:57 Patty Gasso talks about a number of things, but part of it
13:59 is putting last year in the rear view.
14:01 Whether that be, hey, if you were a freshman
14:03 and had a big time freshman year,
14:05 you can't be chasing those numbers from a year ago.
14:07 Every season the slate is wiped clean.
14:09 You have to be able to come back, be humble, get to work,
14:12 as if it's 0-0 in the record book.
14:15 You've had no at-bats, all that stuff.
14:17 What is that going to look like for Oklahoma?
14:19 As well as, in a weird way, having the long offseason,
14:23 having so many new faces, will that
14:25 take the pressure off of any kind of winning streak?
14:27 If you talked to the team last year,
14:29 they talked about not knowing at any point how many games
14:33 they've been on, the streak, all that stuff,
14:34 but just that they had kept winning, kept winning.
14:37 They looked unbothered by that pressure,
14:39 and that was a pretty special group from that leadership.
14:41 You're returning that core of leaders.
14:43 Can they come in and make it to where
14:45 that they're just working every single day, the team,
14:48 to get as good as possible themselves?
14:50 What does that look like?
14:52 Can they not feel that pressure of riding a 53-game win streak?
14:55 Bridging an offseason, albeit, might be a little bit easier,
14:58 but especially as the first couple of weekends,
15:01 you're at Puerto Vallarta, you're
15:02 at a road multi-team tournament, you're
15:04 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
15:05 The Mary Nutter is a nuts environment,
15:07 but it's going to be nuts for Oklahoma
15:09 whether they're riding a 53-game winning streak,
15:10 whether they've lost five coming in.
15:12 People just want to see Oklahoma softball.
15:14 How does everyone respond in that situation?
15:16 Because it'll be new for eight of these Oklahoma Sooners,
15:19 as well as one last ride.
15:21 Tiare Jennings, Jada Coleman, Riley Boone, Nicole May,
15:25 even Kinsey Hanson, when you include that her first year was
15:28 cut short by the season ending.
15:30 All those players have ever experienced
15:33 is winning national championships at Oklahoma.
15:36 Are they able to carry on that fire
15:39 to come back and win a fourth national championship?
15:41 Go somewhere that's never been done before.
15:44 Oklahoma handled the pressure a year ago
15:46 of trying to become the first team to go back, to back,
15:48 to back since UCLA over 30 years prior.
15:52 Now Oklahoma has a chance to do something
15:53 that's never been done, which is win four in a row.
15:56 Something that I'm sure Oklahoma, not thinking
15:58 about the magnitude of that, they're just laser focused
16:01 on how do you make the most out of every single day,
16:03 continue to get better, and play your best softball.
16:07 Head to Oklahoma City in June, something
16:09 that Patty Gasso specializes in for sure.
16:12 But like we mentioned, three weeks away,
16:15 February 8, 10.30 in the morning, double header
16:19 of sorts, Utah Valley for Oklahoma to start off.
16:22 Then they'll play Duke, who's receiving top 10 consideration
16:25 in the softball America preseason poll,
16:27 in the D1 softball preseason poll.
16:29 And it'll get rolling out in Mexico
16:31 at the Puerto Vallarta Collegiate Classic.
16:33 Keep that in mind as we get closer and closer.
16:36 More information about the All-Centers softball
16:38 show, more information about all the softball coverage
16:41 we have at allcenters.com.
16:42 Again, from all the interviews, all of the stories,
16:45 we will have it all.
16:46 Your home for the best and most comprehensive Oklahoma
16:51 softball coverage.
16:52 Be sure you're following all of us,
16:53 all_sooners on Twitter.
16:55 I am @_ryanchapman.
16:57 Be sure to hit up the YouTube page where you can find this,
17:00 and you'll find it Tuesday and Thursday, every single week,
17:03 once the season gets full swing.
17:04 That's over at John Hoover Media on YouTube.
17:07 And be visiting the website allsooners.com.
17:10 We'll talk to you here in a couple of weeks,
17:12 once the season truly gets underway.