Oklahoma softball joins the rarified air of sports dynasties with sixth WCWS title | Opinion
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Sooners converged between the pitching circle and first base, hugging and jumping and celebrating what seemed inevitable.
Another national championship.
Eventually, the mosh pit became a dogpile on the Hall of Fame Stadium dirt. Hands from amid the fray then started shooting into the air with index fingers raised.
Yes, Oklahoma softball is No. 1.
But Thursday showed it is so much more than that.
On a night Oklahoma defeated Texas 10-5, the Sooners didn’t just sweep the best-of-three championship series at the Women’s College World Series. Didn’t just add a sixth notch in their title belt. Didn’t just wow one last time with their dominance.
Oklahoma claimed its spot in the rarified air of sports dynasties.
Go ahead and put Oklahoma softball in the same stratosphere as the likes of Alabama football and UConn women’s basketball.
I asked Sooner coach Patty Gasso how she wrapped her mind around such a notion.
“I guess I don’t believe it,” she said.
She paused, emotions that we rarely see from Gasso bubbling up and spilling over.
“I don’t know how to answer,” she said, choking back tears. “I don’t think that way.”
Gasso clearly didn’t set out to create a monster when she was hired 28 years ago. At the time, she just wanted to try to convince a few good junior college players to join a program that still played home games in a city park in Norman.
To get from that to dynasty?
It seems unlikely, but that’s where the Sooners are. This team was so dominant this season there has already been talk about where it ranks.
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Hard to argue that after Oklahoma outscored its opponents 579-65 this season. By comparison, the 2013 Sooners powered by (former NCAA career home-run leader) Lauren Chamberlain and Co. only outscored opponents 476-74.
Is this Sooners softball team the best team in Oklahoma history?
There have been lots of great Sooner teams, namely the 1974 Oklahoma football team which had eight All-Americans and outscored opponents 473-92. But crazy as it sounds, this softball team actually scored more runs than that football team scored points.
Are these Sooner softballers the best college team in any sport?
Now, that’s hard to gauge, but these Sooners are not only in the conversation but also on the shortlist.
But the question of whether Oklahoma softball has become a dynasty is not up for debate.
Oklahoma has won four of the last six national championships — 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022.
And the other two times the WCWS was played during that stretch, Oklahoma also has a runner-up finish. That means since 2016, OU has been one of the top two teams in the country every year but one.
Look back a little further, and Oklahoma has won five of the past nine titles.
What’s more, does anyone think the Sooner Express will slow down any time soon?
Sure, Oklahoma will lose some important pieces off this roster, namely the home run queen, Jocelyn Alo. But all of the super-seniors were used heavily in the Sooners’ rotation. Hope Trautwein. Jana Johns. Taylon Snow. Lynnsie Elam.
Still, the Sooners have lots of star power ready to step into the void. Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman and Jordy Bahl are already among the best players in the country.
And who among us doesn’t believe Gasso and Co. will bring in top recruits and the cream of the portal crop.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Relish what the Sooners did this season, this postseason and this past week. Oklahoma outscored opponents 64-17 at the WCWS. That’s a crazy score differential.
But here’s something crazier: the Sooners actually hit as many homers in the WCWS as their opponents scored runs.
“It’s like you blink, you give an inch,” Texas coach Mike White said, “and they take a mile.”
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When I talked with Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables during Wednesday night’s game, he raved about the culture of Sooner softball.
“They play with such an infectious, positive energy, and I love how they pull for each other,” he said. “The most routine groundout will be like the greatest play in history when you watch how they celebrate. They really celebrate their teammates’ success.
“Just the epitome of what you want from a team.”
And having been with Oklahoa football in the 2000s, then with Clemson since, Venables knows building that kind of culture isn’t easy much less instantaneous.
He credits Gasso.
“She’s fostering and nurturing that environment and then finding the selfless girls that are the best of the best in the game,” Venables said. “It’s really unique and super cool to witness.”
Oklahoma isn’t a perfect team. It lost a game to UCLA in the WCWS. It fell behind Texas in both championship series games.
But there was never really a moment in this season or this series when it felt like the Sooners wouldn’t be dogpiling at the end.
“They never wavered,” Gasso said. “They never backed off. They never came to practice saying, ‘I don’t want to do this.’
“It’s just who we are.”
It’s who they have become and who they expect to be for years to come, and along the way, they’ve added another title.
Not just a champion.
A dynasty.
Jenni Carlso can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok.