As Patty Gasso Gears Up for OU Softball ‘Rebuild,’ Sooners’ Returning Core Holds Promise for Future

Patty Gasso didn’t sound like one who’s ready to call it a career as she sat on the postgame press conference platform Thursday night, looking ahead to the future.

“I’m ready to start coaching again,” Gasso said, explaining that she had it easy this year with a battle-tested and determined group of seniors who really “coach(ed) each other.”

Gasso’s OU squad accomplished what no other college softball program has before this week, winning a historic fourth straight national championship by sweeping rival Texas in the Women’s College World Series championship series.

As the decisive Game 2 of the finals Thursday night at Devon Park neared its end, it started to set in for many that OU’s band of 10 seniors were down to their final at-bats and pitches.

Five of those seniors — Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen, Rylie Boone, and Nicole May — contributed to all four championships. The other five, headlined by Alyssa Brito and Kelly Maxwell, were transfers who came along to help maintain the title pursuit.

All the seniors had an indelible impact that will be hard to replace. OU is also on the doorstep of entering the Southeastern Conference, which will present new challenges for the Sooners’ softball program to navigate.

And yet, Gasso is very optimistic about the new core of Sooners that emerged in the WCWS and will carry the torch in the years to come.

“I’m really excited,” Gasso said. “They are, too. This group of seniors really left their mark. That’s one thing you want them to do, is leave the program better than you found it. They really did a good job of training and teaching these young athletes what it’s going to look like in the future.

“The future is very, very bright.”