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Softball  | Softball Tournament  | 6/2/2021

WCWS Begins Again in OKC

Jerry Miller     
Photo: Perfect Game
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The field is set for the 2021 NCAA Division-I Women’s College World Series. Play begins on Thursday, when the University of Oklahoma plays upstart James Madison University in the opening contest. All games, as per tradition, will be held at newly-renovated USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium on Oklahoma City’s near north side.
 
Following the OU-JMU matchup, the University of Georgia will tangle with a very talented Oklahoma State University club in the second game of the first session. OSU and UGA are arriving in OKC playing arguably their best ball of the year.
 
In the first game of the evening session on Thursday, fans will be treated to a clash of traditional college stalwarts when the University of Alabama and the University of Arizona meet in what will certainly be a highly entertaining game. The last game of the day will find the defending national champions, the UCLA Bruins, tangling with the 2018 national championship program, Florida State University.
 
Session I – Game 1
 
Oklahoma (50-2) vs. James Madison (39-2)
 
OKLAHOMA
 
Patty Gasso’s 26th season at Oklahoma has been nothing short of spectacular. The 50-win Sooners arrive at the WCWS with laser focus. OU, arguably, is the most dominant softball program in the country over the past decade, winning three national championships and making it to the finals in two other years. Only Florida, with two championships and two finals appearances, comes close to duplicating Oklahoma’s dominance in the sport since 2010.
 
The Sooners are led on the field by the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Jocelyn Alo. The Hauula, Hawaii native has been other-worldly this spring. The senior has put up video game-like numbers. Her .487 batting average and 1.714 OPS are numbers that few reach. Her 30 home runs and 82 RBI are eye-popping, but when one considers the fact that she has only struck out 14 times in 156 plate appearances, the full picture becomes impressive. It is easy to see why Alo is the 2021 Player of the Year.
 
Alo doesn’t do it alone, however, and that is why OU has been so completely dominant this spring. Tiare Jennings, a freshman out of San Pedro, Calif., has impacted the Sooners in a big way in her first year. Her .485 battings average and 1.596 OPS rival Alo’s. She has also supplied power, hitting 25 bombs, and driving in 84. Her 22 doubles are also a noticeable number for a player at any stage in her career. For a freshman, playing the schedule that Oklahoma plays, it is even more impressive. Lastly, like Alo, Jennings doesn’t walk back to the dugout empty very often. She has only struck out 13 times in her 169 trips to the dish. 
 
Sooner catcher Kinzie Hansen, a sophomore from Norco, Calif., has had a banner year. One of the top defensive backstops in the country, she is also an offensive force. Hansen has gaudy numbers, too. Her 21 dingers and 58 RBI make the middle of the Sooner order devastating.  Like Alo and Jennings, Hansen makes the most of her trips to the plate, striking out only five times in 150 at-bats.
 
The OU pitching staff is just as dominating as their offense, if not more-so. The three arms that take to the circle for the Sooners are all No. 1-type hurlers. Patty Gasso’s abundance of riches allows her to really pick and choose who she wants to run out to the middle of the diamond. Although each pitcher has their own style, the results are basically the same. They all work fast. They all throw strikes with more than two pitches, and they get their dominant offense back into the dugout.
 
Land O’ Lakes, Fla. redshirt sophomore Shannon Saile is a righty with an unblemished won-loss record. Her 17-0 mark by itself would catch anyone’s eye. The fact that she put up that mark in such a convincing way makes it even more awesome. Saile has thrown 85 2/3 innings this spring and has allowed a mere 46 hits. She has only walked 42 and has struck out 121. Her 1.68 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and .159 batting average against helps paint the complete picture. Saile is dominant.
 
Not to be outdone by her teammate, redshirt senior lefty Giselle Juarez has also had a sterling season. The Glendale, Ariz. veteran hurler has an 18-1 mark and has thrown 96 2/3 innings, the most on the Sooner staff.  Juarez has only allowed 65 hits and has walked a scant 16. Her 121 strikeouts match her teammate Saile for the team lead. Her .84 WHIP and .186 opponents batting average shows why she is the workhorse of the OU staff.
 
Rounding out the impressive Oklahoma pitching staff is Pleasanton, Calif. freshman Nicole May. All May has done in her freshman campaign is compile a 13-1 mark, while posting a 2.25 ERA. In her 76 innings in the circle, May has allowed only 54 knocks and 19 walks. She has punched out 85 and her .96 WHIP and .196 batting average against is truly a big plus for the young right-hander.
 
The Sooners, playing a de-facto home game each and every time they take the field, will be a tough out for any team they come up against. They have few, if any, holes on offense, defense or in the circle. Oklahoma is tough and they play the game with a spirit and intensity that matches their head coach’s personality. They are confident and they are talented. “Boomer Sooner” will be the cry heard over the course of the tournament. When OU takes the field, Hall of Fame Stadium will be rocking.
 
JAMES MADISON
 
James Madison has earned their way to Oklahoma City and if any club in the field takes them lightly, they will soon find out why the very talented Dukes club is here. Led by their very successful head coach, Loren LaPorte (344-86 in nine years), the 39-2 JMU team is not only solid, they are capable of beating any team in the WCWS.
 
The Dukes had to go on the road in both the regionals and super-regionals and run through a gauntlet of outstanding teams to get here. They, probably more than any other club in the draw, have been tested and proven. They obviously have handled the pressure of big games on the road, against hostile crowds and talented opponents. That is what they’ll face when they meet up with the Oklahoma Sooners in the lid-lifter of the 2021 WCWS.
 
JMU proved unfazed in winning the Knoxville Region and then went into Columbia, Mo. and defeated traditional SEC stalwart Missouri in the Super Regionals to punch their ticket to OKC.
 
Pitching and defense lead the way for James Madison. Redshirt senior Odicci Alexander is the Dukes’ primary arm and they willed their way to the WCWS behind the gutty performances of this gifted right-handed pitcher. The Boydton, Va. native has been solid all year for the Dukes. She has posted a 16-1 record, which, on its own merit, would be something to talk about. Her supporting numbers truly tell of her dominance and why JMU always has a chance when they take the field with Alexander in the circle. She has posted a 1.14 ERA and a .78 WHIP, numbers reserved for only the very best in the country. The Dukes also have another solid arm they can lean on besides their ace. Micanopy, Fla. freshman Alissa Humphrey has posted an unblemished 14-0 mark this spring. Her 1.51 ERA and .84 WHIP shows many why James Madison has won 39 of 41 games and have more than a punchers chance to make some noise in OKC.
 
Offensively, the Dukes are led by Sara Jubas and Kate Gordon. Jubas, a redshirt junior out of McLean, Va. has had a truly outstanding year at the dish. She has a .409 batting average and a 1.217 OPS. Those two numbers don’t tell the entire story, however. Jubas Has hit 10 homers and also has posted 12 doubles, while driving in 34 runs. The talented shortstop has only struck out five times in 132 at-bats. Kate Gordon, a veteran redshirt senior from Shenandoah, Va., has supplied the power for the Dukes. Her 18 homers and 55 RBI lead the club. Toss in 11 two-baggers and it is easy to see why Gordon’s OPS is 1.263.
 
Many are referring to the JMU first round match-up with Oklahoma in “David and Goliath” type terms. One would think, however, that the Sooners aren’t looking past the Dukes at all. JMU is talented and they have the moxie, skill, grit, and mental toughness to beat anyone at any time.
 
Session I – Game 2
 
Georgia (34-21) vs. Oklahoma State (47-10)
 
GEORGIA
 
Georgia’s season was hanging by a thread heading into postseason play. They ended SEC play on a rather down note. They were swept by Arkansas (SEC champs) in Fayetteville. They lost 2-of-3 to Tennessee and were swept at home by Alabama and on the road to end the year at Mississippi State. They were then beat in the first game of the SEC tournament by Kentucky. To say they limped into the NCAA Regionals would be an understatement. However, they had two things going for them as they prepared to continue their season. First, they had split with the Oklahoma Sooners in the middle of their SEC downfall in the latter part of the year, handing OU one of their two losses. Secondly, they were and are Georgia. They do know how to win.
 
Lu Harris-Champer, in her 21st year at the helm at UGA, rallied her troops. The San Diego native, whose UGA program had made 19 straight NCAA postseason appearances, wasn’t going down without a fight. Her Bulldog program had made four previous trips to OKC, two of those in the past four years. UGA was battled-tested, and the ability was there. It was just a matter of putting it together at the right time. And that is exactly what they did.
 
UGA hosted and won the Athens Regional, defeating Western Kentucky by the run-rule and Duke, twice, by one run. By winning the regional they earned the unenviable opportunity to travel to Gainesville and play Tim Walton’s powerhouse Gator program at Katie Sheshole Pressly Stadium. Daunting would be an understatement. Winning in Gainesville as a road team is problematic. Winning twice, is almost impossible. All Georgia did was go into the Gator’s home field and shut them out. Twice.
 
Mary Wilson Avant, a Macon, Ga. native and grad student, could not have pitched much better against Florida. She threw two complete games and only allowed the always-powerful Gator offense seven hits over the course of 14 innings. That kind of dominance is almost unheard of and why the UGA Bulldogs, once again, find themselves in the WCWS field. Avant has 30 decisions on the year, posting a 20-10 mark. Her 2.69 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, while solid, don’t tell the true story. She seemed to have hit her stride late in the year and her dominant performances against Duke and Florida should give the veteran righty lots of confidence heading into the World Series.
 
Junior Lacey Fincher, a Tanner Williams, Ala. native, is the offensive leader for Georgia. Her numbers are sound for the year. She hit .338 with a 1.248 OPS. Her 15 home runs, eight doubles, and 37 RBI are solid and should help the Dogs make some noise in OKC.
 
Georgia is quietly confident, and they are playing their best ball of the year right now. Ask Florida. Florida’s club had the talent to win the whole thing this year and they are at home watching, not necessarily because of what they did or didn’t do, but because Georgia just played a little better for two days last weekend. Watch out for the Bulldogs, they could be scary dangerous in OKC.
 
OKLAHOMA STATE
 
A 47-win team should take a back seat to no one and Oklahoma State, coached by veteran Kenny Gajewski, certainly won’t. The Cowgirls arrive from Stillwater beaming with confidence after disposing of one of their Big 12 rivals, the Texas Longhorns, in the Super Regionals. Gajewski, a native of Los Alamitos, Calif., is a proven recruiter and teacher, and it hasn’t taken long for him to get OSU back to the top of the NCAA landscape. He played baseball at Oklahoma and was Tim Walton’s top assistant for a number of years. He knows how to win, and his baseball background has enabled him to see softball from a different vantage point. His team plays with confidence and a certain swagger that makes them, especially playing in their backyard, a definite threat to win it all.
 
It starts in the circle for Oklahoma State. Virginia Tech transfer and grad student Carrie Eberle will be tough on every offense she faces in OKC. Her 25-3 mark is off-the-charts good. She is used to big games under the lights against the best opponents. Being at the WCWS, in the Hall of Fame Stadium, should not faze the veteran out of Charlotte, N.C. Her supporting numbers dictate that Eberle is not only capable, but she has the ability to be dominant. Her 1.41 ERA in the tough Big 12 is impressive. She has thrown 178 2/3 innings this spring and struck out 153. Her 1.09 WHIP says she limits runners and damage and gets her high-powered offense back at the plate.
 
The Cowgirls are a force on offense. A scouting report would probably start with “There are no holes in their lineup. They can all hit”. Peachtree City, Ga. native Alysen Febrey, a transfer from Georgia, leads the way for OSU. Her numbers are gaudy. She hit .409 for the season and has a 1.268 OPS. Her 72 hits, 18 home runs, 17 doubles, and 59 RBI are All-American-like. She gets on base almost half of the time she comes to the plate.
 
Phoenix, Ariz. native Jailey Busby is also a transfer. She went to the University of Virginia before finding her way to Stillwater. Busby, like her teammate Febrey, is a hitter. Busby’s numbers almost match Febrey’s, too. The OF/DP hit an impressive .389 on the year and posted a 1.255 OPS. She slugged 19 homers, 12 doubles and drove in 49.
 
Senior Chelsea Alexander is the table-setter for the sluggers. Her .469 on-base percentage only tells part of the story. She hit.387 on the year. She scored a team-high 42 runs and stole 15 bases in 17 attempts. Her ability on the basepaths help her slugging friends get a lot of pitches to hit.
 
Oklahoma State is the complete package. They have talent all over the field. They can hit. They can hit with power. They can pitch and play defense. If an opposing team wants to beat the Cowgirls, playing in front of a mostly friendly and enthusiastic crowd, they had better bring their best effort or OSU will run them off the field.
 
Session II – Game 3
 
Alabama (50-7) vs. Arizona (41-13)
 
ALABAMA
 
Patrick Murphy has seen the movie and read the book. He knows all too well what is needed to capture a championship at the Women’s College World Series. He has one championship under his belt (2012) and has the talent, as evidenced by his club’s 50-win season, to win it all again this year. The Iowa native is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Crimson Tide, and once again has his team primed for a deep run in OKC. Bama is riding an 18-game winning streak and hasn’t lost a ballgame since April 17 when they dropped a game to Florida. They’re hot and they come into the WCWS playing with great confidence.
 
As always, the Crimson Tide is loaded in the circle. Grayson, Ky. native Montana Fouts gets the majority of the innings for Alabama as evidenced by her 25-3 record and 196 2/3 innings pitched.  Fouts has thrown 22 complete games and nine shutouts on the year. Her 314 strikeouts are by far the most for any pitcher in the tournament. Her most telling number with regards to her dominance is her .92 WHIP. It’s really hard for the other team to win if they are not getting on base.
 
Lexi Kilfoyl, a sophomore from Land O’ Lakes, Fla., is a great option for the Alabama coaching staff. Kilfoyl could probably be the No. 1 for 95 percent of the programs in the country, as she is that good. She has posted a 13-3 mark on the year and thrown nine complete games. She has struck out 118 in 93 2/3 innings and has posted a .94 WHIP.
 
Bama’s offense is multi-dimensional and can beat you in a bunch of ways. They can hit and steal bases. They can hit and run. They can get runners on, move them over and get them in. You never, outwardly, see an Alabama hitter get over-anxious, especially with two strikes. The Crimson Tide always appear to be in control of every at-bat.
 
Brecksville, Ohio native Alexis Mack, a grad student who has played in a couple of programs before landing is Tuscaloosa, understands her role completely. Get on base. Be opportunistic. Steal a bag. Force the action, and let the big guns drive you home. Her .416 batting average and .474 on-base percentage paints the picture. She has stolen 24 bags in 28 attempts and has scored 61 runs. Just what a table-setter is supposed to do, and she does it well.
 
One of the big boppers in the middle of the lineup is Lafayette, La. native Bailey Hemphill. The grad student, playing in her last year, has had a remarkable campaign for Coach Murphy. Her .416 average and 1.324 OPS make her a top power threat in the middle of the Crimson Tide lineup. She has hit 12 homers and has added seven doubles and 52 RBI to the mix. What is truly amazing, and this is not a typo; Hemphill has drawn 53 walks and has only struck out six times. Incredible.
 
Alabama should always be considered one of the favorites each and every time they walk onto the OGE Energy Field at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium. The veteran staff instills in the program certain expectations and each and every player who wears the Tide unform knows what those are. Watch out for Alabama. They have played well for over six weeks and appear to be playing their very best right now. Expect to hear a lot of ‘Roll Tide’ the next few days in OKC.
 
ARIZONA
 
The Wildcats are back again. Arizona is making its 24th trip to the Women’s College World Series. The leader of the Arizona program is the NCAA ‘s all-time winningest coach, Mike Candrea, now in his 35th year at helm of this tradition-rich program. Coach Candrea has won 1,817 games to date, 1,633 of those as the skipper of the Arizona Wildcats. The Arizona program has eight national championship trophies in the case in Tucson and they are taking full aim at adding another this year.
 
The 41-win Wildcats are talented and deep. They are led by decorated and tested veterans. Dejah Mulipola, from Garden Grove, Calif., is a redshirt senior and is the most talented catcher in the land. She is a Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year recipient, the NFCA Catcher of the Year, a consensus first-team All-American, and a member of the USA National Women’s Team. Her 2021 stats are matched by few. She hit .401 on the season with a 1.434 OPS. Of her 57 hits, 21 were dingers. She added eight doubles and drove in a team-leading 63 runs. She drew 33 walks and scored a team-high 52 runs.
 
Redshirt freshman Janelle Meono, a native of Hacienda Heights, Calif., has had a special year. The table-setter for the Wildcats hit .439 with a 1.007 OPS. Her 69 knocks led this impressive lineup. She scored 44 runs and stole 12-of-13 bases. If Moreno goes, the Wildcats go.
 
Redshirt senior and ULL transfer Alyssa Denham has been the anchor for the Wildcats in the circle. She takes the ball from Coach Candrea and consistently rises to the challenge. The Pearland, Texas native has 27 decisions on the year, posting a 19-8 record in the always-tough Pac-12 conference. Denham threw 137 2/3 innings and posted a 1.88 ERA.
 
Ramona, Calif. native and redshirt junior Hannah Bowen added to the pitching depth for the Wildcats, putting up 10 wins in a 13-decision campaign. Bowen threw 98 solid innings, striking out 76. Her .89 WHIP is among the best marks in OKC this week.
 
The Wildcats will compete with any team in the field over the course of the tournament. If coaching comes into play, count on Mike Candrea to make the right moves. The 2021 version of Arizona softball is quietly confident, mirroring the disposition of their head coach. They are gifted, experienced, and have won on the road against formidable opponents. They are battle-tested and ready for the whatever team is in the other dugout. It would surprise absolutely no one in OKC to see the Arizona Wildcats hoisting the championship trophy next week.
 
Session II – Game 4
 
UCLA (46-5) vs. Florida State (44-10-1)
 
UCLA
 
The last time a championship trophy was presented in Oklahoma City, Head Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez and the UCLA Bruins took it back to Westwood. The defending national champions are back again in OKC with their sights on winning their 14th national title. Inouye-Perez is in her 33rd straight year at UCLA. She has enjoyed five decades of success as a Bruin, spending five years there as a player, 13 as an assistant coach, and the past 15 at the helm of the most decorated Division-I program in the country. Her 2021 team, a club that has posted 46 wins to date, is certainly talented enough to take home another crown.
 
Rachel Garcia, a redshirt senior from Palmdale, Calif., just may be the most decorated played in the entire tournament. She is a two-way standout who can beat you from the circle and at the plate. She was the 2019 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. She was also awarded the 2019 USA Softball Player of the Year trophy, as well as the NFCA National Player of the Year. Throw in the PAC-12 Player of the Year award and the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year award and 2019 was a banner year for Garcia. How did she top 2019 in 2020? She redshirted. But she redshirted for a reason. She was training for the 2020 Olympic Games with the USA National Team. COVID, of course, canceled the games until this year, so all is good for Garcia.
 
The two-way standout was dominant again for UCLA. At the plate, Garcia hit .361 with a 1.207 OPS. She hit 12 homers and added five doubles, knocking in 32. In the circle, as expected, Garcia was almost untouchable. She posted a 17-1 mark with 11 complete games. She only allowed 16 earned runs all year in putting up a 0.95 ERA. Her .77 WHIP is dominant in any league at any level. Garcia threw 118 1/3 innings, struck out 162 and allowed only 70 hits and 21 walks. Her .165 batting average against is among the best in the country.
 
Megan Faraimo, a redshirt sophomore from Vista, Calif., ably supported Garcia in the circle, going 19-3 on the year, with a 1.10 ERA. Faraimo threw 133 1/3 innings and struck out 184, allowing only 66 hits and 13 walks. That equates to an unbelievable .59 WHIP.
 
Briana Perez, a redshirt junior from Martinez, Calif., is one of the offensive leaders for the Bruins. Perez hit a cool .364 with a 1.157 OPS. She drove 13 pitches out of the park and chipped in another 10 doubles. Her 41 RBI were good enough for second on the club. She scored a team-leading 51 runs and stole 13-of-14 bases.
 
Delanie Wisz is a redshirt junior from Orcutt, Calif. The Loyola Marymount transfer was one of the leading sluggers for Coach Inouve-Perez’s Bruins this spring. Wisz hit .301 for the year with a 1.022 OPS. She hit a team-leading 14 homers and drove in 43, which also led the club. Her 46 knocks were good enough for second on the team.
 
The Bruins, after their game one loss in the Super Regionals to Virginia Tech, appear refocused, locked in and ready to defend their title. They have talent up and down their lineup and they have, arguably, the best pitcher in the land in the circle.
 
FLORIDA STATE
 
Coach Lonni Alameda’s Seminoles won the 2018 national championship. There are players on the current squad who were members of that team. Don’t think that won’t play dividends as this tournament progresses. The 2021 Florida State club earned their spot in the WCWS by going into Baton Rouge and defeating  Beth Torina’s LSU Tigers in their home ballpark. Never an easy task. FSU is tested and ready and have the talent to win the whole thing in OKC.
 
The depth of the Seminoles is noticeable, but their leaders truly shine through. Sydney Sherrill is a native of Moore, OKla. The redshirt junior was one of those prominent players who won a ring for FSU in 2018. She sets the table for the opportunistic Seminole club. Sherrill hit .313 on the year. She led her team in walks with 43 and scored a team-high 44 runs. Her .466 on-base percentage tells the story of her value to Coach Alameda and the Noles. Sherrill stole 13-of-15 bases and drove in 28 runs, good for second on the team.
 
Devyn Flaherty, a redshirt freshman from Sarasota, Fla., is a burner. She scored 37 runs on the year and was perfect in the stolen base department, going 18-for-18. Her five homers, .300 average, and .384 on-base percentage make her a vital cog in the FSU offense.
 
Make no mistake, however, the identity of the 2021 Florida State team begins and ends in the circle. Redshirt sophomore Kathryn Sandercock, a native of McLean, Va., takes a backseat to no one in the tournament. She posted an impressive 24-2 record this spring and carried the Noles through the Regional and Super Regional rounds. Sandercock threw 147 1/3 innings and put up sound numbers. Her ERA of 1.09 is as good as anyone in the country. She struck out 105 and only walked 23, showing her ability to locate and work both sides of the plate. Her .179 batting average against is more than commendable. Sandercock was rightfully named First-Team All-ACC and First-Team All-Southeast Region.
 
Like many of the outstanding teams in Oklahoma City, the Seminoles play with one heartbeat.  This version of FSU softball is a lot like the 2018 team. They play with an opportunistic mindset on offense, and they force teams into mistakes, which the Noles seemingly always capitalize on. They get sound pitching effort, especially from their best, Kathryn Sandercock. The Seminoles also play defense with the best of the teams here, and most importantly they pay attention to detail. Add all of that up, coupled with the coaching prowess of Lonni Alameda and her staff, and Florida State is a force to be dealt with.
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