It has been a long time since Patty Gasso broke. The architect of college softball's premiere program lost her mind when Oklahoma last won a national title.
She did not let her emotions get to her during the final out of the Women's College Worlds Series win over Texas.
She survived the curtain call of the best hitter in the sport.
She survived the confetti, the trophy, the hugs and the team photo.
After she left the locker room and sat down for the postgame news conference, the tears started to come out.
She asked about the D-word and the dynasty. When a reporter asked, "When you hear this program talked about in the same sentence as other programs, what does that do in your head?" she blinked hard.
She said she didn't think it was true.
She tried and failed to regain her composure.
She was not sure how to answer. I don't believe that way.
She said it was so strange. She was like a fan when she watched the post game celebration.
She said that they don't know how good they are. I do not know how good they are.
What is it that's good? What about the best?
Gasso told the media that they all have the statistics.
The 49 wins and batting average of the best college softball team in the country speaks for itself. Oklahoma set a record for home runs in a single game. The Sooners won their next three games by a combined score of 39-0, using the run rule.
"I could rank them very, very high, if not the highest, because everything they do looks so easy to me, and they do it quickly," Gasso said.
Oklahoma's dominance was on full display in the first two games of the series, with a 16-1 win over Texas in Game 1 and a 4-2 victory over Texas in Game 2.
It was obvious when Jayda Coleman leaped to catch a two-run home run in the sixth. Coleman said it was crazy that they practiced that all the time.
She has seen her do it over and over again.
Alo said that she had robbed him.
The greatness of this team is the way they set the bar so high and reached it time and time again. Gasso admitted that she began to anticipate a home run every time she faced Alo. She was a long way off.
It wasn't just Alo changing it's name. The top power hitters in Texas had 11 and 12 home runs. The Oklahoma team had six players with 13 or more home runs, including Grace Lyons.
Jenny was a member of the great Arizona teams of the mid 1990s. She won three titles. She says that the big bats are the difference-maker in the best games.
She doesn't know if the 1994 Arizona team was better because she was on it. I believe this team is more complete. The team has more strength. I would like to say "All right, 1994 Arizona, you take on 2022 Oklahoma" We wouldn't be able to run anymore so it would have to be a video game.
After laughing, she turned serious again.
The team could go down as the best in the history of our sport.
In the fall of 1994 there was no stadium for the Oklahoma softball team to play in. The field was not even dedicated. After five years at Long Beach City junior college in California, Gasso moved to Oklahoma and found Reaves Park to be too small to hold all of her players.
They had to pick up beer cans that had been thrown away the night before.
Gasso said it was trash everywhere.
After leaving the center of the softball universe of the West Coast for her first Power 5 job, Gasso went to work scouting junior colleges for a quick influx of talent. That was only a short term solution. She put her signs on a left-handed pitcher named Lana Moran.
Gasso charged ahead without the benefit of a rich program history and a fear of rejection. She said to make them say no.
Moran was the first one to say yes.
Then it was on to the other people.
"I tried to get them here, but that's how it started," Gasso said.
Lauren Chamberlain was the most accomplished hitter of all time when she retired, and Oklahoma became a destination program because of it.
The Sooners couldn't predict how big Marita Hynes Field would be before it was open. The Sooners won it all two years later. They were in Oklahoma City for a long time.
They need one more change to become a dynasty. She realized she had to dial it back because she had to be relentless in order to build something. She had to allow herself to be more than a softball player.
By smoothing out her sharper edges, she created a kind of family atmosphere that would attract a number of people, including a couple of girls. A half-dozen All-Americans were on Oklahoma's team this season that's so deep it's hard to believe.
Gasso doesn't have to push them until they say no.
The difference between Patty Gasso and other people is visibility. She built a brand that stood for excellence and stood for a bar that had been raised above others. She's been able to recruit the right kind of athlete before she's ever met them thanks to social media.
Before this year's NCAA tournament began, star freshman Jordy Bahl heard a pop in her arm and was immediately injured. Most programs would have gone into a nosedive without the co- Big 12 Pitcher of the year. Gasso brought in former North Texas ace Hope Trautwein, a senior transfer who once tossed a 21-strikeout perfect game, during the off-season. The transition from the best pitcher in softball to the team's go-to starter was seamless as Trautwein fit in beautifully at Oklahoma.
The road to back-to-back national titles was barely affected by Bahl's absence.
Reaves Park was unable to hold them. Marita Hynes Field can't keep up with their star power.
They're constructing again. There is a sign in the parking lot that says Love's Field, a $42 million stadium and softball complex that will start with 3,000 seats and keep growing, will be ready by the year 2024.
How they honor Gasso will be the only question.
There are statues of Oklahoma's legendary football coaches outside of the football stadium.
Stoops said he didn't want his own to go up until he was retired.
There is no way to know when Gasso will walk away from the machine she has created.
Stoops won his first national title in 2000.
Stoops said that he played in three more and lost all of them. She has played in a lot more and won a lot of them.
Stoops knows what greatness means. He knows what it's like to play with the weight of expectation. He can't get over how easy it is for Gasso's team to make it look good.
He admits he's not a softball expert, but he can see how this team never lost its passion for the game and that Gasso pushed all the right buttons.
The key is their emotional state, according to Stoops.
Jayda Coleman had a double in the first game of the championship series and screamed at the bench.
Alo jogging the bases, her arms stretched out wide, diving into a swarm of supportive teammates at home plate.
The person is telling the other person to pick him up.
Snow said that she went out and hit a home run. It's great to see that happen.
In order to truly appreciate Oklahoma's team dynamic, you need to pay attention to the senior catcher who has sacrificed for the program.
Lynnsie Elam was Oklahoma's leader.
Five years ago, Elam came to Oklahoma as a coveted recruit and started playing for the Sooners. Elam didn't fight when Gasso split time and got Kinzie Hansen on the field. Instead, she embraced a restructured role, made the most of her opportunities, and continued to lead regardless of whether she was in the starting lineup or not.
Gasso said she was the best leader he had had.
Gasso praised the five-person class. She talked about how Trautwein stepped up in Bahl's absence, as well as how "Joce is Joce."
She made her way to Elam.
The glue that makes this team stick is Lynnsie Elam. The glue is her. She isn't always in the game, but she is still our captain in the bench. I don't know how I could repay her, but she is one of those players that will be associated with greatness for the rest of their lives.
Alo said she wouldn't have made it this far if it weren't for Elam. It was Elam who made sure she woke up on time for her morning weight-lifting sessions, who offered to drive her to Walmart when she didn't have a car, and who asked many times if she wanted to go to the cages and hit.
She deserves every accomplishment that's coming her way because she's worked really, really hard for what she's accomplished these past five years.
Only time will tell what will happen to Alo.
She didn't give a clue as to which professional league she would be in.
"I don't know which one I'm playing in yet," she said, "but I know some Sooner fans and fans all over the world are going to keep following me."
That feels good. The Oklahoma faithful have been following the Jocelyn Alo Experience for five years and are not ready to stop.
She broke the home run record this season, which has introduced her to a larger audience. After Monday's games, Tom Brady sent her a private message. White said she should run for mayor when she returns to her hometown.
She is not a famous softball player. She is a famous person.
Gasso compared her to a famous baseball player. It's impossible to ignore her flair for dramatics.
She has been in Oklahoma City for a week and a half. Fans put off bathroom breaks and stood at attention when she walked into the batter's box for fear of missing something special. Little girls are trying to catch their next home run by pressing their phones against the screen.
Girls followed Alo down the hallway of the hotel. She had to put a "Do not disturb" sign on her door.
The people pay to see Alo. She says she wants to leave her mark. Her mark has been left. She has accomplished it. It is just icing on the cake for her.
She leaves the game with a record 122 career home runs and only five runs away from the all-time record for career batting average. She is the greatest hitter of all time, for now.
What she leaves behind is the scariest thing for the rest of college softball.
The world is in awe of what he's doing. I am aware of that. The same thing is being quietly done by the same person.
Alo was worried that she would surpass her career record of 26 years. Even though she's over halfway to her record, the analyst is resigned to the fact that she'll have two full seasons left.
She had 92 in her first year and almost 90 this year. You can't tell me that she won't do more than Alo.
Losing Alo's bat will affect the rest of the lineup. Five of the team's top six hitters are expected to come back. Bahl and May will be back. The incoming freshman left-handed pitcher, Extra Innings Softball's No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2022.
Late Thursday night, the home run queen left the softball capital of the world.
She believes the team she leaves behind will return to Oklahoma City soon.
Alo thought the Sooners were the best of all time.
Alo said that he has seen the Sooners get better year in and year out. They could make a run for the best team, too, and years to come, but I don't know what the future holds.
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