The following year, the Sooners were crushed at Arizona 10-0 twice in three days. ", The homer was Alo's eighth of the season, and the eight-game stretch without a homer was tied for the second longest of her five-year career. 5.5 Where did Patty Gasso play softball? We would go over before we would practice picking up beer cans from the night before and (there was) just trash everywhere., At five oclock, we got kicked off the field for a slow pitch adult beer league, Johnson remembered. Earlier this season, Sparks told Gasso she intends to become a high school teacher and softball coach after she graduates. Recently, Mr. JT is the coach of the University of Oklahoma since July 2015. And then sophomore year, we butted heads a lot. So, they've been working really hard defensively. Then-AD Donnie Duncan trusted Hynes to make the hire. The longtime head coach was retiring, and the small, private NAIA school on the south side of Oklahoma City had started searching for a replacement. I get caught up in that and then I look at my players and Im like, What am I thinking? she said. Age, Biography and Wiki Patty Gasso was born on 27 May, 1962 in Los Angeles, CA. Everyone wants a piece of paradise, or at least a piece of what someone else believes that paradise is worth. Consider Gassos gambit successful. And she still is in the softball realm of it. Theyre just four victories away from matching the all-time record for consecutive wins in NCAA Division I softball history (47, set by Arizona in 1996-97). That anything less than two wins this week over Texas would amount to failure. Players would pick up their gear at the start of the season and not go back to the fieldhouse until the end. All of us had been recruited by someone different.. Even if she felt like she was on the inside, you would not be able to tell. Patty Gasso, Oklahoma's Hall of Fame coach, stood on the field Friday night and turned to wave a hand toward the Alo family -- many, many of them -- who gathered in front of the third-base dugout . "I don't think that at all. I was like, oh, she knows were going to win. Jocelyn and Levi were there almost every day of Jocelyn's high school years, and Koishigawa says, "We used to turn the machine up to 90 mph just so we could watch her rocket line drives into the back of the cage. Im like, Wow! "Huge relief," she said. How do we grow as women? Gasso herself has spoken in recent years about learning how to coach without being consumed by the profession. Mr. DJ earned a bachelors degree in the field of Science from Bradley University in 2018. The two-time defending Womens College World Series champs begin their path to a three-peat on Friday at 5 p.m. Pregnant at the time with her second son DJ, who would be born a few months later, Gasso had decided to move more than 1,300 miles and two time zones away from her previous post at Long Beach City College to take over a softball program that played its home games at a city park also used for slow-pitch adult beer league softball. After that, Patty and the school won the 6th National Softball Championship. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso talks with Oklahoma's Kinzie Hansen (9) and Alyssa Brito (33) during a softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Tennessee in the Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June 3, 2023. Instead, the tournament served as the beginning of a slow, frustrating process. She stood on the infield dirt and fought unsuccessfully to hold back tears as she told the girls, "This means a lot to me. Patricia Marie Gasso ( ne Froehlich; born May 27, 1962) [1] is an American softball coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. Jim moved back to California in 1999 to coach soccer at Fullerton Community College. 95 to tie the record set by former Sooner Lauren Chamberlain against Texas State on Feb. 20. Ian Maule,. Because when I was here as a young coach, he was run-ruling the daylights out of us. She doesn't care who you are, she doesn't care what stats you had the year before or what you did in high school or whatever. And much like Braitsch, everything about Gassos persona resonated with her. They held each other accountable, not letting anyone give up on brutal workouts. One summer, Gasso took it upon herself to shake hands with the tournament director. Finish! Once they get into the Gospel, God does the rest, Jim said of the Sooners. Here, he obtains his associate degree in the year 2008. Johnson and Cindy Ambrose were the two players from that years team selected to participate in the schools hiring process. This is where the winning behind the scenes happens, and after 28 years of coaching, Gasso can rest assured that shes added more to Gods Kingdom than four national championships. NORMANIts never easy to compensate for losing an all-time great. I knew I wanted to be a teacher and a coach, and growing up, through high school, there still wasnt a ton of college softball around me, Gasso told AllSoonners in 2020. They prayed together and knew it was time to fully put their faith in Christ. often before and after practice and games. 1 selection. "Jordy shared with our staff on Friday that she has been feeling a strong need to be closer to home for quite some time . And they share with each other like, The end is already written. The end has already been written, so what are we afraid of? I think she's thrilled. His beliefs were first validated on the mainland at a BYU camp when Jocelyn was in seventh grade. We always tell her shes gotten soft, Barrett said. Now I publish AllSooners, the Fan Nation/Sports Illustrated affiliate covering the Oklahoma Sooners. I didnt even know if they had a softball program. Also in 1990, the NCAA moved its softball national championship tournament to Oklahoma City, where Davis would send her coaching staff every other summer to watch some high-level games and make contacts in the business. Ten-to-15 minutes early was on time, and on time was late. Hannah Sparks, a 22-year-old senior catcher from Thomasville, Alabama, joined the Sooners last year after transferring from Northwest Florida State College. But the conversation with Gasso shifted her thinking. It was like, who is this coach coming in from some JUCO? The team was able to avenge its loss in a three-game sweep in April, outscoring the Bears 13-0 across the three games. The lady defeated the University of Texas on 8th June 2022 to win the Womens College World Series. But its going to take more than one person to fill those shoes.. (Patty and I) think about it all the time., Fellowship of Christian Athletes Staff Writer. The Gasso kids have followed in the footsteps of their mother, Patty Gasso. I just had to take it and learn. They have to see that it starts with you.. Jocelyn Alo, the best home run hitter in the history of NCAA softball, stood on that field about 100 yards from the home she grew up in, and 100 yards from the coconut trees that represent both beginnings and endings. OU was actually just the second non-West Coast school to win the Womens College World Series. Part of the reason the Sooners play with an abundance of joy and the (relative) absence of pressure is because Patty Gasso insists that no single player has the power to derail the dominance. "When I got here, I wasn't a player's coach, Gasso said. Roberts entrance was a turning point of sorts for Gasso, who had noticed in herself a win-at-all-costs attitude beginning to creep in. THE END WAS frustratingly slow. I earned the spot that I deserved, Braitsch said. And thats why they play it so freely. The two adorable, young, and talented kids are keenly interested in sports. And it wasn't planned this way. The frustration reached its peak in the third inning of the Sooners' 8-0 run-rule win over Cal on Friday afternoon. But now, here, youve got to be good on both sides of the ball.. Jim Gasso is the father of their two sons. While Gasso is now synonymous with Oklahoma and its ongoing softball dynasty, her roots are in California, the state she hoped to work in as an aspiring young coach. It changed everything, really. She sold her vision to people who didnt always see it and had the type of success that convinced others to get on board, too. to talk to a stark contrast from when Gasso was first cutting her teeth in big-time college softball, doing all she could to convince players to come to Norman at a time when softball championships ran through UCLA and Arizona. They sat in on interviews. They are proud to be the parents of Joseph and Grace. 1Patty Gasso is the difference. Youre not here to win games. But as the players say, its already been written. Apart from this, he is a certified Level 1 coach in Crossfit. Ive figured out what my purpose is here. THE FIRST PARK that couldn't contain Jocelyn Alo is 100 yards from the ocean and 100 yards from the house where she grew up. In June 2020, Patty Gasso kids, DJ Gasso became an Assistant Softball Coach at the University of Utah. OU was a defending National Champion, and only had to . It's just the way she can move the ball in on you. Could not have been scripted.". Im orchestrating, but (players are) playing the instruments. KANSAS CITY, Mo.Patty Gasso is all about the wins, but not in the way one might think. SS PODCAST: OU softball coach Patty Gasso on Gods guidance in coaching She doesnt have to police things like she used to. Additionally, he obtained a masters degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2020. The Sooners will host a regional and, if they advance, a super regional as well. Patty is still the head coach at Oklahoma, and her teams have won the national championship six times in 2000, 2016, 2013, 2017, 2021, and 2022 and have advanced to the Women's College World Series fifteen times. Former players are more than welcome around the program, and Gasso does a decent job of seeking them out herself Braitsch will always be appreciative of something as simple as her coach attending her police academy graduation. He has said over the years he knew how loaded that roster was when he departed. Having those conversations is more like a mentor figure or a motherly figure rather, more than back in the day, it was more of an authority figure in my life.. Moses received help from Aaron and Hur, who held up his hands, helping lead Joshua to victory. Koishigawa monitored the reaction of his catcher and immediately realized his mistake. Each Sooner, she explained, possessed one of those three mens qualitiesleadership, strength and resilienceand could use it to help the team to victory. I will call her for anything, Ill text her random things that are funny, Alo said. I mean, y'all saw us play on ESPN, weve been playing games. Without pomp and circumstance, with a bunch of players Gasso didnt recruit, in a city park littered with glass bottles and trash, the Oklahoma dynasty began. And what I will always remember are her emotions, just standing out on that field in front of 70-plus little kids, saying, 'My dream is coming true, and I want you to be better than I am.'". On Saturday, Gassos Sooners (51-1) took down the rival Texas Longhorns, 6-1, to capture the Big 12 Conference Tournament title and extend their winning streak to a school-record 43 straight wins. when she took the LBCC job. They are my family., Thats whats been part of the secret sauce, said longtime Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. The new face in the pitching rotation is having to learn the Oklahoma standard, too. I think people will start pitching to me normally again. He had just taken the OU (president's) job, she said. 1-ranked Sooners run-ruled their opponents. It's a bunch that won the Big 12 regular-season crown last weekend and is the favorite to win the Big 12 tournament title this weekend.. And now, the postseason awards have started rolling in.OU nearly swept all the major Big 12 awards earlier this week. Led by faith, OU softball caps dominant season with 2nd straight national title #ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/KniEGiet6Y, Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 14, 2023, Were not afraid to lose games, Gasso told ESPN after earning the No. Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman. But I feel like shes kind of let her guard down as a person. During this time, Gasso naturally became the coach recruits wanted to talk to a stark contrast from when Gasso was first cutting her teeth in big-time college softball, doing all she could to convince players to come to Norman at a time when softball championships ran through UCLA and Arizona. 1 overall seed. In her appearances as a playable avatar in LSL3 and LSL5, Patti isn't shy about flirting, lusting over men, and otherwise expressing her sexual desires.For instance, she places a personal ad in the LSL3 manual, presented in the form of a tourist's guide to the game's tropical island setting, seeking casual sex.In a scene from LSL5 that plays quite differently in 2019 than it did in 1991 . And I told him that. What if she just didnt click with the new coach? Gasso and her players insist, however, that they arent burdened by the winning streak or by the pursuit of a third consecutive national championship. By 1997, Gasso was inviting her Oklahoma players to a voluntary weekly Bible discussion. She's got arguably the best college softball team in the country. Follow Nicole on Twitter @NicoleAuerbach, Gassos Sooners won it all in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2021. Before we start this conversation, she said to the players, what are you guys in trouble for?. So one day he decided to bet big: He brought Jocelyn to the baseball field from softball practice and announced to his team that from that day forward, Alo -- a catcher at the time -- would be playing with the baseball team. In Gassos early years with the Sooners, she admits she was a little shy about speaking out about Jesus. It was a sense of Gods power allowing us to play free, Gasso said. Im sure the candidates thought, like, What am I getting myself into? Johnson said, laughing. As outfielder Angie Holwell Siegel put it, teams are always going to test a coachs boundaries. "It's a full-circle moment, for sure," she kept saying. He was always waking me up, Mom! Who cares that you're an All-American one season, because the next season, you could be the worst player on the team.. Games, mind you, that the team could hardly charge fans money to attend, because, well, there werent exactly gates to keep anyone out. what position did patty gasso play. Josh Callaway. Try a week on us. Coach Gasso looked directly at me, Kelli Braitsch said, even though my mom asked the question, and she said, Kelli will play whatever position she earns.. Castiglione describes it as Gasso evolving and adapting more so than changing who she is or her core values. Table Source: Wikipedia Starting pitcher Giselle Juarez was once again tremendous, throwing seven sensational innings that locked . And I wasnt quite sure I was doing the right thing. 23. Because its not about what people say or what people want. However, he hasnt disclosed his mothers name publicly. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams), two-time defending Womens College World Series champs, Gasso told Sports Spectrum before the season, SS PODCAST: OU softball coach Patty Gasso on Gods guidance in coaching, SS PODCAST: Oklahoma SS Grace Lyons, OF Rylie Boone on faith & success, SS PODCAST: Oklahoma pitcher Jordy Bahl, coach JT Gasso on faith, success, OU softballs Jayda Coleman gets baptized as team pursues 3rd straight title, Quincee Lilio baptized amid Oklahoma softballs culture of winning & faith, Led by faith, OU softball caps dominant season with 2nd straight national title, OU punter Michael Turk, softball star Grace Lyons get engaged with God at center, SS PODCAST: Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh on growing in faith, SS PODCAST: Former Indiana guard Matt Roth on leadership, winning, coaching for Jesus, GET IN THE GAME PODCAST: Homer, Scott & Bryce Drew College Basketball Coaches, SS PODCAST: Eagles assistant coach Jemal Singleton on being a doer of Gods Word, Alabama linemen Olaus Alinen, Kadyn Proctor get baptized ahead of freshman season, Daily Devotional: Monday, July 17 - Made To Worship, Daily Devotional: Friday, July 14 - Walking With God, 19-year-old USMNT winger Cade Cowell choosing faith over fear amid transfer speculation, GET IN THE GAME PODCAST: Homer, Scott & Bryce Drew - College Basketball Coaches. Likewise, Patty Gasso is an American softball coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. I want to be the kind of coach she is because I want to reach people the way she reaches people, Sparks said. Patty Gasso is the mother of JT Gasso (Head Coach) and DJ Gasso (Assistant Softball Coach). Youre the No. JT Gasso is the eldest child in the Gasso family. Its just past noon in Oklahoma City, and underneath Hall of Fame Stadiums main concourse, Patty Gasso sits in a room, designed specifically for the purpose of her teams Tuesday press conference, with three of her players star senior Jocelyn Alo, the star-in-the-making Tiare Jennings and OUs newfound ace Hope Trautwein to her right. Her talent kept taking them farther and farther away from this village, and farther from the people who gave it its essence: to a travel team in Southern California, where Levi and Jocelyn would rent a tiny apartment next to a batting cage in Orange County and work to create the kind of talent that more and more parks were unable to contain. Yes, its where OU played its home games and even hosted postseason events before its current stadium opened in 1998. Each week before their Sunday games, the Sooner softball players hold voluntary prayer services, Bible discussions and chapel services. Even just before I walked in here, were pressing them in decision making and situational. Gasso would delegate jobs, such as raking leaves, picking up trash around the softball complex and cleaning the home dugout. The father knew his daughter had the ability and determination to accomplish great things, and he was willing to sacrifice -- and impose the same sacrifice upon his daughter -- to give her the best chance of making it happen. I just ran a very tight ship.. I was on the phone, every night, trying to recruit over the phone. Patty Gasso was in the position of head coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. OU punter Michael Turk, softball star Grace Lyons get engaged with God at center. After back-to-back national championships, Oklahoma is an easy sell. Thats where my family was, but a junior college coach from Long Beach is not going to get a D-I job in California. Ross is a young sports reporter who recently graduated from OU and is excited about his career path in sports. Wow, this is amazing! . As the national titles began to stack up (six and counting) so did the professions of faith and baptisms from the team. Judy Braitsch inquired what position Gasso envisioned her daughter playing at the next level and received an answer her daughter cant forget. Ive had to personally grow in a lot for ways, she said. June 10, 2021 6:24 pm CT. No. Gasso, who had never been to Hau'ula, said, "What I saw on that field was humility. There was a pageantry and a professionalism that Gasso wanted to establish. Aviu was a freshman when, inside the team room, team chaplain Sarah Roberts, who served as FCAs director of womens ministry in Oklahoma at the time, shared the story in Ex. Mock draft 2.0: Which MCWS standout goes No. It wasnt until she stopped playing that she fully grasped Gasso was much more than a softball skipper trying to win games. She has spent her entire career as a coach for the past two decades. Yes, Patty Gasso has three grandchildren. Because its Arizona and Mike Candrea and what Arizona did back in the day was phenomenal, Gasso said Friday after taking down Clemson in the first game of the Norman Super Regional. Im like, wait a minute. Understanding the slim chance she had at taking the helm of a California-based program, Gasso went east to Norman, Oklahoma, to build a blue blood of her own. Like Sanders, Torres was also a member of the All-Pac-12 first team after batting .339 with 16 home runs and 40 RBIs at Arizona State.