All Sooners

Oklahoma Dominates D1 Softball Top 100

The two-time defending national champion landed 10 players on the preseason list, including four in the top 10 and the No. 1 overall spot.

John E. Hoover

Softball season is less than a month away, and as Oklahoma ramps up for a three-peat, D1Softball has whet America’s appetite with a tantalizing list.

Ten Sooners landed on D1Softball’s Preseason Top 100 players list this week, including a familiar face at No. 1: second baseman Tiare Jennings.

Shortstop Grace Lyons, infielder Cydney Sanders, pitcher Jordy Bahl, outfielder Jayda Coleman, catcher Kinzie Hansen, pitcher Alex Storako and infielders/outfielders Alyssa Brito and Alynah Torres all found a spot on the list (requires subscription).

Lyons came in at No. 4, Sanders is ranked No. 6, Bahl is No. 9, Coleman No. 15, Hansen No. 20, Storako is No. 23, Lee No. 26, Brito No. 45 and Torres No. 89.

In all, the Sooners landed eight players in the top 26 and four in the top 10.

Hall of Fame coach Patty Gasso guided her team to a 59-3 record last year and a second consecutive national championship.

The Sooners return eight position starters and two pitchers and add eight newcomers, including the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class.

OU opens the season on Feb. 9 against Duke at the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, CA. The Sooners also play Liberty, Stanford, Washington and San Jose State on opening weekend.

Oklahoma’s home schedule begins March 3 when the Sooners host Illinois-Chicago and Kentucky in the OU Tournament.

Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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