How Patty Gasso's Star-Studded Transfers Can Make an Immediate Impact for Oklahoma
NORMAN — It’s never easy to compensate for losing an all-time great. After winning back-to-back USA Softball Collegiate Player of Year Award’s and smashing 122 career home runs, Oklahoma had to help fill Jocelyn Alo’s offensive hole in the lineup.
The good news for head coach Patty Gasso? After back-to-back national championships, Oklahoma is an easy sell.
Gasso added four high-profile transfers in Cydney Sanders, Alynah Torres, Haley Lee, and Alex Storako this offseason. All four athletes have accolades and awards to their names already, and starred on the diamond before making the move to Norman.
Start with the position players, who will hope to collectively fill Alo's cleats.
Sanders, who transferred after her freshman season at Arizona State, was named a 2022 NFCA First Team All-America player. With the Sun Devils, Sanders led the team in home runs (21), slugging (.952 percent), RBIs (63), and walks (45) while notching 52 hits.
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. Before transferring, she spent three seasons in Tempe.
Lee, a two-time finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, holds Texas A&M's single-season home run record after launching 25 bombs in 2021. She was named to the All-SEC First Team a season ago after notching 68 hits and 15 home runs in 2022.
“Every one of these athletes were told to learn two positions really well,” Gasso said Monday at OU Media Day, “and some have three down very well, which makes them very good options for me at any time.”
With a team boasting Gasso's projected lineup, nobody is guaranteed playing time. A season ago, 10 different Oklahoma players finished with more than 30 hits, while 14 athletes recorded a home run. For new transfers trying to find a way to secure a long term spot, defensive plays are just as important for the Sooners.
"It's new because they've always been like the superstars on their team," Gasso said. "And I think some of them were hitting more than playing defense. So, they've been working really hard defensively. Our upperclassmen have tried to bring them in the fold and get them to work at the speed and the level and the reactions and decision making.
“Even just before I walked in here, we’re pressing them in decision making and situational. 'What do you do here? What do you do there?' There's still a lot of questions that are being asked because it's a different level of them having to think about what they would do. I think they'll tell you that they're learning about the game a lot and they're excited about these opportunities of making the right decision and making that big play on defense. They’ve just always been known as hitters. But now, here, you’ve got to be good on both sides of the ball.”
The new face in the pitching rotation is having to learn the Oklahoma standard, too.
Storako transferred in from Michigan, where she was an All-American pitcher. She was named the unanimous Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2021 with a 22-3 record and 1.05 ERA. Last year she went 22-7 with a 1.69 ERA and even pitched a perfect game.
At Michigan, Storako was asked to shoulder the entire load for the Wolverine pitching staff, but in Norman, she’ll have a chance to really thrive.
“I think she's thrilled. I do. I think she's thrilled," Gasso said. "When you throw somebody that much and you lean on them that hard, they lose effectiveness, but you injure [them]. They get hurt. And I think Alex loves the idea of going out and being fresh every time she's on the mound.
“I think all of our pitchers are going to feel that. They’re all that good. We don't have to rely on one. Hopefully the days of Paige Parker, and leaning on Paige Parker, are over forever for this program. Because I hit a point where I was so uncomfortable with what we were doing with her physically that I promised myself we were never going to do that again.”
For a pitcher like Storako, who has appeared in 66 games over the past two seasons for the Wolverines, it has to be a relief having depth behind the scenes.
With the previous roster experience returning, it's easy to question how seamless the transition will be at multiple positions on the floor. For the Sooners though, this has been in the works for several months. The repetition of practice and fall ball is setting the team up for success as the official season is set to kick off.
Jayda Coleman was asked if she thinks it will be difficult to integrate so many high-impact transfers this season.
“No, I don’t," she said. "I don't think that at all. Because we've been doing this since August. I actually think it's funny when people are like, ‘Oh, softball season is about to start.’ I'm like, ‘It started in August.’ Like, y'all think it's about to start now, it’s not. It didn't start after Christmas break. We've been grinding and working our butts off since August. I mean, y'all saw us play on ESPN, we’ve been playing games. So, I don't think that's gonna be a problem. We've been building this chemistry since they've gotten here.”
For Oklahoma, this is arguably the most talented transfer class on campus in a long, long time. The attention of the team isn't set on a three-peat, but the skill on the roster definitely leaves the door open.
“Did we replace Jocelyn Alo? No. It’s impossible,” Gasso said. “But it’s going to take more than one person to fill those shoes.”
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