Before Maxwell, the WCWS Most Outstanding Player came in and got the Sooners the final four outs they needed to win their historic fourth consecutive national championship and eighth all-time, OU threw nearly its entire pitching staff, including players, who hadn’t seen the field as much this season.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Many wondered if Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso was going to let Kelly Maxwell throw in Game 2 of the Women’s College World Series Championship Series.
After all, Maxwell (23-2) had thrown 116 pitches against UCLA, 148 against Florida, and 119 against Texas in Game 1. Her production was unmatched as she gave up just 11 hits over the three games and struck out 27 batters in her 22 innings pitched. But for Gasso, seeing Maxwell work that hard was not something she was interested in this time around.
Instead the Sooners tried something new. Yes, something new in Game 2 of the Championship Series.
Before Maxwell, the WCWS Most Outstanding Player came in and got the Sooners the final four outs they needed to win their historic fourth consecutive national championship and eighth all-time, OU threw nearly its entire pitching staff, including players, who hadn’t seen the field as much this season. And it was an experiment that paid off for the Sooners.
Karlie Keeney, Patyn Monticelli, Kierston Deal, Nicole May and Maxwell all put their stamp on the final game.
“I tell you,” Gasso said, “this is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever been a part of because of that. We have not done this this season. We knew we couldn’t throw Kelly. We just can’t. I did that one time with a girl named Paige Parker. I’d never do it again. It wasn’t worth it. It was exactly planned out, and it worked exactly how it was supposed to, to a T, to a T.”
But even though the Sooners didn’t want to throw Maxwell an extended amount of time, they contemplated how long they should wait before letting her close the game. But in the sixth inning, with two outs, pitching coach Jennifer Rocha turned to Gasso and said, “It’s time.”
“It was new to us,” Gasso said. “What I loved is every pitcher had a part in this, for the most part. Even if it’s one batter. At the same time hour hitters are going, This is cool, let’s score them some runs. When Texas would score, they’d want to come right back. They wanted to see this whole thing play out.
“It was really wonderful to see Nicole May. It was wonderful to see Karlie Keeney on the mound with a start. I know you don’t know much about her. If you did, you would know why I feel that way. This girl grinds every day. Never complains. Total team. Always positive. A big part of the faith of these young women, as well.”
After Karlie Keeney got the start and pitched 2.2 innings, Patyn Monticelli entered the circle for the Sooners. Even though she only threw 19 innings all season, Gasso trusted her with the ball. And she got OU out of the bases-loaded jam as Cydney Sanders fielded the final out at first.
Then Kierston Deal (14-1) got a go at it in the fourth inning. She threw 1.0 innings and struck out a batter to earn the win. Veteran Nicole May, who had shut down the Longhorns in the Big 12 Tournament Championship, pitched 1.2 innings on Thursday and recorded a game-high four strikeouts. That led to Maxwell closing it.
“Then Nicole May coming in,” Gasso said. “I like her in that second half. She just dealt. Speaking of dealt, Deal was dealting, as well, if that makes any sense at all. It was really wonderful. Paytn Monticelli comes in for one. That’s all we need from you.
“It was really, really cool. That’s one thing I’ll always remember, is just what this felt like. It was probably the least tense I’ve ever been. I mean, I’m looking around like, This is the national championship. We could be winning this right now. Usually heart is doing that all the time. But I’m laughing. Having a wonderful time with them because it just felt easy. It just felt, I don’t know, so real. It was so real.”
