Gasso took a chance coming back with Maxwell, it worked and now the Sooners are sitting pretty
Oklahoma one win from claiming fourth straight national championship
FROM THE HOME OFFICE, Okla. — This may be a little short, because I’m sort of on vacation, joining the great Gwenda today on a long-planned excursion.
Of course, when you write for yourself, the whole concept’s a little dicey.
But let’s get to it.
I think Patty Gasso took a chance, it worked, and now she’s sitting pretty.
I thought she’d start Karlie Keeney in Game 1 of the WCWS championship series on Wednesday, the contest that became an 8-3 victory over Texas, moving the Sooners within a single victory of their fourth straight national championship and the eighth in program history.
I thought she’d start Keeney because she had no reason to have any real confidence in Nicole May or Kierston Deal coming in and shutting down the Longhorns, or something close to it, and I thought she’d hold true to two other strategies:
One, her refusal to throw the same starting pitcher on back-to-back days, which had not happened once this season, a thought process backed up by her working so hard all season to elevate May over Deal and Keeney because she must have had more confidence in May than them from the start and wanted badly to have two pitchers she might trust once the World Series arrived.
Perhaps she never gave Deal or Keeney a real chance to reach the second spot?
Still, I thought she’d have no choice but to go with Keeney — May and Deal having already blown their World Series chances — because …
Two, the very last thing Gasso could face, the hole she absolutely could not put her team into, would have been starting Maxwell as she did Wednesday, getting something like a full game from her but losing nonetheless AND THEN having to choose who to start Game 2 after Maxwell had already pitched on consecutive days, making her even more taxed than she had to be Wednesday after surviving Florida on Tuesday.
Now, the issue is who to throw tonight and if Gasso follows what she’s done in the past, it will not be Maxwell.
Had the Sooners lost Wednesday, I think she’d have to start Maxwell again and count on adrenaline getting her through (and through again on Friday presuming the Sooners make it to Friday in this alternate universe I’ve created).
Yet, because OU took Game 1, Gasso is not in that fix.
Now, she has two choices: roll her best pitcher out there again tonight and, if she must, roll her out again Friday, too; or save her tonight, hope other pitchers and the Sooner bats come through; but, should they not … drum roll … she’ll STILL HAVE HER BEST PITCHER, ON FULL REST, ready to go out there and pitch the Sooners to the national championship on Friday.
I’m taking door No. 2.
Back in the day, famously, when it still wasn’t uncommon for Gasso to put her best pitcher in the circle day after day after day, she nonetheless started Michelle Gascoigne, not Keilani Ricketts, who had won Game 1, in Game 2 of the 2013 championship series after the Sooners took a 1-0 edge over Tennessee.
Ricketts certainly contributed to the victory, batting in the three-hole and knocking in all four Sooner runs, but Gascoigne was in the circle and tossed a three-hit shutout, walking none and striking out 12.
Oh, by the way, I’ll still take Ricketts as the best player the program’s produced.
Because she was two players.
In 2016, Paige Parker pitched OU to a Game 1 championship series victory over Auburn, only for Kelsey Stevens and Jayden Chestnut to be shelled in Game 2, a Sooner loss, before Parker came back in Game 3, allowed five hits, a single run and the Sooners prevailed 2-1.
Even last season, after Jordy Bahl tossed a Game 1 shutout, Alex Storako started Game 2, pitched very well, allowing one run over four innings, before Bahl returned to finish it, which she did.
Tonight, if it’s not Maxwell, and history says it won’t be, nor should it be, I think she ought to go with Keeney … but she’ll probably go with May, trying to elevate her one last time.
Because OU brought its bats and because Maxwell proved resilient, Gasso can make her choice from a position of strength, a position she was not in heading into Game 1.
Game 1, given her preferred pitching philosophy, adopted following the departure of Parker after the 2017 season, throwing Maxwell was a surprise. Yet, because she so cherished stealing Game 1, she rolled the dice on a less-than-fresh Maxwell and was rewarded.
It worked and the world’s suddenly her oyster … because Tiare Jennings fittingly offered her very best at least one last time in a Sooner uniform, going 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs; Kinzie Hansen again embodied the old reliable hand she’s been since arriving on campus; and though she only went 1 for 4, Kasidi Pickering’s lone hit was a dinger over center field on an above-the-strike-zone offering only the quickest of bats could reach, the kind of swing that should have folks tuning in to watch her in the future if only to see if she might repeat it.
That’s it.
The Sooners are in the driver’s seat. Because I think they’ll save Maxwell for Game 3, I like OU winning it all … Friday.
But what do I know?
I’ll be back next week.
Hope you’ve enjoyed following the season at Oklahoma Columnist.
Thanks for being here.
So much for short.