‘Living in the moment.’
Jada Cody looks to lead Knights in postseason
When UCF’s Jada Cody blasted a three-run homer to left field in the second inning of the American Athletic Conference tournament championship against USF — breaking Stephanie Best’s 2003 school record for most RBIs in a single season — the ball was lost momentarily.
As Cody rounded the bases to celebrate with her teammates, the ball traveled well beyond the outfield wall of East Carolina’s softball complex in Greenville, N.C.
The UCF sophomore, who has recorded 69 RBIs with 12 home runs while batting .369, had to turn to the help of furry friend to recover the historic ball.
“The ball was hit so far into the woods that a dog had to go and retrieve it,” Cody said.
Cody breaking Best’s 18-year record via a home run couldn’t have been scripted any better.
“When I tied it, she wanted me to beat it,” Cody said. “She told me she wanted to do it as a walk-off home run so it just was good that it was a home run.”
While not a walk-off, the home run gave UCF a 7-0 lead over USF in the second inning as the Knights were well on their way to the program’s first conference tournament title since 2015.
After UCF won the AAC tournament 11-0 over the Bulls, the Knights found out Sunday that they were hosting an NCAA regional for the first time in school history.
“It’s a lot of emotion and I’m still taking it all in, knowing that I’m following after the people that led us,” Cody said. “I’m glad that we get to do it and leave a legacy.”
Of course, Cody wants to do more than just host the regional. She wants to help lead her team to the Super Regionals and potentially the Women’s College World Series.
they can get that done.
“We have everything,” she said. “One through 22 [on the roster] has everything that we need to go to Super Regionals and go to the World Series.”
Preparing for Villanova in the first game of the NCAA regional at UCF on Friday at 6 p.m., Cody recalls working with Best over the past summer. That helped her reach this point.
“It’s a great feeling knowing that she’s been there through it all,” Cody said about Best.
As she stepped up to the plate before hitting the home run, Cody had one thing on her mind: “My new motto this year is just living in the moment. During the whole at-bat, I was telling myself to live in the moment and trust the process.
“I’ve been working at this my whole life so I didn’t want to make that at-bat bigger than it had to be. I was just playing my game.”
Cody plans on doing just that this weekend in hopes of advancing past the NCAA regional.