FAMILY AFFAIR
WCWS home runs still special, even for experienced players
As OU’s Kinzie Hansen was approaching first base in the third inning of Saturday’s Women’s College World Series matchup against Tennessee, all she could think of was getting to second — and third — as quickly as possible.
“I was rounding first base thinking I was trying to go to third or something, I don’t even know,” Hansen said. “But it went out and I was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’”
Hansen has hit plenty of home runs in her career — Saturday’s was the 49th of her Sooners’ career — but the one against Tennessee was unique.
Hansen said she’d never hit a home run that stayed so low before.
The bleachers in left-center field, where Hansen’s shot was hit, are only a few rows deep.
But the ball never even went higher than the back row of those bleachers.
“Definitely not,” Hansen said. “I think it was like 10 feet off the ground the whole time. It felt pretty good off the bat.”
Heading into Monday’s 11 a.m. WCWS matchup against Stanford, Hansen has five career WCWS home runs.
There’s something different about WCWS home runs, Hansen said, both because of the importance of the games, but also because of the layout of the stadium — with the family section behind the dugouts.
“You are rounding second, you look up, you see your family going crazy, get to third, you see Coach (Patty Gasso) going crazy, then you turn left, seeing the whole team at home just jumping and barking.
“Seeing the joy this team has consistently, they know that’s what keeps us going. That’s what motivates us, is all the joy and love we have for each other.”
Five current Sooners have WCWS home runs in their careers — Tiare Jennings has eight, Hansen five, Grace Lyons three, Jayda Coleman two and Grace Green one.
One of the unique aspects of the
WCWS is that home runs balls get distributed back to the players’ families.
Ushers collect the balls and deliver them to the families.
Jennings has hit enough that the home run balls have gone to quite a few family members.
She hit one against Tennessee as well.
“It kind of gets passed down the line,” Jennings said. “However many I hit, it goes to my brother, then my sister, it ends up going down the line. This is for my grandparents that are here. Great moment. Super cool.”
Even though WCWS home runs have become a regular occurrence for Jennings, it hasn’t taken away any of the uniqueness of doing it on softball’s biggest stage.
“Super exciting,” Jennings said. “It never gets old — coming around, coming in clutch for your teammates. Coming home is the best feeling.
“I look in the stands, see my parents. All our hard work and dreams as little girls paid off.”