Sooner Softball After College----sort of

[TropicalSooner]

For those who care about what our Sooner Grads are doing with their softball careers after graduating college, here is a snapshot of how they did this summer.

Many of our Super Sooner Greats have gone on to play professional softball for the Oklahoma City Spark. Last year, the Spark was in the WPF league, but after some league mis-steps, the Spark withdrew from that league and this year have collaberated with a few other teams in the AFP or Association of Fastpitch Professionals. The other teams playing in the AFP were the Chattanooga (TN) Steam, the NY Rise, and the Florida Vibe. At the end of their season, they played a Championship Series for the League's "Championship Cup". In the first round, the Spark beat the Steam 13-4 in a very Sooner like fashion. The semi finals had the Spark against the NY Rise, winning 5-2. Yesterday, the Spark played the Vibe for the Championship and buried them 11-4.
Below, is the lineup for the game against the Vibe, which was pretty much the same for all three games except for pitching and one change in RF, Between Whaley and Moultrie.
Anything look familiar??



And this is how the game ended: Jayda making one of her patented leaping no-fly zone grabs over the wall to rob an opposing HR to end the game:




And the Final Score:



Two other Sooner Grads not listed in the lineup also on the team are pitchers Keilani Ricketts and Alex Storako
Maddie Penta from Auburn was a late add to the roster after another pitcher was unable to recover from an injury in time to play with the team.

Sidenote-- When Kinzie Hansen was playing for the USA National Team this summer and backup Dejah Mulipola was unavailable, the Spark brought in Sooner Grad Riley Ludlam to sub in for a few games.


Congratulations to all our Sooner Grads with their first championship season as professionals with the Oklahoma City Spark.

Next year, there is serious discussion of Athletes Unlimited forming a league of regular teams in addition to their Individual competition that will possibly get more ESPN coverage, and I certainly feel that the Oklahoma City Spark will be considered to be one of those professional teams that will finally get the summer coverage that it deserves.