The Oklahoma Sooners have had arguably the two best defensive players in college softball for the last several years: [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], the Big 12 Player of the Year.
In Oklahoma’s national championship run, it was Coleman who stole the show with her incredible athleticism and playmaking ability that made her the ace up the pitching staff’s sleeves. What she’s able to do patrolling center field for the Sooners has been a cheat code. A home run hit to center isn’t a home run unless it’s hit 20 feet beyond the wall. There’s no sneaking it over the fence in center because Jayda Coleman will not let you.
Game changer 😤 @jaydac00#WCWS #SCtop10 x @OU_Softball pic.twitter.com/7DhaWAI6vl
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 9, 2023
After another incredible season, Jayda Coleman earned D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year award for 2023.
Coleman finished the season with a perfect fielding percentage and three assists. She showed how much she can impact a contest in the championship series, and unfortunately for Florida State’s Kalei Harding. In Game 1, Coleman erased one of the FSU’s two hits by throwing a strike to second base to prevent a double from Harding. The next day, Coleman kept Game 2 scoreless by robbing a would-be three-run homer off the bat of Harding. – D1Softball
There’s a case to be made that Coleman is the best player in softball. Though several players have strong arguments, Coleman’s ability to regularly take runs off the board is an X-factor that few teams can match. Her range and ability to go up over the center field wall reminds of the former Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey made a habit of robbing home run balls and in turn, snatching momentum.
Coleman does the same.
In both games of the WCWS championship series against Florida State, Coleman made momentum-stealing plays to keep the Seminoles’ offense at bay.
She’s simply the best there is, and we get to witness her greatness again in 2024.