There’s not much Patty Gasso hasn’t done in the softball world, but she’s found something new to try.
The U.S. national coach who has led the University of Oklahoma to eight national titles will be on a broadcast team for the first time. She will assist Amanda Scarborough, Chuckie Kempf and Savanna Collins when the Talons play the Volts in an Athletes Unlimited Softball League game Friday in Norman, Oklahoma.
Gasso, who has coached at Oklahoma since 1995, is taking advantage of the fact that the AUSL is using a traveling format in its first year and is visiting Oklahoma’s home field for a series. She’s excited about the opportunity to help with a game that will broadcast on MLB.com and several regional affiliates and feels she’d regret not giving it a shot.
“It’s something that I would wonder if I would be good at or if it’s something I might try to do in the future,” she said. “So that intrigues me a little bit. But I just like to talk softball. And normally, I’m in the middle of it, so I’m not really able to talk about it.”
Gasso said she sees the action differently now that she’ll guide Team USA into the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“Now, there’s a different kind of interest,” she said. “Now I’m watching and going, ‘Okay, I see what we could do to help this certain athlete. I see something they’re doing maybe in their swing that we know we could help.’”
Gasso will be watching three of her former Oklahoma players. Sydney Romero plays for the Talons and Tiare Jennings and Sam Landry play for the Volts. Landry, the No. 1 pick in the AUSL draft, led the Sooners to the Women’s College World Series semifinals earlier this month.
Gasso said she’s been watching the league closely and studies each game. She likes the fact that Athletes Unlimited added a season with a traditional format to its season with an individual scoring format, giving her a better idea of how the best players compete in a team format at the pro level.
“They care,” she said. “They care about winning. And that allows you to watch a good product, because they’re all fighting for it. They’re fighting for something. And I never felt that until really AUSL came into the equation and had great structure.”
Part of that structure comes from USA Softball’s support. Craig Cress, USA Softball’s CEO, said Gasso adds to that.
“What her and her staff have done in Oklahoma and what they bring and what I’ve already seen us be able to do with some of the stuff that we’ve done with national team athletes already — we’re just really lucky that she has that same great desire to be a part of our program as she does to be an Oklahoma Sooner,” Cress said.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
