Jeff Johncox
No athlete or coach is ever prepared for the season to end.
And it’s an old sports saying, that only one team is happy at the end of the year.
Oklahoma’s season came to a sudden end Sunday at home in a 7-2 loss to DePaul in the second super-regional game.
It was one of the best seasons in school history, but it ended two wins short of a return trip to the Women’s College World Series, which the Sooners had set as their goal all season.
“The hardest thing to do is have the meeting we just had in the locker room,” coach Patty Gasso said after Sunday’s loss. “It’s the toughest part of my job, but the future is bright here. Very bright.”
The Sooners return seven starters, including starting pitcher Lauren Eckermann (37-5, 1.66 earned run average) and clean-up hitter Samantha Ricketts (.415, 18 home runs, 81 RBIs).
They’ll likely be the favorites to win the Big 12 in 2008, and with so many players returning, will be near the top of the national polls when the season starts.
“Our seniors have set a great example for our younger players and they’ll carry that legacy on,” Gasso said. “Because of our seniors, I’m excited about what we have in the future. They have taught everyone so much. We want to make them proud. We want to play well for them next year.”
OU loses six seniors, three from the starting lineup.
Norrelle Dickson finished her career at OU with one of the best seasons in school history. She hit .453, and flirted with .500 until a late-season slump, with 71 runs scored and 37 stolen bases. She set new Sooner career marks in runs, at-bats, steals, stolen bases and hits this season and was a contender for national player of the year awards.
“It’s been a blast here,” Dickson said. “I’ve had a great career. I’m so glad I made this decision to come to Oklahoma. Even though it was a long way from home, I don’t think I would have fit in anywhere else like I did here.”
Dickson will play for the Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch league.
The Orange, Calif., native will be around town, though. Her little sister, Tiana, will be on campus in the fall to play soccer at OU.
“The Dickson legacy lives on,” Dickson said. “You might be losing me, but you’re gaining another one.”
Center fielder Jamie Fox and right fielder Mariee Mena will also be missing from the Sooner lineup next season.
Fox, who was the lone offensive spark in the postseason for OU, will continue to pursue her medical degree.
“This has just been the experience of a lifetime,” Fox said. “I’m just so thankful for the opporunity. I don’t think things would have been as perfect for me anywhere else.”
Utility players Amber Spaulding and Stacia Aleman, along with pinch runner Jade Prather, also finished up their Sooner careers in Sunday’s defeat.
But OU has plenty of young talent. The third through fifth hitters return, as does Traci Dickenson, who lit up the No. 9 spot in the lineup, batting .298 with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs.
But the leadership will be missed. Dickson, Fox and the other seniors were invaluable in turning a young OU squad into the top-ranked team in the nation.
“All of our seniors this year were incredible,” said Eckermann, who burst onto the Division I scene after making the jump from junior college. “They taught us so much about the game, about how to play the game of softball. They’re all just amazing, amazing people. Not just amazing softball players, but amazing people.”
The Sooners will be back on the field practicing in September.
