Fresh Faces: Chaney Helton Making the Most of 'Special' Opportunity to Play for Oklahoma

The in-state product is living out a long-held dream by starting her Oklahoma career next month.

Oklahoma outfielder Chaney Helton | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Leading into the 2025 softball season, Sooners on SI is profiling Patty Gasso’s nine talented freshmen who are set to help OU in the program’s first trek through the Southeastern Conference. 

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NORMAN — Oklahoma’s outfield got a jolt of energy in Chaney Helton. 

The Coweta, OK, product is another of Patty Gasso’s freshmen who are living out a lifelong dream to play for the Sooners, something that was evident every time Helton stepped onto the field this fall. 

“It’s been really special for my family as well,” Helton said last fall. “We’ve always been Sooner fans. Big, big fans of Coach Gasso and the rest of the coaching staff. It’s just been a blessing to be here.”

The lefty starred for Coweta in high school, leading he team to three championship games and winning the 2020 Class 5A state title. 

Helton displayed every offensive tool Gasso looks for in both high school and during travel ball, and she brings plenty of speed for the Sooners. 

"Chaney is a local athlete, an Oklahoma kid, who is very vocal, has a lot of energy and is so enjoyable to watch,” Gasso said when Helton signed. “She has been the leadoff hitter for her high school and travel teams. She's a triple threat – tremendous speed, she can lay down a bunt and she can hit it out of the park. I've seen her do it all. 

“She's very versatile, very comfortable and speedy in the outfield. She's a wonderful addition. Her energy is at a different level. Chaney exemplifies the abundant passion for the game this class brings to Norman."

And much like fellow freshman Kadey Lee McKay, who also stood out at a young age, it was surreal for Helton when she first got the call from Gasso about playing for the Sooners. 

“It just didn’t feel real. I had always dreamed of it and I always believed in myself that I could play at a really high level,” Helton said. “Once Coach Gasso started recruiting me, I was really just like wow, this is happening. I’m really making this happen. It was a great experience. I’m just so thankful every day to be here.”

That attention only drove Helton to improve, a work ethic she hopes to bring to the clubhouse at Love’s Field every day. 

“I always just had very high expectations for myself, and I know my family has, too. They pushed me to be where I am today,” she said. “Once we started going through the recruiting process and more schools started finding more interest in me and once Coach Gasso started showing her interest in me, I was really just taken back more at the opportunity… Never get ahead of myself for anything, but this is just such a blessing… I’m just so thankful. That’s just all I think about every day”

The sense of pride about playing for Oklahoma doesn’t just show through Helton’s work inside the building every day. 

It’s something she’s reminded of every time she’s back home, providing even more fuel for her ahead of the 2025 season. 

“Every time I go home,” said Helton, “it just makes me more thankful to be from here in Oklahoma in a small town because everyone is always just like, ‘My goodness, how is softball going? I’m so proud of you.’ The support system is absolutely so amazing.”

With so many new faces, Helton got right to work this fall. 

She faced off against Oklahoma’s pitching staff, which allowed her to kick off the learning process with associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso immediately. 

“It’s most definitely an adjustment, for sure,” she said. “Going from travel ball to now, the highest level, you can see we have a great pitching staff. Just really challenging ourselves to face the best is what’s pushed us to be here.”

Working with Gasso in the batting cages has been fun for Helton, as he brings a much different approach than the successful partnership she forged learning with her dad. 

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Read More About Oklahoma Softball's 2025 Freshmen:

• Kadey Lee McKay

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“Before I came here, I didn’t really have a hitting coach,” Helton said. “It was kind of just me and my dad putting in work every single day. Coming from that to someone who’s very high level and puts a lot of time into this, it’s cool to get to learn so many new things and how to apply them to my game.”

A big part of Gasso’s approach is based in analytics and breaking down Helton’s swing. 

Gasso is notorious for challenging his hitters every day, and Helton said she quickly learned to look at the game through a different lens this fall. 

“Putting math into softball and hitting. I would never think of that,” she said. “But there’s a lot of scientific, mathematical stuff that goes behind hitting and it’s just really cool to see.

“… There’s just a lot of numbers, a lot of studying we have to do in hitting. I think before I came here, I would just watch game film of previous stuff of my at-bats. Now that I get here, there’s just a lot of studying we have to do with hitting. I think it helps us a lot.”

Helton has loved the challenge, as she knows it will help her battle for playing time in the outfield this year after Jayda Coleman and Rylie Boone, stalwarts of the past four years, opened up a pair of spots in the lineup after graduating. 

“(JT Gasso) knows what we’re capable of. He sets the expectations really high,” she said. “He pushes us every single day, but he makes it fun. It’s great to play for a coach that believes in you.”

Helton’s watched Oklahoma’s success over the past decade and can’t wait to contribute to the program’s legacy. 

But this year, as she gets acclimated to the team alongside so many other fresh faces, she’s also intent on writing her own story with the 2025 version of Gasso’s juggernaut. 

“We’re a new team,” she said. “I definitely love every single person that’s on our team. I think we all bring great assets to this program. It’s definitely gonna be a new look than what’s been in the past, but I just have so much respect for all of our girls. 

“We’re just gonna go out there and do our thing, show who we are, do our own thing, set a new bar.”