Cowgirls' Gajewski Likes the Toughness He Sees Moving into This Season

Oklahoma State softball is coming off a College World Series return, but need to move on to go back

STILLWATER -- Okay, what do you do for an encore. Last season Kenny Gajewski in his fourth season as head coach for the Cowgirls had the pieces in place from Rylee Bayless and slugger, pitcher and tough gal deluxe Samantha Show and the Cowgirls went all the way through the regional at home, knocked off Florida State in the super regional and right into the College World Series where they opened with a win over that other team from the "Sunshine State" in the team Gajewski used to work for, the Florida Gators. Now it's year five for Gajewski and the thought is, even with a roster that turns over a few place, it's just snap your fingers and then click your heels together and say Oklahoma City three times, right?

"We don't have t-shirts with World Series 2019 all over them, I expect us to do this. I expect us to be back there. I expect us to be back at this thing because we're good enough to be there," Gajewski said adding that his team can't be entitled. "We're good enough to make a serious run at this thing, a real run. We were there last year and won a game, but I expect us to win games there. This team is good enough to do that with this pitching staff, it's deep enough. We have some hitters that are seasoned."

While players like Bayless and Show along with Maddie Sue Montgomery and Maddi Holcomb are now student coaches, he does return pitcher Logan Simunek, center-fielder Cheyenne Factor, left-fielder Michaela Richbourg, and Sydney Pennington in the infield. Gajewski found some prizes in the transfer portal too. The new blood does a nice job of keeping things fresh.

"We're not going to live on it," the head coach said of last season's success. "We have kids that are good enough, like Carrie (Eberle) that is the ACC Pitcher of the Year, (Alysen) Febrey, who has hit .400 in the SEC. We have experience and we have some young kids like Karli Petty, who is still playing some like a freshman, a little tight, but once she gets going then she is probably the best player on this team."

The Cowgirls truly have a new team. There are some returnees, but there is enough new blood, some of it really experienced that it makes for a new chemistry. In fact, Gajewski spoke of a team meeting just since they started this semester where there had to be some issues, not big ones, but some issues straightened out. 

Every team needs a straw, that players that sets the tone and is looked at when the times get tough. Last season it was Samantha Show. This season, Gajewski has an idea of who it will be.

"I would think you would talk about Alysen Febrey, who had tremendous success at Georgia, one year, your kid," Gajewski said of a standout player he wanted four years ago. "She was the first kid that I recruited when I got this job and she turned us down. I think she was a Georgia kid and she was at home there, but she gave us a shot and came and visited. I think her parents made he come (to Georgia) and I think that is where they wanted her to come." 

Here is one of the NCAA transfer portal finds, a really good one. A valuable left-handed bat, Febrey is a .330 career hitter with 18 home runs, 28 doubles and 82 RBIs. She started 162 of her 163 games played with the Bulldogs. This past fall in Stillwater she hit the cover off the softball. Gajewski is still pleased that he got the second chance to coach her.

"She decided for whatever reasons to leave Georgia after three successful years," he said. "When I found out I contacted her and we got her instantly, so I knew we had done a nice job when we did that (recruited her) the last time. 

"When she plays, she plays tough," he continued. "I have some tough kids. I have some kids that play with the mentality after five years (coaching the program) that I thought we should be. Who we were going to be after that time. You have to import some of that, kids that already have that, because it is very hard to teach."

Febrey is coming to Stillwater with the idea of going back to the NCAA Women's College World Series. She did not get into any detail as to why she left after three strong seasons, but the disappointment of the team record, 12-12 in SEC play and two losses to Minnesota to be eliminated in the Minneapolis Regional, may be all you need to know.

"I think my experience at Georgia helps a lot with this, because my sophomore season at Georgia we did go to the World Series," Febrey explained. "Then last year was the year after and we didn't have as good a year as we did the year before because we thought it would just fall into place. This team here knows that it is a new thing. It's not just going to happen because they went last year. Everyone knows that, knows we have to work for it. I think the relationships that we have on this team will help us to make that happen." 

Febrey and fellow transfers in pitcher Carrie Ederle from Virginia Tech and infielder Hayley Busby of Virginia all come in as good players that are hungry to make that ride the Cowgirls made last season and ride it further this time.