Patty Gasso on mental toughness of Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering: 'I knew that when they were still in high school'

As top-seeded Oklahoma opens Big 12 tournament play against Kansas on Thursday afternoon, a pair of freshmen will continue playing key roles for the Sooners. And as far as head coach Patty Gasso is concerned, she knew the duo of Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering would excel when they got to the next level.

So far in 2024, both Parker and Pickering are batting north of .375, have played in all 52 games, and made 94 combined starts between the two. Discussing how the two have performed this year as true freshmen, Gasso explained that she knew well before either got to campus that they could excel, and it started between the ears.

“I knew that when they were still in high school and watching them in travel ball,” Gasso said. “They were, what I would say, women amongst girls. They stood out without question. Every coach in the country knew who those two players were so they had it.”

Gasso has also been impressed with the physical prowess of both freshmen, too, noting that they’ve both added strength and power — which they already had to some extent — since arriving in Norman.

“They had it, they had the swing, they had strength,” Gasso said. “Ella has strength and she gained it even more while she was here. Pickering as well. It was very early that I noticed these two were going to be elite. And they’ve shown it.”

Gasso paid a high compliment to a key assistant on her staff

Gasso is a big fan of associate head coach Jennifer Rocha and what she does for the pitching staff.

Ahead of the Big 12 Tournament, as anyone knows, pitching wins championships. Just like the defense wins championship adage.

With Rocha on Gasso’s staff, the legendary head coach can rely on a veteran voice to keep the pitching staff in line.

“She is definitely the voice of calm and reason,” Gasso said. “Which is what every pitcher needs, I think, from a pitching coach, someone that can talk them down. We just had a good conversation today and she is really excited, as much as you could look at the outcomes. She’s very excited with some of the things that she saw. There were signs of really good pitches and really good innings. 

“And we believe and she believes that we’re moving and trending up at the right time. But she has a real good sense of how to speak to pitchers because she was a pitcher and they respect her and they believe her, they listen to her. So I believe her too. I’m really excited after talking it over, about the direction of the staff.”

Oklahoma opens the Big 12 Softball Tournament against Kansas at 2:30 p.m. ET Thursday.