Patty Gasso calls 2013 National Championship most satisfying following Moore tornado

This most recent softball season Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso continued adding to her storied legacy after leading the Sooners to their fourth straight College World Series win and her eighth total during her tenure with the Sooners. But next season will provide her with a new challenge.

Oklahoma will look to maintain its success as the Sooners transition to the SEC, a change that the program is making alongside rival Texas that was made official July 1. An occasion that garnered SEC Network host Paul Finebaum taking a trip to Norman.

Finebaum sat down with Gasso on Monday and reflected on the past ahead of the program’s new look SEC future. Asking her which of her eight national title victories was the most satisfying, a question that may seem impossible to answer, but was obvious to Gasso.

“I do feel 2013 was special and that was the tornado that happened and more,” Gasso said.

While the Sooners were making their run in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, an extremely violent tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma just 10 miles away from Norman on May 20. A natural disaster that resulted in 24 fatalities, 212 injuries, and an estimated $2 billion worth of damages. Forcing a city to pick up the pieces and rally around a softball team that was looking to play for more than just themselves.

“Yeah it was the most devastating thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Gasso admitted. “And having tried to reach out to those that needed help, and raising a family that lost a child in a tornado, and bringing her older sister in. Who was at that time 10 years old as our bat girl and her living her dream.

“All we wanted to do is make people smile.”

Casey Angle lost her sister to the Moore tornado after it struck Plaza Towers Elementary School in a tragedy that would take the lives of seven students. But the Sooners’ did their part in providing Angle with sisterhood and bonds that made their 2013 national title win more important than the rest.

“And the more we felt that on our shoulders, the more our attention was to doing that instead of actually winning. It’s just making people find joy in what we’re doing,” Gasso said.

Asking multi-time champion coaches about their favorite title wins is like asking parents who their favorite child is. But the impact the Sooners were able to have in 2013 transcended the rest as they continue to keep the Moore tornado victims close to their hearts.