'Unbelievably grateful' ... FSU softball players take moment to celebrate Coach Lonni Alameda

They haven’t accomplished all their goals yet in Oklahoma City. They still have one monster accomplishment to achieve, and they know it will be the toughest yet.

But when asked Tuesday afternoon about their postgame celebration from the night before, Florida State’s softball players didn’t hold back when given a chance to express their appreciation for head coach Lonni Alameda.

In a video that was shared on social media by the NCAA’s main softball account, the Seminoles’ players chant Alameda’s nickname, “Coacha,” over and over while she struts into the locker room after FSU’s 5-1 semifinal victory against Tennessee.

The FSU players then shower Alameda with water bottles and jump around her in celebration.

Going into the National Championship with a 𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝! 💦#WCWS x @FSU_Softball pic.twitter.com/k01byLVsAU

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 6, 2023

On Tuesday, the four FSU players who participated in a press conference before the No. 3 Seminoles take on No. 1 Oklahoma in the WCWS Championship Series, were asked how much Alameda means to them.

Here were their responses (courtesy of ASAP Sports):

FSU senior pitcher/first baseman Mack Leonard: “To me, Coach gave me a start. She gave me a new chapter in life that I really didn’t think I’d get. I say to myself a lot I’m living a dream that I didn’t know I had, and it’s a lot because of Coach and these girls.

“To just constantly remind myself that I’m so, so grateful. This is beyond what I believed I was capable of as a player or even as just like from where I grew up or where I was at (Leonard transferred to FSU from Illinois State before the 2022 season). This wasn’t something that where I came from in Normal, Illinois, you don’t go to the World Series. You just go and play softball and then you go get a career after college. This is next level, and this is just a dream. So I’m just grateful.”

FSU redshirt sophomore outfielder Jahni Kerr: “I was just going to say like, I guess from my freshman year till now, I’ve kind of gone through a lot of things. My freshman year was a little tough for me, I guess you could say. So just having Coach allowing me and Hallie [Wacaser], who at the time had torn ACLs in 2021, when we did come to the World Series, we got to experience it in a totally different way than just playing the game.

“So I feel like just from the scouting aspect of it, we got to learn a lot so that, when we were on the field, I guess you could say this year, at the World Series, actually getting to play it and live the game life of it, we know where to be. We know how to help our pitchers. We know how to back them up for their best stuff.

“I just feel like the family part of it is so huge that just like the way that she teaches things is so different than anything that I’ve experienced from coaches, which I very much appreciated.”

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FSU redshirt sophomore catcher Michaela Edenfield: “Coach and the staff gave the girl in the backyard of Tallahassee a shot. I talk about it all the time. I chose to come to Florida State to grow not only as a player but as a person. Just thinking of how nurturing of an environment it is. Like we say it takes a village, we do have a village behind us, and it’s amazing that I’ve been able to experience my time here at Florida State.

Coach has just allowed me to grow and be myself both on and off the field. I get a lot of comments about my makeup, about, ‘I don’t know why they let her do that. It’s a little much for me.’ To be able to do something and allow a coaching staff and a community be behind it has been really, really amazing, and just allowing me to grow into the person I am today.”

FSU senior pitcher Kathryn Sandercock: “I love Coacha. Just from where I was at my freshman year and who I was, I’ve just completely changed not only as an athlete. I mean, she has transformed me into the pitcher that I am today.

“I mean, I’ve always loved softball. I’ve dreamed of playing on this stage as a little kid. I would not be here at all without Coacha and just what she’s allowed me to do, but just as a person too. A lot of tough conversations, growing moments.

“It hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been one of the most important and amazing relationships of my life, and I’m so unbelievably grateful for Coacha and the whole coaching staff, support staff, just everybody. I just wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t chose Florida State. I’m just so unbelievably grateful.”

The FSU and Oklahoma softball teams next will play a best-two-out-of-three series in the championship round of the Women’s College World Series. The opening game will be Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

(Note: For more on the paddle Alameda is carrying in the video above, read our earlier story on the FSU softball team’s mental toughness.)

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.