Alo, Hanson, Jennings and J Coleman invited to Team USA Tryouts!

[OUBeliever56A]

I saw this posted elsewhere yesterday.

- - -

"45 women invited for 18 spots. 11 of them were on the most recent Olympic team. List of the invitees is in the article below."

https://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/te ... KII1VmtJnM

- - -

Congrats to the four Sooners and good luck to each of them! The team tryouts for Team USA are usually sometime in late December or early January. The new coach Heather Tarr has invited 22 current college players, 12 former college players and 11 players from the recent Olympic Team.

* Updated info: The tryouts are Jan 1 - 5 in Vero Beach, FL.

The next Team USA competition scheduled is the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, AL on July 7-17, 2022.

[OU_Tom]

That is cool that that Coleman, Jennings,Alo and Hansen were invited; they are all worthy.

Now Team USA has always been a messed up organization. At one point, they had no interest in the likes of Keilani, Chamberlain and Sydney Romero.

[The Far Journey]

I agree with the sentiments about USA softball over the last ten twenty years. I believe if last season's national champions played the USA team, very good players all, OU would still have won. It will be interesting to see what happens with Heather Tarr at the helm. Will things change? The four OU players going to tryouts are as good as it gets at their positions. Hope that's recognized.

[OU_Tom]

[OU_Tom]

I think Grace Lyons should have been invited as well. Mostly for her defense but she is a very good hitting shortstop

Season	AVG	GP	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SLG	BB	HBP	SO	OBP	SB	SBA	FLD%
2019	.263	63	63	137	35	36	8	1	8	27	.511	17	10	23	.380	6	8	.953
2020	.370	24	24	73	22	27	7	0	5	23	.671	9	3	6	.448	4	5	.950
2021	.392	60	60	166	62	65	12	0	14	52	.717	27	9	14	.495	8	8	.963
TOTAL	.340	147	147	376	119	128	27	1	27	102	.633	53	22	43	.444	18	21	.956

[OUBeliever56A]

The Sooner staff article about the 4 Sooners (Alo, Hansen, Jennings and J Coleman) going to the Team USA tryouts in January is below.

https://soonersports.com/news/2021/11/3 ... rials.aspx

[OUBeliever56A]

I think Grace Lyons should have been invited as well. Mostly for her defense but she is a very good hitting shortstop

Season	AVG	GP	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SLG	BB	HBP	SO	OBP	SB	SBA	FLD%
2019	.263	63	63	137	35	36	8	1	8	27	.511	17	10	23	.380	6	8	.953
2020	.370	24	24	73	22	27	7	0	5	23	.671	9	3	6	.448	4	5	.950
2021	.392	60	60	166	62	65	12	0	14	52	.717	27	9	14	.495	8	8	.963
TOTAL	.340	147	147	376	119	128	27	1	27	102	.633	53	22	43	.444	18	21	.956

I made this very comment elsewhere on a blog. But very quickly I was reminded that we do not know if she was or was not. The is very little transparency in the invitation, selection and process for the Team USA Softball choices. I remember that Coach Gasso said a couple times that G3 was pretty beat up this fall. Maybe she was invited but deferred due to making sure she was ready for the spring season. Who knows. I did see in a video by OU football player, Turk, that she looks to be on campus this last weekend during Thanksgiving and she looked to be in workout gear with her glove.

But, what I do know is this. If she was not invited, she should have been. Her glove and quick release is worth the price of admission to any softball game. Her hitting that is so much improved since she was a freshman is always a huge plus for a great defensive SS.

[inconnu]

Grace Lyons' hitting late in the season shut off in this latest season. That is probably why she wasn't considered. Also, I wonder if Heather Tarr's Washington player Sis Bates was considered. People have long been raving about her as a top notch SS, and she's a good hitter if i remember correctly.

[OUBeliever56A]

Grace Lyons' hitting late in the season shut off in this latest season. That is probably why she wasn't considered. Also, I wonder if Heather Tarr's Washington player Sis Bates was considered. People have long been raving about her as a top notch SS, and she's a good hitter if i remember correctly.

Bates was invited and is attending. (Surprise!)

I will just say that as long as Lyons and Jennings are at OU, Ms. Bates could not start at OU as a middle infielder.

[OU_Tom]

Obviously i am biased but if you ask me, Alo, Hanson, Jennings, Lyons and J Coleman should all be First All-Americans

On SoonerSports, they do list All-Americans. I am not sure which All-American awards they are using but maybe that is about right. They have Alo, Jennings, and Coleman as first team and Lyons and Hanson as 2nd team all Americans.

[inconnu]

Grace Lyons' hitting late in the season shut off in this latest season. That is probably why she wasn't considered. Also, I wonder if Heather Tarr's Washington player Sis Bates was considered. People have long been raving about her as a top notch SS, and she's a good hitter if i remember correctly.

Bates was invited and is attending. (Surprise!)

I will just say that as long as Lyons and Jennings are at OU, Ms. Bates could not start at OU as a middle infielder.

I would hope that new USA Team Head Coach Tarr will continue to make evaluations of other new players as time progresses, and that Grace Lyons would have an opportunity to join the squad if her hitting gets better, and especially if it improves come crunch time.

[OUBeliever56A]

With the USA Team Softball Tryouts upcoming on Jan 2nd, let's keep the 4 Oklahoma Sooners in mind as they travel to Vero Beach, FL for the team tryouts.

Safe travels to Jocelyn Alo, Kinzie Hansen, Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman and their families. Travel connections and flights might be tough for them to get to Vero Beach with all the flight cancelations due to Covid issues.

I hope we hear great reports about how the tryouts went for the four players and that they and their families return healthy and ready for the long upcoming Sooner season in 2022.

Boomer Sooner!

[OU_Tom]

The tryouts is a great opportunity to get some recognition. I assume that there will be 50-60 players trying out for 15 or so spots.

Hanson does not get quite the recognition as the other 3 invitees but I hope she makes some All Americans honors this year.

Thanks for the headsup @OUBeliever56A

Note to self

"45 women invited for 18 spots. 11 of them were on the most recent Olympic team. List of the invitees is in the article below."

[Bixby_Sooner]

I think Grace Lyons should have been invited as well. Mostly for her defense but she is a very good hitting shortstop

Season	AVG	GP	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SLG	BB	HBP	SO	OBP	SB	SBA	FLD%
2019	.263	63	63	137	35	36	8	1	8	27	.511	17	10	23	.380	6	8	.953
2020	.370	24	24	73	22	27	7	0	5	23	.671	9	3	6	.448	4	5	.950
2021	.392	60	60	166	62	65	12	0	14	52	.717	27	9	14	.495	8	8	.963
TOTAL	.340	147	147	376	119	128	27	1	27	102	.633	53	22	43	.444	18	21	.956

They could have done worse than to invite the last year's entire starting lineup from

J/k... sort of...

[OU_Tom]

So I haven’t been about to find any info about the tryouts other than this thread