Deana Coleman bought her daughter Jayda a pink glove, because that’s what a parent buys for a four-year-old girl who is about to play T-ball for the first time. But cute quickly gave way to competitive, even in a beginner setting, as Jayda almost immediately tried to slide into bases or turn double plays. She would scoop up grounders and fire bullets toward first base … to a teammate who wasn’t even looking.
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“I was like, ‘Oh, this is not going to work,’” Deana Coleman said, chuckling.
Deana, who coaches high school softball, recognized that Jayda’s advanced skills made her a danger to her age-appropriate teammates, brought her to a competitive tryout and had other coaches help evaluate her daughter. They said she should try to play with the eight-and-under group. But Jayda still threw too hard for those girls. Then the coaches said she should try the 10-and-under team.
At that point, Deana hesitated. Jayda was so small she barely came up to her teammates’ chests. Fortunately, Deana also heard about the formation of an 8U select team — as good of a starting place as any for a talented four-year-old still in daycare. In between games at a tournament, Deana would often need to put Jayda in the car and drive around the parking lot in loops so that her daughter could get a nap in.
Jayda Coleman has been the best player on her team for most of her life. She was the consensus No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2020, with her pick of the best softball programs in the country. In two seasons at Oklahoma, she has won two national titles, and the Sooners open the Women’s College World Series against Stanford on Thursday afternoon with a strong chance at a three-peat. They have won 48 consecutive games, a new record in the sport. They lost just once all season and would somehow need to lose twice in the next week to leave Oklahoma City without the trophy.
Coleman, Oklahoma’s leadoff hitter and star center fielder, is the spark plug, according to head coach Patty Gasso. She’s batting .417 with a .543 on-base percentage and has hit 16 home runs this season with 46 RBIs, both career highs. She robs home runs fairly regularly and had a particularly spectacular leaping catch to deny Texas a two-run homer early in Game 2 of last year’s national championship series, a momentum swing that paved the way for an OU comeback.
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But those highlight-reel moments and eye-popping stats are not all that Coleman is. She learned, before ascending to college softball stardom, that cancer is cruel and that no one is invincible. She learned, after winning her first national title, that a trophy doesn’t automatically bring you fulfillment. She has learned how to wield her bat and her athleticism, and she has learned how to use her voice and her platform.
“This is entertainment for other people to watch,” Coleman said. “We are out here playing and loving the game, but as soon as the game is over, what’s going on in your community? What are you representing? What are your values? When I leave the field, I want to represent something so much bigger than just being the player that robbed a home run.”
A can’t-miss prospect at 12 years old, Coleman took her first official visit, to Texas A&M, and then began traveling the country to visit other programs. She quickly realized how far away some top schools were from the Colemans’ home in The Colony, Texas, and how long it would take to fly back if something bad happened. Oklahoma checked all her boxes and was just 175 miles away; they could make the drive in under three hours. She committed to the Sooners when she was in eighth grade.
“I was living this great life, being ranked No. 1, being committed to the University of Oklahoma,” Coleman said. “I felt like I was invincible.”
Then Deana was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2016, and Jayda’s world changed. As a freshman in high school, she watched her mother endure rounds of chemotherapy while still coaching The Colony’s softball team. She thought about death and life and the possibility of losing her mother as a teenager. What would she do? How would she handle it?
“When you’re in high school, you think that there are no consequences — you honestly do,” Coleman said. “There are these real-world things that really stuck with me and made me realize that this game is just a game.”
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Deana underwent a mastectomy in February 2017 and started chemotherapy shortly thereafter. During her 10 weeks of chemo, she participated in Look Good Feel Better, a public service program in which volunteer beauty professionals help women with cancer with lessons related to skin and nail care, makeup, wigs and turbans and accessories — small ways to make them feel more confident in themselves as they undergo difficult cancer treatments.
“When I came home that day, I felt so beautiful. Everybody felt beautiful,” Deana said. “I’ll never forget that, and Jayda never forgot that.” Jayda now donates part of her NIL earnings at Oklahoma to the organization in an effort to give back.
Jayda had projected strength during the treatments, preaching positivity like her father did and reassuring her mother she would attack the cancer and beat it. Only after Deana was cleared in May 2018 did she find out how scared her daughter was.
That fear changed Jayda, who began to think about the world a bit more globally and her life more urgently. She wanted to be great at everything she did, from softball to her friendships. She wanted to live life to the fullest and celebrate victories big and small with her family. They’ll be in attendance this weekend, of course. Deana wouldn’t miss it.
During Coleman’s first recruiting trip to Oklahoma, Gasso asked her a couple of questions. What did she think about playing shortstop, the position she’d played her whole career? And what did she think about not playing shortstop in college?
“She wanted an opportunity at shortstop,” Gasso said. “And when she got to OU, she was at shortstop, and she was up against Grace Lyons. She could probably have beat out many, many, many other shortstops — but she was up against Grace. There are some plays that she could make, but they were really difficult, like the 5-6 hole (between short and third) for a lefty trying to reach over and turn her body around a little bit for double plays. But she was so quick, I was like, ‘Jeez.’
“I said, ‘Hey, let’s work you out in center field.’ I feel like the first time she robbed somebody of a base hit or home run, she had a different kind of energy. It started to grow on her. … She learned that she could use her legs in the outfield and reach just about anything.”
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Coleman, who played volleyball and ran track in high school, realized that center was her spot. She could help her team and be the captain of the outfield. Gasso’s instructions were simple: Don’t let the ball drop. Don’t let the ball go over the fence. Don’t let anyone take over — you take over. Get every ball and throw everyone out.
“You could not have asked for a better-made center fielder,” Gasso said. “She’s left-handed, tremendously strong, has great speed, great agility and athleticism. I always think sometimes if our players were major leaguers, they would be making a lot of money.”
Gasso also found the perfect spot for Coleman in the lineup. She has batted leadoff in 62 consecutive games dating back to last season and 73 of Oklahoma’s last 74. In the 98 career games in which Coleman has led off, Oklahoma is 96-2.
“I get the most hype when I walk, because I think some people do take walks for granted,” Coleman said. “Walks really add up, and I like to celebrate the very little things. Like putting the bunt down and moving the runner or squeezing, things that turn into multiple runs.
“I’m very hard on myself because I do want to get on base every single time. But I have come to learn that it’s (valuable) when I have good at-bats and can relay information to Tiare (Jennings) and the others that are immediately behind me so then they can make those adjustments that I wasn’t able to make. Obviously, I don’t want to get out. But relaying information to the rest of my team is my job.”
She can pass along how fast a pitcher’s drop ball falls or what her changeup looks like, helping the rest of the Sooners lineup be as terrifying as possible. Coleman has developed into much more of a power hitter; she has 16 homers this season (tied for second on the team) after hitting just eight as a sophomore and nine as a freshman. She started out as more of a slapper/bunter who was “feisty” on the base paths, to use Gasso’s phrasing.
Now, she’s a true triple-threat.
Almost exactly a year ago, Coleman hoisted a trophy and was doused in confetti, celebrating her second national title in as many years. But she didn’t feel the high she got doing the same thing as a freshman. That first title felt like the fulfillment of a dream. She wanted to chase it and do it again. But now that she’d done it twice, she felt something like emptiness.
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“Why am I not happy?” she asked herself. “I didn’t feel fulfilled in my heart. I got the trophy, celebrated with my teammates — and then what?”
Coleman eventually leaned into her faith to find what she now believes is her purpose. “I had to find something that fulfills me in my heart, regardless of if we win or if we three-peat or if we don’t,” she said. “I’m still going to be fulfilled in my heart, because reading my Bible at night and praying to God is what fulfills me, not winning a national championship.
“Now, there’s no pressure. We’re just going to go out there and play. It’s already written. All we’ve got to do is go out there and play free and have fun. That gives me peace, knowing that I’ve put in the work every single day in practice and go out there and trust in my training and trust that whatever is going to happen is already going to happen.”
Her faith also helped her work through the mental health struggles she has discussed more openly in recent months. Gasso describes her as someone whose emotions are strong, whether happy or sad. Gasso has figured out a better way to connect with and coach her, and Coleman has responded to it.
She is the current face of the Sooners softball dynasty, the embodiment of the standard that Gasso expects from her stars. Meanwhile, she is a young woman figuring out her place in the world in an intentional and thoughtful way. So when fans see her rob a home run or spark a rally, she hopes they learn a little more about her than just her jersey number.
“It’s challenging, sometimes, to know that you’re representing a legacy,” Coleman said. “When I’m walking around, people will go, ‘Oh, she played with (2022 WCWS Most Outstanding Player) Joceyln Alo!’ Or, ‘She went to the same school that Lauren Chamberlain went to!’ When we go to Walmart, there’s people that know us. We can’t just go to Walmart in slippers. When I go out to dinner, and I’m like tipping the waiter thinking that the waiter could know me. I want the waiter to know that I’m a good tipper.
“I don’t think a lot of people think about the other little things that go on, but I know that I represent something so much bigger than me.”
(Top photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)