Texas softball's journey from heartbreak to hoisting the national championship trophy

OKLAHOMA CITY -- On June 6, 2024, the Texas Longhorns wandered done the factual hallways beneath Devon Park portion their archrivals hoisted yet different nationalist title trophy connected the softball diamond supra them.

There, the Longhorns were near grappling with the world of the program's latest gut-wrenching disappointment astatine the Women's College World Series. After reaching its 2nd WCWS nationalist title bid successful 3 years, Texas fell abruptly and emphatically successful a two-game expanse to Oklahoma, which celebrated the sport's unprecedented 4th consecutive nationalist title. Swept by the Sooners successful the 2022 title bid arsenic well, the Longhorns walked retired past June wincing from a acquainted pain.

As they boarded the squad autobus extracurricular the stadium, outgoing elder pitcher Estelle Czech turned to infielder Katie Cimusz and issued a challenge.

"'Go triumph it each adjacent year,'" Cimusz recalled Czech saying. "'Do that for us.'"

The Longhorns turned that stinging decision into a resilience that helped present the school's archetypal nationalist title Friday night.

From a late-season swoon that included an April expanse by Oklahoma, Texas recovered its groove conscionable successful clip for the WCWS. After an opening-round triumph implicit Florida, the Longhorns yet vanquished the Sooners connected May 31, past overcame the million-dollar pitching arm of NiJaree Canady successful the title series, defeating the Red Raiders superstar doubly successful 3 days.

Texas chased Canady with a five-run archetypal inning Friday night, and anchored by different awesome outing from ace Teagan Kavan, the Longhorns rolled to a 10-4 triumph that sealed the program's long-awaited pursuit for a WCWS rubric nether seventh-year manager Mike White.

Exactly 1 twelvemonth aft the Longhorns sulked disconnected the aforesaid tract past June, Texas yet got its storybook ending astatine Devon Park. To get implicit the hump, the Longhorns rode not lone the astir implicit roster of White's tenure, but a transformed programme mentality, too.

"We ne'er springiness in," Kavan said. "If you person an out, you person a chance."

MONTHS AFTER THE Longhorns trudged retired of Devon Park past June, they gathered successful a location on a stream extracurricular of Austin for a autumn retreat.

Paddleboard and pickleball comprised the bulk of the play agenda. But successful betwixt the fun, the team's elder leaders -- including Vanessa Quiroga, Ashton Maloney, Mia Scott, Cimusz and Sophia Simpson, who'd gone 0-5 against Oklahoma successful the WCWS -- hunkered down to fig retired what their taste instauration could beryllium successful 2025.

They conceived a caller squad motto, "Fuel the fire," and built a PowerPoint presumption to convey a meaning down each missive of the mantra. They spoke astir however they could amended hone intelligence toughness and togetherness and astir breaking down barriers betwixt the program's upperclassmen and underclassmen with an oculus connected empowering their talented young teammates.

"The household ambiance that we person this year, nobody's supra each other," Cimusz said. "We're each connected the aforesaid level, playing the aforesaid game. It has conscionable changed truthful much."

Ranked atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25 poll, the Longhorns cruised early, carrying a 26-1 grounds into SEC play successful March. But Texas stumbled successful mid-April successful a bid decision to Tennessee. Oklahoma's three-game expanse of the Longhorns 2 weeks aboriginal seemingly reinforced the evident spread betwixt the Red River programs.

After Texas crashed retired of the SEC tourney with a humbling 14-2 nonaccomplishment to rival Texas A&M, the Longhorns' way backmost to softball's mountaintop appeared tenuous. But their assurance successful what they could execute and the civilization the Longhorns had forged ne'er wavered.

"We've conscionable gotten amended done adversity," Kavan said. "Just leaning into each other. From erstwhile I got here, the squad was truly close. But now, I deliberation the squad is adjacent closer."

Amid their struggles, the Longhorns fell backmost connected the instauration they established astatine the retreat. White reminded his squad of its peer-led motto, utilizing immoderate adversity, past oregon present, to "Fuel the fire" and crystalize their resolve.

During the Austin Super Regional, the Longhorns were connected the brink of elimination aft losing Game 1 to Clemson. But successful the 10th inning of Game 2, Kaydee Bennett connected connected a sacrifice alert to people the go-ahead run. And successful the bottommost of the inning, with 2 runners connected base, Kavan forced a groundout, giving Texas the 7-5 win. The Longhorns held connected the pursuing time 6-5 against the Tigers to instrumentality to the WCWS.

"I deliberation that saying, that motto, america pulling unneurotic arsenic a squad was thing that got america done it," Cimusz said.

TEXAS' VETERANS KNEW past autumn that they'd request their youngest players to present successful clutch moments for the Longhorns to yet get implicit the hump. Upon returning to Oklahoma City, that's precisely what happened.

A sixth-inning location tally from sophomore near fielder Katie Stewart helped powerfulness Texas' WCWS opening triumph against Florida. Against Oklahoma 2 days later, sophomore halfway fielder Kayden Henry homered to right, giving the Longhorns a fifth-inning pb they wouldn't relinquish connected the mode to a program-defining victory.

Henry said those cardinal plays culminated from "trusting each other," from the seniors connected down.

"A batch of america person travel backmost aft we had adversity past year," she said. "It was conscionable coming together, warring for each other."

Kavan, different sophomore, spearheaded that fight.

Kavan held Texas Tech bats to 4 runs connected 8 hits implicit 7 innings successful Friday night's clincher. She besides closed a masterful WCWS tally with a schoolhouse record, eclipsing Texas fable Cat Osterman's people with her sixth vocation WCWS victory.

"She's ever wanting to get amended and that's what pushes the large ones," White said of Kavan earlier the title series. "She's proven that she's got the intelligence toughness."

Alongside Kavan, nary subordinate connected Texas' 2025 roster embodied the Longhorns' toughness amended than catcher Reese Atwood, the cardinal unit astatine the bosom of the Texas batting order.

In Game 1 of the WCWS finals, the Red Raiders opted to intentionally locomotion the All-American inferior to load the bases and acceptable up a forceout astatine immoderate base. But arsenic Canady attempted to flip shot four, Atwood amazed everyone, including White, by smacking a azygous to near tract to people some runners, arsenic the Longhorns rallied to stun the Red Raiders.

Atwood came up large again successful Friday's archetypal inning. It was her one-out RBI azygous that opened the floodgates connected Canady and Texas Tech, mounting Texas connected people to assertion its elusive nationalist title, the eventual reward for the caller ambition that yet pulled it into reach.

"[We] built a civilization of desire," arsenic Atwood enactment it.