In just two years, Jessica Vest already knows how lucky she is. After growing up in Hollister dreaming of winning a College World Series as she watched with her dad on TV, Vest doesn’t have to dream anymore.
After falling just one win short a year ago, Vest and the Oklahoma Sooners are the NCAA DI champions after beating Tennessee on Tuesday.
“Honestly, this is a dream,” Vest said on Thursday, two days after winning the title. “It was the best experience of my life. It feels great after all the hard work.”
She continued: “We are 21 sisters on our team. I have 20 sisters here. As a team we didn’t think about being the No. 1 team. We just wanted to do what we could to win. We are a tight team.”
In what was a tough couple of weeks for people in Oklahoma, after a 2-mile wide tornado devastated Moore – which is 10 miles away from Oklahoma University’s campus in Norman – and the area near Oklahoma City 11 days later, Vest and the Sooners made it their goal to bring people something to cheer for and escape to. Their World Series victory was inspired by the people of Moore, she said.
“We won as a community,” Vest said. “Moore is only 10 miles away. The team would go to dinner there. A teammate was from there. We wanted to do what we could to help.”
The Moore tornado struck on May 20 and killed at least 90 people, including 20 children. On May 31, another strong tornado hit the Oklahoma City area, where the College World Series was to be played.
The tornados delayed the softball playoffs twice, including the start of the College World Series. During that time, the Sooners were put in shelters as they waited out the storm.
“We all stayed together and stayed safe,” Vest said.
In the aftermath of the storm, the team donated its time to relief efforts, asking for donations from the community. After winning the championship, the team held up cutouts of the state with the word “HOME.”
“We are dedicated to our state,” Vest said. “It was our way of showing that.”
For Vest, the 2013 season was an improvement over 2012. After hitting only .111 in 27 at bats a year ago, Vest took advantage of her same opportunities. In 27 at bats, Vest hit .296 and hit three home runs and knocked in 14 RBIs.
Her first home run came against Arizona early in the year, but her career day came against Wichita State on March 27. In that game, Vest hit two home runs and set a career high with seven RBIs. Last year, Vest knocked in only two runs.
“It was great to get those opportunities,” Vest said. “I took every opportunity that I could. I work a lot on my hitting and it was exciting to be given that chance.”
San Benito head coach Scott Smith wasn’t surprised to see such success from Vest, who he called a “winner.”
“At every level she plays, she wins,” Smith said. “She is a winner who rubs off on her teammates, whether at bat or in the field. She is exceptional.”
Over the year, Vest, who is used as a key defensive player at shortstop, worked on learning each pitchers’ tendencies to get better, she said. Once she started to learn more about the pitchers, her hitting improved. Soon after the power started to come.
“It was really exciting when I hit my first home run,” she said. “It was exciting to see that I have the ability to do it.”
Next year, Vest hopes to continue that development at the plate and win another NCAA crown, she said.
“We are going to have the same goals as we had this year,” she said. “We want to pick up where we left off. We need to keep working hard. We want to work harder to be even better next season.”
Her success translates over to San Benito High, where Smith uses her success – along with JC Clayton and Marisa Ibarra – as motivation for the Balers.
“The kids get to see what they can do even from the small town of Hollister,” Smith said. “It was a proud moment for San Benito High School. I’m happy for her mom and dad and of course her.”
NOTES: After the season, Vest was named to the Academic All-Big 12 team with a 4.00 GPA. Not including playoffs, Vest started 50 games at shortstop -including all 10 playoff games – during the year for the Sooners. Oklahoma finished the season as the No. 1 ranked team in the country. They finished the year with a 57-4 record.
