Go Gopher: Jess Oakland

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It's the Go-Gofer podcast with Mike Grimm, episode number 119. I am Mike Grim, voice of the Golden Gophers ORG, and welcome back to the podcast. We're talking Golden Gopher softball this week with the red-hot Gopher sophomore shortstop, Jess Oakland PERSON. She's the reigning Big Ten player of the week. The second time she's won that honor this season. She has 19 homers and 54 runs driven in, and she and her teammates are set to host Nebraska in a sold-out three-gameBig Ten series this weekend. Game one is Friday night. Jess Oakland will be my guest this week. Our Go-Go-Gofer podcast is presented by alumni-owned Sun Belt Business Advisors ORG and True North mergers and acquisitions. If you're a business founder planning to exit your business, start by contacting Sunbelt Business Advisors and True North ORG mergers and acquisitions. Sunbelt serves more businesses up to $5 million in revenue than anyone, and True North M&A ORG servescompanies with revenues up to $150 million. You can get a confidential, no-cost, no obligation, business valuation started today. Hey, make the most of your life's work. Visit sunbelt, Minnesota.com or TNMA.m.com today. Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union ORG is also one of our big-time sponsors here of the Go-Gofer podcast.Life math is complicated, and Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union ORG makes it easier with local financial experts available to help in person or virtually. You can also go to affinityplus.org slash go-gofers for more info. We're podcasting episode 119 from the Aquarius Home Services Studio ORG. We invite you to subscribe to the Go-Gofer ORG podcast. It's free to do so. You can also go back and listen to the Go-Gofer podcast from previous weeks. Last episode, for example, we had a tremendous conversation with Go-Gofer podcast. It's free to do so. You can also go back and listen to the Go-Gofer podcast from previous weeks.Last episode, for example, we had a tremendous conversation with Gopher Football ORG Defensive Line coach, Winston DeLada Badir PERSON, who recently was promoted to assistant head coach. You can go back and listen, and I promise you'll enjoy the conversation with Winston. This week, we're talking Golden Gopher Softball with star player Jess Oakland PERSON. She'll

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join me next. I'm Clay Geary PERSON, walk-on, turn scholarship, wide receiver for gopher football. And I'm Ben

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Utec, Uvm alumni, Super Bowl champion, and Tony Dungey PERSON Uncommon award winner. We understand championship

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It's episode 119, the Go-Gofer ORG podcast. Mike Grimm with you, and we are talking softball with gopher shortstop, Jess Oakland PERSON, a sophomore and a superstar on this team, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week. How are you? I'm good. How are you doing?Thanks for having me. Yeah, for sure. Thanks for coming on. Always enjoy talking some softball. So this is your second time as Player of the Week.

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Yes, sir.

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Do they send you a certificate? What do you get? Do you know?

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Not really. They just post something on Instagram and Twitter, and then I get something from our Mark Ryan PERSON to email saying congratulations. Yeah. A couple of texts from the coaches. It's nice.

Speaker 3232.06s - 239.5s

Yeah. I suppose that is kind of cool, though, to get some recognition of your work. It's always good, I suppose, to get some positive reinforcement.

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Absolutely. Yeah, it's fun.

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It's just owed to your hard work. Yeah. What is it like when, I mean, obviously you've been a good softball player. I'm assuming just about since the day you picked up a glove and a bat. But when you get word like, okay, you're all state, you're all conference, you're a player of the week in the big ten. How do you take that in your mind?

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Again, like I just said, it's just kind of like reassurance. Like you've working hard and the hard works are paying off. And that's just, it's a really cool moment. It's special. It feels like all, like you've working hard, and the hard work's paying off. And it's just a really cool moment. It's special. It feels like all the work you put in is for, you know, something. It's cool.

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You had a really good freshman year last year. Team had some success, too. Got on a nice role at one point. And now you've backed that up with an even better year personally and statistically. I mean, I've got all these stats here, which I'll read off in a second. But what has clicked? What's been the key maybe to sometimes freshmen come in, I mean, I've got all these stats here, which I'll read off in a second. But what has clicked?What's been the key maybe to sometimes freshmen come in, they click, and then there's a reason people call it a sophomore slump. Sometimes it hits. You have not had that at all. What has been the key?

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I just think that year of experience that I have that I had here, you know, playing and playing in the Big Ten and traveling and all that stuff, I think that's been a really big part of my success this year because I knew what I had coming this year, like with the travel and the weather and, you know, all that stuff. So I felt a lot more prepared and like how to handle like the failures and stuff and the hard and whatever. I think that's been a huge part of my success this year.

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Yeah, and coming from California, you mentioned the weather and travel. Was that

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the biggest adjustment for you? Yeah. Do you think as a freshman coming in from high school? Yeah.

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I think it's pretty far from home. I had to adjust to being away from home in a new environment,

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somewhere I've never been before. The weather was definitely an adjustment too. And just like we're always on the road for the first like eight or nine weekends because obviously we can't play here

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because it's too cold. So that was a big adjustment, too. I know, like, no other team in the country does that. Yeah. You guys are all over the place.

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One, it's probably fun, though, right, to travel? I mean, you get to go to Florida, Texas or California, Arizona GPE, or wherever you guys get to go.

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I'm jealous.

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I look at the schedule, and I'm like, I'm stuck here in Minnesota GPE, you know, calling basketball games while you guys are down.

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Clearwater.

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Having fun in Clearwater, Florida GPE or something, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So as you had that adjustment, you know, calling basketball games while you guys are down. Clearwater. Having fun in Clearwater, Florida or something, right? Yeah.

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So as you had that adjustment, you came in, you mentioned you're long ways from home. Did you have to fight some homesickness at first?

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Yeah, I think I did. I think about halfway through the season last year, I was struggling a little bit, you know, struggling hitting, struggling defensively, whatever. And I was like, dang, I really wish I was closer home and I could see my parents. I think that's another big adjustment that I made this year, as I've learned how to, like, deal with that a little bit better.But, yeah, I mean, I got over it. I mean, they come every weekend. It's not like I don't get to see them. I just kind of had to wrap my head around, you know, not being at home all the time.

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Yeah, and I want to ask you about your family later in the show, but just for background, your dad was your coach, right?

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So how much of an adjustment was that, too?

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Because I'm assuming since you were like five years old, he's been the guy that has told you how to swing, how to field, how to throw. And now all of a sudden, and he's your high school coach, probably your youth coach too, right? So how big of an adjustment was that? I mean, he's literally taught me everything that I know. And I am the player I am today because of him.But it was definitely an adjustment, like learning different coaching styles. Not that I haven't ever had any different coaches, but he's been like my main coach. So like having to learn different styles and different techniques at the coaches, fundamentals and stuff like that. I think that was definitely a big adjustment for me. But, I mean, he's prepared me well, so I think I made that adjustment just fine.

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Yeah, as you made, that's a great way to put it. He's prepared you for this next step, so to speak, here, and you're having so much success. I suppose, too, there were times when you're playing either at high school or other youth levels or what have you. If you were having an issue, you just go to the backyard or the garage or whatever it is, and he fixes it or you work on it. Now you have to work on it in a little different way with maybe your teammates with your college

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coaching staff. So that's probably an adjustment too. Yeah, definitely. I think, yeah, it's just a different type of adjustment, I would say. But yeah, I've been doing just fine.

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I'd say so, 455 batting average, sixth in the country, first in the big 10.

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19 homers, six in the country, first in the big 10. So obviously things are clicking. How big has confidence been in that, too? Just you have success and you just feel good every time you put your cleats in the batters box. Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing in softball is you just got to have confidence. Even if it's like a false confidence, you just got to tell yourself, hey, I'm better than this girl.I can get this ball. I can hit this pitch. That's what I've been doing this year, which is something I didn't do a lot last year. I had a lot of negative self-talk, and that's something that I told myself I was going to fix this year.And I did, and I think it's showing in the numbers.

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Yeah. And, I mean, do you just feel like the ball's coming in like a beach ball at times, I suppose?

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Yeah, Coach Woodard PERSON always says that when we're hitting well, he said you're just seeing beach balls right now. It's a good way to put it.

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Yeah, that's great. And you've had some great series, this one, obviously, with Iowa this past weekend. I mean, you're getting to kind of what I would call nitty-gritty time, too, right? Last weekend of the regular season coming up this weekend. You go back to Iowa next week for Big Ten ORG tournament. And lots of, I mean, the stack of Big Ten teams, I think there's seven teams either in tied for third or fourth place, just a game between each other.

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I think Michigan, Ohio, or Michigan and Northwestern ORG are kind of have separated themselves at the top.

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And then that next team, the next, I mean, this weekend and the next weekend are huge for you guys.

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Yeah, it really is.

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I mean, everyone's just beating up on each other. And so this is going to be a big series to see where we play for the Big Ten ORG tournament for everybody, I would say.

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Yeah. And Nebraska ORG comes to town, which I want to preview that. But going back to the Iowa series this past weekend, you're as mentioned player of the week in the Big Ten. How important was that one? Because, you know, that's a team that if you want to end up where you want to end up, you've got to probably win all three.

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And you did, which was great. But it didn't come, as always, it doesn't, nothing's easy, right, when you're playing Division I ORG athletics. And you guys got key hits at the right times.

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Yeah, I think this was a really big series for us. I think we're finally starting to click a little bit. We've had a couple games where it's just, you know, vibes being a little bit off. But I think this weekend we fixed it and we turned it around, like we said, we were going to do. And it was just a good, good three wins for us, and we're

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going to do it again this weekend. Yeah, this weekend is Nebraska at home three-week, or three-game series in the Big Ten sold out, which is cool. And again, we'll talk about that as well. And this team has been a little streaky. You guys at one point, I think, it'd won eight or nine in a row, and then it was going great, and then all of a sudden you hit a little hiccup and then it's a it's a peak in Valley LOC. So how important is it now that this is the this is the time to take off again? Yeah, I think this is a great start

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this weekend. We're slowly going going up and up until the Big Ten tournament EVENT where we should be playing our best softball. So I know all the stuff that's happened in the past, it's over. But we've learned from it. And our coaches always tell us that we're really good at fighting back and bouncing back. We're very resilient as a team collectively. And I think that's what we're doing right now, is just slowly climbing our way at the ladder.

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Yeah. And do you guys, I mean, obviously you're getting coaching and, you know, Coach Ritter PERSON and the gang is telling you what to do. How much, too, is this a player-led unit now for you guys?

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Yeah, I would say a big thing is, I mean, they've been here for four or five years at this point, and they're very good leaders. They know how to handle these moments. You know, they've been through it. Me too.I mean, we've all been through it. We know how to handle it and handle it well and handle it as a group. I think that's big for us.

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When you guys are rolling, you're scoring a bunch of runs that Illinois week. Was a wind blowing out or something? I mean? It must have been. Because you guys, you had what? You had a three home run game, I think.

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Yeah, four total, I think.

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Four total. And you guys scored like 100 runs.

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I don't know what it was. I can't do the math that quick in my head. But it was a lot. How was that weekend? Oh, that was cool. I just got some good pitch.I'm sorry. Illinois ORG has some good pictures too. I don't. We were just all seeing the ball really well that weekend. And once it gets going, it gets going. We're a very contagious team as well. Like the hits, the home runs, defensive plays, the pitches, when it gets wrong, we're hard to stop.

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Yeah, if that's the team that is the rest of the way, you guys are going to be in pretty good show.

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Oh, yeah, I believe so. You cleared the scoreboard on a home run there? Is that right?

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So how many, is that the farthest ball you've hit, do you think?

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Yeah, I think so. That was a good one.

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Did you, did you need to get a tape measure?

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I know. I know. I wish we could get the measurements.

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Next time you're back, we got to go step that off or something.

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So obviously that one, I'm thinking when you connected, you felt pretty good about it. Yeah, that was a good. That was probably my favorite one of that series.

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I just got all of it. The scoreboard's in left field. I think there's some highlights if people want to track it on Twitter, but it's like the announcer is like, she cleared

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the scoreboard. I'm like, I got to watch that again. And it did. And there's a couple of cool places in the Big Ten where if you hit it right, you can end up on either the baseball field or what have you. And I don't think that's the case at Illinois ORG. I'm trying to remember. No, they have just like a big, like, there's actually like a graveyard in left field and then just like two streets and streets and fields in the right field.

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So did you ended up, did yours end up in the graveyard then? Yeah, I think so.

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I don't really know where it ended up, but it was heading that direction.

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It was out there. Yeah. Well, you know if you land a ball in the cemetery somewhere, you've hit it a long way. Yeah. That's pretty fun.

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That's pretty fun. How important will pitching be too for you guys? And I know it's been kind of a pitching by committee. And softball is such an important, I mean, pitching is such an important part of softball. Yeah. I mean, I think our pitch has been working really hard as lately just to get, you know, get it right. And I think they've been a lot more consistent in this last couple of weeks. So I'm excited to see them go out and work. All of them have been great for us.

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Defense has been great. It seems every weekend I'll see again on the Twitter highlights. Somebody's making a great play in the outfield up against the wall or a great throw-to-home base. You guys up the middle have turned 83 double plays. How is that clicking? Obviously you need ground ball pitching, I suppose.

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Yeah, of course. How come so many double plays for you guys? I think it's just an opportunity, and we get a lot of opportunities, and we're very good at connecting and pursuing that opportunity. A couple of them have happened in the outfield, which I've never seen before, but they catch the ball throw first.It's happened twice this year, and I've never seen it before in my life, which is, I think is really cool. But, yeah, again, ground ball pitchers, they give us those ground balls, easy ground balls make the play.

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Yeah, 83, by the way, is third in the NCAA for double plays first in the Big Ten. And obviously, as a shortstop, you're involved in many of those, I would say. And when you turn the double play, you've got to have a pretty good arm. So have you had a cannon most of the time you were throwing as a youngster?

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I would say I've had a pretty good arm. I've been confident on that a few times.

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How often and how much is defensive part of practice and then how much in terms of double plays? How many times do you suppose you've practiced the pivot and the throw and all of that

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at second? I can't even count how many times. It's a lot of practice, what we do is we do those type of plays. That's what we practice. Bunch of ground balls, a bunch of just reps, just to get it going, just keep some muscle memory at this point.

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Just how many times we've done it, but it's awesome. For sure, for sure. All right, so Nebraska, it's a night game Friday. If people want tickets, they're going to have to go to Seat Geek ORG, I think.

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That's the spot. If you don't have them, if you have them, you're lucky, you'll get to watch this. It's a three-game weekend set. What's it like playing at home? You don't get a lot of home games. You mentioned most of February and much of March is spent, you know, in other places just because of snow.Although I think this year you guys got, I mean, there weren't games, but you got to do a little more practice because we had this weird weather in February in March where there was like 70 degree days.

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Anyway, sidebar to that, how much do you like playing at home in the limited chances you get?

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I love playing here.

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I think the atmosphere and the fans is just, they're truly amazing. I mean, they make go for softball what it is. You can just see pictures, everyone in the stands. It's just really cool. But, yeah, again, we don't get to play here a lot compared to other teams. So we just try to take advantage the best we can of the time, like the little time that we have here.

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Yeah, and you've got relatively new since 2018, you've got the big football practice facility in left field. So that is, I suppose, that big block M up there is your target, right?

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Oh, yeah. You're batty? Always. What's the highest you've hit one off there? I hit one off the third panel.

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You count the panels? Is that how you guys do it? So there's like there's three panels. There's one at the bottom, the second one, and the one basically it's that one touching the roof. Yeah. And in a game?Yeah.

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How about for batting practice? I don't think third panel is the highest I've been on that one.

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I can do.

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Yeah. Yeah. And then they bounce back. But those but that's a good target practice. This series, so you think about where you guys sit in the standings, we mentioned that kind of group of set third and fourth place teams, all trying to vie for a couple of spots potential in the NCAA ORG.So how much pressure do you feel, because I'm sure that's where you want to end up. You probably have some work to do, I think, as a team to get there. So how do you guys handle that right now? Yeah, I wouldn't say it's pressure more like opportunity. We get the opportunity to go out and compete for this spot. And I think we're a very competitive team.And we're going to do what we can. We're going to take it one game at a time and not worry about what's ahead. We're going to focus on what we can do in this moment and this game in this pitch. I think that's when we play our best softball. So we're not thinking about that type of stuff. We're just thinking about them now.

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And with Nebraska ORG, they too are kind of in that group of teams.

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They're in the same boat as you guys, hoping that you can string some wins together

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and find themselves in there. How close do you pay attention to the other team? So how much will you know about Nebraska ORG when they come to town? Like their personnel are just...

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Yeah, and then pitching and that kind of stuff,

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like what you'll see when you step in. Yeah, so we do film every week. We'll do it on the pitchers, and then Coach Wooder PERSON puts a video together with the hitters just so we kind of have a feel of who's where. But I watch all that stuff.I watch them all the time, so I kind of have a good idea of who's where. And I know a couple of the girls just from Travel Ball ORG and how they like to play. Yeah.

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And they have, they got hit by injury, right?

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They had the stud pitcher from Oklahoma ORG who was supposed to help them.

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And then first game, maybe.

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I think it was the first game anyway.

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Which is a shame, of course, because, you know, a rising tide raises all boats, so to speak,

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in terms of the conference, and you hate to see that for anybody. That said, this weekend is a big one. Senior Day, too. You mentioned that the seniors have provided you guys good leadership this year at the times that you need it. So how emotional will that be for you to see some of your teammates playing for the final time on that field? Yeah, I don't even want to think about it.I love those girls. You know, they don't even want to think about it. I love those girls. You know, they've been here for my first two years. They've kind of guided me, and they honestly made me the player that I am today. And I just want to, I hope I can continue the legacy that they brought to this team. So I'm super proud of them.It's definitely going to be an emotional weekend.

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Yeah, the two of them are, we talk about all those double plays.

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They're, right? They're really in on that. Whether it's 643, 4,6-3, what have you. Those other two are part of it, right? Exactly, yes.

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And Delaney PERSON, those are my girls.

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It should be fun to watch, no doubt, about it.

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With the tournament next week, you can't take too much of a look ahead because you've got this big one this weekend. But next weekend, as we mentioned, it's back in Iowa City GPE. How do you guys view that? Or is that, as we mentioned, it's back in Iowa City GPE. Is there, how do you guys view that? Or is that, as you mentioned, you're just now at one pitch one time. And when that gets here, it gets here.

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Yeah, I think, again, just focus on it now. Coach Turner PERSON always tells us, like, what's ahead of us is ahead of us. We're going to focus, stay here. But, yeah, I know, I mean, obviously, it's hard not to think about it when it's right around the corner. But we just got to finish out this weekend and see what we're going to play seating and who we're going to play and just focus on that game then.

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Is there some value maybe that you just played in Iowa GPE, that you're going back to a place that you had some success on that diamond?

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Yeah, I think it gives us a little bit of confidence. I mean, we played well there. Like positive, happy memories. I think they'll be better than playing it somewhere where, you know, maybe like an Indiana GPE where we got swept. I think that would kind of be a shame.But, yeah, so I think that would be cool.

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All right, let's take, I got to talk about one of our sponsors real quick, and then we'll come back with Jess Oakland PERSON here. Affinity Plus ORG is one of our great sponsors. They're your local credit union, proudly serving Minnesota since 1930. People-centered banking, perfect for gophers. If you're a current gopher PERSON student or a proud gopher alum, that makes you eligible to jointhis financial that wants to build a meaningful banking relationship and put you first. You could meet with a local employee at any of their branches statewide, including right off campus here in Minneapolis GPE, just on university, or any other spot statewide. To learn more and find other ways to connect, here's the webpage. Affinityplus.org ORG slash go-gofers. That's affinityplus.org slash go-gofers.They have an award-winning mobile app as well. It's Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union ORG, federally insured by NCUA ORG, sponsor of the Go-Gopher ORG podcast and supporter of Gofer Athletics ORG. We're with Jess Oakland PERSON.It's episode 119, the Go-Gofer podcast, Minnesota GPE, and Nebraska this weekend. We're recording here midday on Wednesday getting ready for that game this weekend, the series this weekend, the Big Ten tournament then next weekend. You're from San Jose, California. What brought you to Minnesota? What was the, and it wasn't like you were just some, you know, high school player that Minnesota was able to kind of sneak in on and nobody knew about. Your missed softball in California, first team all state, you know, led a team to a 26 and old record, all of these things. So what, what attracts you to Minnesota? Yeah, so I went to a bunch of camps. I met Coach Wynn PERSON at a lot of them,

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and we just kind of, like, built a relationship, and I really loved her, you know, her, like, her morals and her values. I thought they were really good. They lined up with mine. And she was at Arizona State ORG. I went to a bunch of camps over there, and she became the associate head coach here right before my junior year. And she gave my travel coach a call, said, hey, like, we want this girl, like we're going to call her. And I remember by travel coach John this, it was like, oh, okay, like Minnesota GPE, okay, whatever.And then I had that first phone call with her. I was like, this is what I want. This is, they've made this connection. Same thing I felt with Coach Ritter PERSON. I felt that connection, the values, they lined up with mine. And I felt just that they wanted me.That's what I felt from them. I just felt very wanted. I didn't feel that from a lot of other schools. But yeah, that's kind of how I ended up here, just the connection I made with the coaches. And during COVID EVENT, we couldn't physically come out here because of COVID. So I kind of had to, you know, take that leap, leap of faith and hope for the best and it turnedout really well. I'm very happy.

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Yeah, you're enjoying it?

Speaker 11344.88s - 1381.46s

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. and we talk about that recruiting process. How involved were your parents and how apprehensive maybe were they about sending their daughter halfway across the country to play softball and go to class? Yeah, my mom wasn't very happy about that, but obviously she'll back my decision anyway. But yeah, they were very involved in my recruiting process. I mean, they were the ones taking me all the camps and all the tournaments and all that stuff. So they were obviously very involved.And Minnesota GPE, they wanted to know my parents. So they were like on Zooms ORG and them always checking up all me and my family, which I really appreciated. Family is a big part of my life. So that meant a lot to me that they were able to do that.

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And your mom was a track athlete, right?

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And your dad, who was your coach, was a baseball player.

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He played in the minor leagues?

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For the Rockies ORG, yeah.

Speaker 31391.34s - 1391.94s

For the Rockies ORG.

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So how far up did he advance?

Speaker 31394.7s - 1395.52s

No idea.

Speaker 11395.52s - 1395.86s

Not sure.

Speaker 31395.98s - 1398.42s

I know he was in the minor system for a while. Yeah.

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Was this before you were born or were you born while he was a minor leaguer?

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This was before I was born.

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And then my mom, my mom had me.

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So then he was like, I'm done. So he quit after I was born. That was it. And then was he, and then when did he start? When do you remember first putting a glove on or putting a bat in your hands? Man, I don't remember softball being my first sport.

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I think it was like soccer, basketball or something. I think it was just something that I was like, oh, my friends are doing. Like, I'll do it too. It turned out to be really good. So I just, I stuck with it.

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And my dad obviously knew what he was talking about. He was a very good coach. I'm not just saying that because he's my dad. I think he genuinely has a lot of great knowledge for the game. And he just wanted me to stick with it. He never really, like, forced me to do what I want.Like I played a bunch of sports growing up, soccer, basketball, track, volleyball. I did all of it. So he didn't force me to, youball like some people do, which I appreciate.

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He kind of let me take my own path. Now, was your dad a softball coach before you got in it or because you got in it? Then did he kind of gravitate toward coaching?

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He coached baseball forever. He coached in Cal Poly ORG where he played. He coached Santa Clara ORG college baseball. And then he coached high school at St. Francis ORG, where I went to high school. And then when I was in seventh grade, he took the softball job because he wanted to coach me. And we had this conversation.He was like, I want you to play for me. Like, I'm going to take this job if you want to play for me. I said, yeah, let's do it. So that's kind of how he got to coaching. I mean, he coached me like when I was younger, but it was, that was, yeah, youth.

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Yeah, youth. Yeah. Well, I think that's awesome. I think that's an awesome connection. I coached my kid in baseball, too. I mean, he's, you know, graduate, and it was youth.It wasn't high school.

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But I'm telling you, and I know your dad would feel this way, but it is, like, I miss that every day. Like, if I could, if someone said, hey, what wish would you have? Or if I gave you three wishes, one would be to go back and have another chance, just a game, to coach, not only my son, but his buddies who were also on that team, who you get to know. And I'm sure your dad got very close with your friends. Oh, you did.You know, because you're around all the time and you like that. So your dad's name is Mike. Your mom's name is Dina. Is that right? And they both went to Cal Poly ORG. Yep. Yeah. And so your dad's coaching you. He's getting you involved in the recruiting process, the travel teams. Now

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they're fans. How has that been for them to adjust to that? Oh, they love it. They love just

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sitting and watching me play.

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I mean, there was one time we were in Florida GPE, and back home was a three-hour difference. We had a game at like nine. I think he got up at six to watch my game. I was like, gosh, you're ridiculous. But, yeah, they would drop everything to come out here and watch me,which I really appreciate it. I know sometimes they can't because they have my sisters and everything.

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But, yeah, they enjoy it, and they enjoy coming out here and watching me.

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Is he still coaching softball?

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Yeah, he's coaching my middle sister.

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She's 16, she's a sophomore, so she's at St. Francis ORG right now. She's pretty good? Yeah, she's a future golfer maybe?

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I hope so. Yeah. And then you have a younger sister? Yep, Jordan PERSON. She's a gymnast. Gotcha.

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Maybe, I mean, there's been this brand new gym over here for Coach Hanson PERSON.

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I think she's coming out to a camp in June.

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Is that right?

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Gymnastics. Yeah. Now, how old are they? Jamie is 16. She's my middle sister. And then my youngest sister is Jordan PERSON.She's 14. Yeah. That's great. That's great. And how closely can you follow? I mean, you're busy.You got class. You got softball. You got practice. You got games. But can you follow kind of what they're doing as well?

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Oh, yeah, all the time. My mom sends me videos at Jordan PERSON. I heard gymnastics meet all the time, and I watch Jamie PERSON's games a lot. When they play, I'm able to make some time to watch her hit and watch the webcast or something.

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Yeah, they're all streamed.

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Yeah.

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Do you scream at the computer then or the TV? Just sometimes.

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Depends on who they're playing.

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What's her position? What are her strengths?

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She is actually the complete opposite of me. She is a lefty, lefty, lefty. She's a left hand in center

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field or a lefty slapper. I don't know how that turned out.

Speaker 11628.84s - 1630.24s

That's crazy. That's crazy.

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Completely different game. That's good. Now, so she's 16, so you wouldn't, there's no way

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that you guys could be on the same team. We missed it by a year.

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By a year. You needed a COVID year. I know. That would have been awesome.

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You played basketball, you mentioned. So I want to ask you this is a total off topic question. You're from San Jose GPE. So I do go for men's games on the radio. Mike Mitchell, do you know Mike? Okay, I didn't know if you met.He must be a year older than you. Yeah, he is. But he went to, I wrote this down, Archbishop Middy. You went to St. Francis ORG. Are you, is that a rival? Are there's a rival high school? Rival high schools.Gotcha. My mom actually teaches and coaches at Archbishop Middy ORG, which is funny.

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That's kind of how I know him. Yeah. Like, he knows my mom. Yeah. Now, did you know him before he came here? I mean, he went to Pepperdine for a couple of years.Did you know of him?

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Yeah, I knew of him just through, because I knew he was really good in high school.

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So he was like the talk of the town. So I did. Yeah, I knew him through. Yeah. Cool. I was looking at the two backgrounds, and I figured he was really good in high school. So he was like the talk of the town. So, yeah, I knew him through. Yeah, cool. I was looking at the two backgrounds, and I figured that those two schools had to be rivals.

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Yeah.

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Same conference.

Speaker 11693.1s - 1716.76s

Same conference. I did look up your high school as a bunch of state titles and all kinds of different sports and different things. So that's kind of fun. Do you see, I mean, do you talk much? Do you go to a game or do you see him? Does he come to a game?I mean, I'm not asking if you guys are like close, but you talk about California stuff. Yeah, I mean, we just kind of like our mutual friends. Like we see each other and say hi and hey, hi, how are you doing?

Speaker 31716.84s - 1719.58s

Kind of stuff. But yeah, I've been to a couple games.

Speaker 11720.56s - 1721.86s

A couple basketball games are fun.

Speaker 31722s - 1741.66s

Yeah, yeah. All right, a couple of quick ones here before we wrap up with Jess Oakland here on episode 119. All the different places that softball is taking you, whether it's youth, whether it's with the golfers or whether it's with, you know, a high school team. I don't know if you guys got to travel, you know, across the country or whatever as a high school team.

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Where are some of the cool spots, your favorite spots you've been?

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I've got to think.

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I thought last year's regional when we're in Seattle GPE was really cool.

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Washington GPE's got a really nice place. I love the area.

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Yeah, that is a cool. And that's kind of up against the football stadium and there's water.

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Yeah, it's beautiful. We went to Baylor last year. I really liked Baylor Stadium FAC. That was a pretty cool. That was a neat little area, too. I'm trying tolor last year. I really liked Baylor Stadium FAC. That was a pretty cool. That was a neat little area, too. I'm trying to think this year.Oh, South Carolina GPE. That was really cool. They have a really nice complex.

Speaker 31774.32s - 1793.1s

Do they? Yeah. They have a cool little downtown area too, which I thought was cool. I like going to explore the college towns. Oh, and Clemson ORG.Clemson ORG was the other one. I was like, wow, this is beautiful. Yeah, and I was wondering how much time you guys might get on a road trip like that to do stuff other than, you know, hey, let's go take an infield outfield, let's play a game.

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But you make it a point to try to either walk the campus or the town area. Yeah, we usually stay within the college towns just because it's close to the stadium. And it depends on the weekend, depending on how many games we have. But, yeah, we usually try to go get like some ice cream or something before curfew.

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Yeah, we try to go downtown a lot. How about within the Big Ten? Have you found outside of the Minneapolis GPE area, have you found a spot that you thought was kind of cool?

Speaker 11819.58s - 1827.76s

I really liked Indiana GPE's downtown. They have like a neat little, it kind of reminds me a Dickey GPE town just a little bit bigger and a little bit cleaner.

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They have that kind of town square area, right?

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Did you guys stay in? Yeah, we stayed in the graduate right there.

Speaker 31833.02s - 1845.16s

Yeah, it was really cool. I like that place a lot. Yeah, I always, because we stay there for basketball as well. I always think in Bloomington GPE, when I walk, we go across the street to a restaurant that we like there. The radio crew, not the team.

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The team, of course, stays in the hotel. But I always think, you're probably too young for this, but there's a town center or a courthouse or something with the clock.

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And every time I walk by it, I think of Back to the Future WORK_OF_ART. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 01857.14s - 1861.22s

With Michael J. Fox PERSON with that thing, with the key and they have to hit it.

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Every time I see downtown Blumpton GPE, I, that stupid courthouse with the clock up there

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reminds me of like back to the future. That's funny. I like Bloomington GPE as well. It's probably my favorite trip when we go for basketball. Basketball gives us a little more time. Football is kind of a, you know, there's a lot going on.Oftentimes football likes to stay off away from the busyness of it.

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But for basketball, I like Bloomington GPE as well.

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All right, well, cool.

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This has been so much fun to get to know you. And I know our gopher fans, general gopher fans, and certainly the softball fans will enjoy finding out a little bit more about you as well. And it's kind of fun because we get to watch you kind of grow up here. Had a good freshman year. You've had an outstanding sophomore year,and now hopefully this year finish is strong. You end up where you want, and then see where the future takes you here in Maroon and Gold ORG. Yep. Thanks so much. Yes, thank you.Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Jess Oakland PERSON. It's episode 119. My thanks to Gopher's softball shortstop, Jess Oakland PERSON, for joining me on this week's Go-Gopher ORG podcast.I hope you enjoyed listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed being a part of it. It should be a fun weekend this weekend with Nebraska ORG in town for softball. Episode 119 is presented by Sun Belt Business Advisors and True North ORG mergers and acquisitions. If you're buying or selling a business, visit sunbelt, Minnesota.com or TNMA.com ORG. We're also partnered with Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union ORG, a locally member-owned, full-service financial invested in you. You can learn more at Affinityplus.org ORG slash go-gofers. That'saffinityplus.org slash go-gofers. Again, I'd invite you to listen to past podcast, and please be sure to click that subscribe button right now to the Go-Gopher ORG podcast. It's free to subscribe and free to listen at any time. And please share the link to the podcast with others so they can subscribe and listen as well. And if you could offer positive feedback, if you enjoyed the podcast, we always appreciate that.

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We'll talk again next week.