THE INCREASE: Creating Community While Socially Distant - Janie Reed

Softball The Increase

THE INCREASE: Creating Community While Socially Distant – Janie Reed

By The Increase Jun 26, 2020

(Photo credit: Jade Hewitt)

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Softball

Teagan Kavan leads Texas to back-to-back softball national titles, knows ‘Jesus is steady’

By Cole Claybourn Jun 5, 2026

Texas players and staff celebrate after winning the Women's College World Series, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

There may be a new dynasty brewing in the college softball world. For the second straight year, Texas defeated Texas Tech in the Women’s College World Series Finals.

Following their 4-1 victory Thursday night, the Longhorns are just the fifth softball team in NCAA history to win back-to-back national championships.

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Also for a second straight year, pitcher Teagan Kavan was named the WCWS Most Outstanding Player, becoming the first player to win the award twice in a row. She pitched a complete game with six strikeouts in Texas’s 7-3 Game 1 win on Wednesday, then came on in relief to close out Game 2, striking out five batters in two innings of work. She also became the first pitcher with two shutouts and two saves in one WCWS.

“It’s a team thing,” Kavan told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game. “It’s all our coaches, it’s all these girls right here. I’m just so happy and I’m so proud to be a Longhorn.”

"I'm so proud to be a Longhorn." 🥹

Teagan Kavan and Katie Stewart join @sportsiren after @TexasSoftball wins its second-straight WCWS 🤘 pic.twitter.com/BAoy7382pA

— ESPN (@espn) June 5, 2026

this team. this moment. 🤘🥹#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Q6hDhDys0h

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) June 5, 2026

The junior from Des Moines, Iowa, finished the season with 260 strikeouts, a 28-6 record, 2.33 ERA, and five saves in 228.2 innings pitched. She’s been named a second-team All-American each of the past two years.

Kavan, along with several of her teammates, has also spoken openly about her faith in God.

“Jesus is steady to me,” Kavan said in a recent interview with the University of Texas Catholic Center. “He’s consistent and always shows up when you don’t think He’s going to.”

Texas has made it a tradition for each player to play the game in honor of a teammate. Kavan was one of several who told ESPN that she was playing Thursday night for senior catcher Reese Atwood, saying she wanted to send her battery mate out with another title.

Also a believer, Atwood — who hit a double and was intentionally walked twice on Thursday — provided leadership on the field as well as off.

“Something that we read recently was, ‘It’s not failure if God had intended it,'” she told the UT Catholic Center. “Even our failures are bringing us to something greater.”

She said her favorite part of playing softball isn’t the game itself.

“It’s the people that God has brought into my life, the friendships that I’ll have for the rest of my life, the people who I’ve been able to walk with in faith,” she said.

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The Longhorns have also been paced by senior right fielder Ashton Maloney, consistently one of the best hitters on the team both last year and this season, and a Gold Glove winner along with Atwood. Maloney went 1-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs in Game 1, then followed it up going 1-for-3 with a run scored in Game 2.

She appeared on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast last summer and said she grew both as a player and a believer during her time at Texas. A big reason for that stems from tearing her ACL just two weeks before arriving on campus.

“I felt very disconnected from my team,” she said on the podcast. “I felt like I had lost a large part of my identity.”

Having a strong support system and being close with her teammates helped her grow throughout her college career, she said. Many of them attend church together, and they helped keep Maloney accountable in her walk, including encouraging her to go to church even on days when she didn’t feel like it.

“Those are the days you need to go even more because the Lord is calling you those days,” she said on the podcast. “So just understanding that my teammates are going to be there; I need to be there for them too. That helps us grow our bond — not only on the field, but off the field as well.”

While significant pieces like Atwood and Maloney will be leaving the team, Kavan and star slugger Katie Stewart have one more year of eligibility, and their return to Austin would put Texas square in the conversation for a three-peat. The spotlight on the program will only get brighter after winning another title, but that may not be such a bad thing, Kavan said.

“It’s a gift that we have a platform and that we get to do what we love on the highest level and live out our dreams; it’s so surreal,” she told UT Catholic Center. “It’s a gift from God, and the fact that I get to do it surrounded by the best people (is great).”

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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Softball

Pitcher NiJaree Canady leads Texas Tech in WCWS trusting in ‘my Savior, Jesus Christ’

By Kevin Mercer Jun 1, 2026

Texas Tech pitcher Nijaree Canady, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)

Four teams remain in the NCAA softball Women’s College World Series (WCWS), and for the second consecutive year, NiJaree Canady and Texas Tech are in the mix. The Red Raiders advanced to the semifinals Sunday thanks to a thrilling 8-7 victory against UCLA that needed extra innings.

The winning pitcher was Canady, a two-time NFCA Pitcher of the Year and the active Division I leader in career ERA (1.04). And although she struggled on the mound at times during Sunday’s game, the senior in search of a national championship delivered when her team needed her most.

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Canady started against UCLA and went 2.1 innings, giving up three runs. She remained in the game on defense, and in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Red Raiders again tapped their ace to close out the game. However, Canady allowed a two-run homer for a 6-6 tie that ultimately sent the contest to extras.

With Texas Tech clinging to a one-run lead with one out in the ninth inning, and despite her earlier struggles, the senior veteran was trusted with the ball again. This time, Canady left no doubt. She retired her first batter on a flyout to left field, then struck out the final batter to secure the win.

NIJAREE CANADY KEEPS TEXAS TECH ALIVE 🔥

The Red Raiders eliminate UCLA from the WCWS. pic.twitter.com/ZE8MuMicvZ

— ESPN (@espn) June 1, 2026

Canady’s gutsy performance advanced Texas Tech to a matchup with No. 1 Alabama on Monday. The Red Raiders will need to take down the Crimson Tide twice in one day in order to move on to the WCWS Finals again, where they came up short against in-state rival Texas a year ago.

When asked in Sunday’s postgame press conference how her team could bounce back from Sunday’s marathon game to compete with the nation’s No. 1 team, Canady pointed to the cohesiveness the Red Raiders have exhibited all season.

“I think it’s just playing for each other again,” she said. “I feel like [when] we’re out there, we’re fighting for each other. We’re just trying to have each other’s back, the same way we’ve been playing all year.”

This is Canady’s fourth career WCWS semifinal appearance, and she’s hoping she can finally bring home a national championship trophy. She reached her first two college World Series with Stanford, but in a groundbreaking development in July 2024, she signed the first $1 million NIL deal in collegiate softball history to transfer to Texas Tech. It was the first NIL deal to grant her equity in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, a league she was drafted into (No. 2 overall) last month by the Austin Volts.

Texas Tech was an afterthought on the college softball landscape before Canady’s arrival, but she brought immediate success and unparalleled attention from fans and media alike.

But even in the face of such widespread fame, the attention Canady most desires is from her Heavenly Father. She has “Psalm 34:4” stitched on her glove, and also lists the verse with a cross emoji in her Instagram bio. She posts about her faith in Christ on social media as well.

Before the start of the WCWS, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) asked her a question about how she’s seen God at work.

“The biggest thing for me is just knowing softball is not my ride or die,” she answered. “Yes, I work hard for it, but at the end of the day, I feel like my job here is just to spread my faith to as many people as I can, and right now I use softball to do that. This world is not gonna be my final place. The end goal is to be with my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I’m just using softball to spread that message.

“… As I got older in my junior and senior year, I’m relying more on my faith, just knowing that this game doesn’t define me.”

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One opportunity Canady has had to use her softball fame to spread the Gospel was by attending a faith-based lunch event in Lubbock last August in which she had a conversation with Texas Tech women’s chaplain Brandi Cantrell about her faith and her sport. Canady revealed that she grew up attending church and even participating in the choir, but as more of her time became diverted to her sports endeavors, time in church began to get crowded out.

Canady’s tenure at Texas Tech hasn’t only been a period of tremendous growth for her on the diamond and in the business world, but in her walk with Christ as well.

“I feel like these past six or seven months is just when I’ve really been able to dive into the Word and really grow my relationship overall,” she said at the event.

The impetus for that, she said, was all the attention that suddenly came her way.

“In January, I felt like I wanted to hear from the Lord, but I didn’t know how. So I just ordered a Bible from Amazon, and I was just trying to get in the Word and reading. I wanted to hear something. I just felt like I needed some sort of guidance,” she said.

It was the first time Canady had studied the Scriptures so deeply in search of God’s voice.

“[Jesus is] always there, He just might not show up in the way you’re expecting Him to,” Canady said. “I remember looking back in those first couple weeks reading my Bible, I feel like I was looking for some huge sign, just some huge way for Him to tell me what to do, when in reality He was always there. It just wasn’t in the way I thought He was.

“… He’ll never give up on you.”

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A post shared by NiJaree Canady (@nija.canady)

Canady has come to discover that the profound and abiding love of Christ is what defines her, not her softball performances. Free in that truth, she leads Texas Tech on its quest for a national championship.

First pitch against Alabama is set for 7 p.m. ET.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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Coaches Softball

Mississippi State in 1st WCWS as head coach Samantha Ricketts stays ‘locked in’ with God

By Cole Claybourn May 27, 2026

Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts, May 24, 2026. (Photo By Hallie Walker/Mississippi State Athletics)

The student beat the master.

Mississippi State, led by head coach Samantha Ricketts, knocked off perennial power Oklahoma on Sunday with a 6-0 shutout win in Game 3 of the super regional to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the first time in program history.

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For Ricketts, the upset came in familiar territory. A former Oklahoma star, she played first base under legendary coach Patty Gasso from 2006-09, setting then-program records for career home runs (48) and RBIs (239). She later spent two seasons as a graduate assistant on Gasso’s staff.

Now leading Mississippi State, Ricketts made history twice in one weekend. Friday’s 11-9 victory marked the first time a former Oklahoma player had defeated Gasso as a head coach. Sunday’s win raised the stakes even higher, making Ricketts the first former player to knock off her former mentor for a tournament or regional championship.

She was quick to give praise to her mentor following the win.

“They’re the standard of college softball,” Ricketts said during her postgame press conference. “What Coach Gasso has built cannot be denied — what this program is and what she’s done. I know, for myself and the relationship to the program, I am so thankful for her and her guidance. I would not be in this seat and in this moment without Patty Gasso.”

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Mississippi State took Game 1 of the series 11-9 but lost 7-1 in Game 2. That provided a teaching moment for Ricketts, who’s been at the helm since 2019.

“We talk a lot about perspective,” she said in the press conference. “Even in those tough moments, even after yesterday’s loss when we got punched in the mouth, this is something we get to do. Nobody has to be here. Nobody’s forcing us to be here. We are all very blessed to be in this moment in the wins and the losses.”

The defeat for OU marks the first time in 399 games that it was held scoreless, and this year’s Women’s College World Series will be without OU for the first time since 2015.

Because of Oklahoma’s pedigree, MSU knew it wasn’t expected to win, which allowed the Bulldogs to play from a perspective of just having fun.

“It’s not life or death at the end of the day; it’s softball. And we’re going to go out there and give it everything we’ve got, have fun with our friends, and give glory to God at the end,” Ricketts said in the press conference. “This group, I think, did a really good job of that. We kind of embraced the David-versus-Goliath mentality, and just knew that all the pressure was in their dugout.”

Ricketts has learned a lot from Gasso, but perhaps some of the most important lessons were in how to build a sustainable, winning culture. Much of that has helped Ricketts lead with her faith in God out front and foster an environment where faith is at the core.

“I think what I’ve really learned to do, and starting with Coach Gasso, is just surrounding yourself with people that are strong in their faith, that have the same values and beliefs,” Ricketts said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2021. “Just making sure you have good leaders and mentors in place and strong people of faith for your players to look up to.”

She recalled being at Oklahoma and being introduced to team chaplain and Fellowship of Christian Athletes area director Sarah Roberts. Ricketts started attending Sunday chapels, and eventually it became essentially “a whole team event.”

“Everyone just really loved her and her passion and wanted to start off the Sunday on the right foot,” Ricketts said on the podcast. “That’s something we’ve been able to do here [at Mississippi State]. We’ve got a great FCA program as well.”

Join us today on the podcast for a conversation with @HailStateSB coach Samantha Ricketts (@Coach_Ricketts) for a conversation about on leadership and coaching for greater purpose.

Listen now on Apple or Spotify! https://t.co/8kXlnjrSMy pic.twitter.com/2kQRQETiYw

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) December 15, 2021

Now a coach, her schedule is every bit as busy as it was as a player, if not more. But she knows she can’t let that be an excuse for her time with God to be put aside. She understands she has to keep her priorities in order and make intentional time to be in the Word, because when she’s busy or tired, that’s usually the first thing that gets sacrificed from her schedule.

“I like to journal,” she said on the podcast. “I use typically the Bible app and the verse of the day. I’ll use that to dive in, just pick a verse, and then from there, journal what that looks like for me, what I think the meanings of it might be, and then use that to spark my prayer over my players, my team, my family.

“But that just helps me stay in a routine as well. That [verse is] something that changes every day and something I know is going to be there that I could use to sit down with and spend 15 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever I have, and just try to stay locked in to what I know my priorities are.”

Ricketts and Mississippi State begin WCWS play on Thursday against Texas Tech at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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Softball

Ashton Maloney leads Texas on quest to defend national title knowing ‘my identity is in Christ’

By Cole Claybourn May 21, 2026

Texas' Ashton Maloney rounds first base against Stanford, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Lachlan Cunningham)

The Texas softball team is looking to join rare company this spring. Only four schools have won back-to-back national championships: Oklahoma, Florida, Arizona and UCLA. If the Longhorns have their way, they’ll become the fifth.

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Ranked No. 3 nationally and awarded one of the four No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament, the defending national champions enter super-regional play on Friday against No. 5-seed Arizona State. Texas cruised through its regional undefeated, allowing just one run in three games, and riding the momentum from the program’s first SEC Tournament championship.

feeling super🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/z315wHmMYC

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 17, 2026

One of the senior leaders on the team is starting right fielder Ashton Maloney. She’s a career .376 hitter who led the team in hits (93) in 2025 en route to the program’s first national title.

She joined Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast last summer and shared how she’s grown both as a player and a believer during her time at Texas. A big reason for that stems from tearing her ACL just two weeks before arriving on campus.

“I felt very disconnected from my team,” she said on the podcast. “I felt like I had lost a large part of my identity.”

She shared that having a strong support system throughout her college career has been a major factor in her growth. She lives with three other girls who all encourage each other when they encounter challenging seasons.

But one of the most important relationships happened Maloney’s freshman year, when she was sidelined with the injury. A girl joined the team and started pouring into her from a faith perspective.

“She brought me back to who I was and who I want to be,” Maloney said. “I think without her or without Jesus in my life that year, I would not be here today playing this game still. It has been the most rewarding feeling — just finding the Lord and understanding that my identity is in Christ and not within my game.”

“It has been the most rewarding feeling finding the Lord and understanding that my identity is in Christ and not within my game.” – @ashton_maloney

2025 @TexasSoftball National Champion, Ashton Maloney, joins the What's Up podcast! Listen now! https://t.co/38w3bP9ARo pic.twitter.com/a6oIe7Al0P

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) July 14, 2025

There’s a strong contingent of players on the team who share faith in Christ, and many of them attend church together. There have been plenty of days where she didn’t feel like going, but her friends held her accountable, Maloney said.

Aside from church, Maloney is also part of a small discipleship group with three other teammates led by an older woman who works at the university. That’s been a life-giving experience to grow closer with her friends and teammates, as well as gain wisdom from someone older than her.

“If I have an issue, I know I can go to certain people and they’re there for me,” Maloney said. “But it’s also growing me closer to the Lord which, ultimately, is who I go to for every single problem and every single decision in my life. So just understanding that I have that outlet and it’s always there for me has been really important for me to learn.”

Texas begins its best-of-three series against Arizona State at 9 p.m. ET Friday in Austin, with Game 2 set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday. The eight super-regional winners will meet for the Women’s College World Series, which starts May 28 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<