How Oklahoma State softball landed transfer Megan Delgadillo thanks to chance meeting
Scott WrightThe Oklahoman
STILLWATER — Megan Delgadillo will be playing center field, batting at the top of the order and stealing bases for the Oklahoma State softball team this spring — and Kenny Gajewski still shakes his head when tells the tale of how he lured the highly sought-after transfer to Cowgirl country.
Fourth-ranked OSU begins its season at 10 a.m. Thursday against Florida State in the Puerto Vallarta College Classic in Mexico, and Delgadillo will be a prominent figure in the Cowgirls’ pursuit of a sixth straight trip to the Women’s College World Series appearance.
Going back to last season, Gajewski knew Delgadillo’s name because he served on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association group tasked with selecting postseason honors. And the NFCA gave Delgadillo its Golden Shoe Award as the most prolific base-stealer in college softball.
However, the OSU coach hadn’t closely tracked her recruitment when she entered the transfer portal upon leaving Cal State Fullerton.
But let’s take a step backward before we get to the chance meeting of Gajewski and Delgadillo.
As Gajewski prepared to leave for a recruiting trip to Fort Collins, Colorado, at the end of June, he met with his coaching staff to discuss any lingering needs for their team.
In terms of immediate need, the ideal candidate, they determined, would be a veteran leadoff-hitting center fielder. But by that point of the summer, the transfer portal was essentially wiped clean of major prospects, so expectations of filling that void were low.
Gajewski arrived at a newly constructed pitching facility in Fort Collins the next day, and as he toured it, he crossed paths with Sean Brashear, the coach of an elite travel team also at the site.
Brashear’s assistant coach walked past, and Gajewski complimented her on the color of her bright orange shorts, but that was the extent of their interaction.
But moments later, Brashear returned.
“Hey, do you know who that was?” he asked Gajewski about the assistant coach.
It was Delgadillo, Brashear told him.
“Where did she end up?” Gajewski asked.
The answer? Nowhere yet.
Delgadillo was still waiting on the NCAA to approve her fifth year of eligibility, and while many of the game’s top programs had inquired about her, all of her offers were dependent on that approval.
“My mind just started to spin,” Gajewski said.
So he began to chat with her.
“If I do something crazy, are you gonna do something crazy back?” he asked her.
And Delgadillo was hooked.
Over the next 90 minutes, she and Gajewski, in communication with his assistant coaches and the OSU compliance department, organized an official visit to Stillwater with a flight from Fort Collins the next morning.
In Stillwater, Delgadillo spent the day with OSU hitting coach Vanessa Shippy-Fletcher, getting the full recruiting pitch and facilities tour. Delgadillo returned to Fort Collins, where Gajewski hosted a remote version of a typical “in-home” visit with her at the Residence Inn where he was staying.
As Delgadillo walked up the hotel stairs to meet with Gajewski, she had a warning for the coaches who accompanied her.
“Whatever happens, don’t let me commit tonight,” she told them. “I need to think.”
Gajewski gave his presentation, and at the end, he made his offer — which would stand, whether Delgadillo got her extra year or not. He believed she could help in a student-coaching role with his young center fielders, Tia Warsop and Taylor Anderson.
Delgadillo committed in that moment.
“I’d be stupid if I didn’t want to be a Cowgirl,” Delgadillo said. “No one promised what he did. He stayed loyal and true from the beginning. It was amazing.
“I can’t thank him enough. He took the opportunity, and it paid off for both of us.”
The ultimate payoff didn’t come until a week before school began in August.
“I called Coach G. and they were on a coaches’ retreat in Broken Bow,” Delgadillo said. “The next thing I get is a video of them all in the lake congratulating me. They were just so happy and genuine.”
Delgadillo batted .417, scored 49 runs and stole 44 bases last season, while also using her speed to patrol center field. And given the opportunity to play for a WCWS contender in her final season, she wasn’t reserved in her approach when she arrived.
“I don’t think they expected me coming in, kicking the door down like I did,” Delgadillo said. “But I told them I would.
“I’m gonna do anything for this team.”
Delgadillo could significantly impact the Cowgirls’ ultimate success this season, and each time he writes her name on the lineup card, Gajewski is going to be reminded of the unprecedented chance he took.
“If you’re not willing to work fast,” Gajewski said, “you’ve got no shot in college athletics in this day and age.”
