'Kind of surreal': OSU's Alysen Febrey happy to face old team, Georgia Bulldogs, in WCWS
Scott WrightOklahoman
Oklahoma State first baseman Alysen Febrey celebrated her 23rd birthday on Tuesday.
Among the birthday text messages she received was one from her former coach and current opponent, Lu Harris-Champer of Georgia.
“She was the third or fourth person to text me,” Febrey said. “It was a really sweet message.”
No. 5-seed Oklahoma State will face unseeded Georgia at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the Women’s College World Series at Hall of Fame Stadium.
It’s a matchup that Febrey — one of two former Bulldogs on the Cowgirl roster along with Jordan Doggett — never thought would happen when she left the Georgia program after three years and came to Oklahoma State as a graduate transfer after the 2019 season.
“It’s almost kind of surreal,” Febrey said. “I didn’t really expect it, but I’m excited. It’s gonna be cool. I know a bunch of the girls that are still on the team.”
Febrey still maintains a great deal of respect for Harris-Champer as well.
“She gets everything out of her players,” Febrey said. “She’s a hard-ass, but what coach isn’t? She cares about you as a person, too.
“I’m glad I went there and then came (to OSU), because I don’t think I would be the player I am today, or even the person I am today, without her. She brought me out of my comfort zone completely. My freshman year, I was very shy and quiet on the field. I would never talk. I would be standing on the field doing nothing, getting yelled at. But I needed it, and she knew that.”
Since coming to OSU, Febrey has been one of the Cowgirls’ best hitters, anchoring the middle of the lineup. This season, she leads the team with a .409 batting average and 59 RBIs, and is second on the team with 18 home runs.
“Alysen has definitely brought out a more competitive side of me,” third baseman Sydney Pennington said. “She brings energy, she brings grit, she brings aggressiveness. She’s just overall a really competitive player and wants to win. I think she changed the mentality of our team.”
Coach Kenny Gajewski has seen it, too, and he hopes his younger players are soaking it in.
“Her mentality, her intent every day to work, to show up and be great. Never satisfied,” Gajewski said. “It really has changed the mentality of our program, the way we grind. We use her as an example a lot.
“I tell our young kids all the time, if you’re not paying attention to what Alysen does every single day on our field, you’re wasting time. She is giving you the cheat code to how to be great.”
When Febrey made her recruiting visit to OSU as a graduate transfer, she says she knew “after 10 minutes” that she wanted to become a Cowgirl. But her first recruiting visit to OSU during high school wasn’t quite the same.
“She was the first person to tell us no,” said Gajewski, who had known Febrey from his time on the Florida coaching staff, and began recruiting the Fayetteville, Georgia, native as soon as he got the OSU job in 2015.
“Being in Georgia and being in the South, I wanted to play in the SEC,” Febrey said. “My parents loved Coach G, but I had already got my offer from Georgia and I had friends going there, so I had no interest in going to Oklahoma State.”
But her parents made her take a visit to Stillwater anyway. However, their flight out of the Atlanta airport got canceled, so they decided to drive.
“Twelve hours of nothing, and I didn’t want to go,” Febrey said. “I was mad the whole time I was there. Coach G offered me the perfect scholarship and my parents are kicking me under the table, because I’m like, ‘No, I’m good, thanks.’”
But the second time around, Gajewski lured Febrey in with ease, and she’s been a crucial part of this run to the WCWS.
And Gajewski isn’t worried about her ability to lock in and focus on the task at hand Thursday, even with Georgia in the other dugout.
“What’s kind of cool is the fact that we are playing Georgia, and it’s a great story for all of you to talk about,” Gajewski said. “But for Alysen, once the first pitch is thrown, I can assure you she won’t be looking over there at her former team. She’ll be playing with her current team and that’s all that matters when it’s all said and done."
