Carlson: This Oklahoma State softball team is a fashionable choice in more ways than one
Jenni CarlsonOklahoman
STILLWATER — When Oklahoma State hits the field, the Cowgirls care about hits.
But before games?
It’s all about fits.
Style has become the name of the pregame for OSU. When the Cowgirls are home for a big series, they pick a theme, then dress accordingly for one of the games. When they arrive at the field, it’s a bit like when NBA players arrive at the arena.
Everyone wants to see what everyone else is wearing.
“It was kind of just a spur-of-the-moment idea,” Cowgirl outfielder Katelynn Carwile said of starting the ritual a year ago, “and all of us really loved it.”
As OSU prepares for its biggest home games of the season, rest assured the Cowgirls will dress to the nines for regionals. Even though they refused to reveal what the theme would be for the start of the NCAA Tournament, they promised something unforgettable.
“I can assure you that we will have some good themes,” Cowgirl pitcher Morgan Day said. “Some you may not expect coming, but they are coming and they will not disappoint.”
So, what does any of this have to do with trying to win regionals?
After all, wearing fun outfits isn’t going to get a timely strikeout or a clutch double.
“I’ll be very honest — my younger self would be cringing at some of the things these guys do,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said.
He chuckled.
“I think about other coaches across the country, and they’re probably going, ‘What a bunch of idiots. How are they doing this?’” he said. “I’m like, ‘You know what? This is who we are.’
“Why would I stop these kids from being who they want to be and having fun?”
Those inside the program say being able to do that is empowering.
Day, for example, transferred to OSU this year, and when she was looking at possible landing spots, she liked what she saw of the Cowgirls in traditional and social media. Liked what she saw when she watched them play, too.
“They played free,” she said. “They had fun, and it translated into winning games.”
No longer on the outside looking in, Day says her perceptions were reality.
“We really do have a lot of fun,” she said.
Dressing up for games, then, is just the Cowgirls being themselves.
What started last season resumed slowly this season. But during the Kansas series, OSU brought the themes back with a jersey day, and the Cowgirls went all in.
Avery Hobson wore a red Chicago Bulls jersey while Tatum Sparks had some old-school Pittsburgh Pirates garb. Some players wore jerseys of other OSU teams. Miranda Elish went with a Malcolm Rodriguez football jersey, Chelsea Alexander a Bryce Thompson basketball one and Jules Callaham opted for an OSU baseball jersey.
With futuristic wrap-around shades and long blond hair, her look was a nod to current Cowboy slugger Griffin Doersching.
Then before the first game of the Texas series, the Cowgirls went with western wear. There were lots of boots and hats, jeans and bandanas.
Infielder Morgyn Wynne liked cowgirl day the best.
“Because it was fitting that we did it playing the Longhorns,” she said.
She laughed.
“I had these really obnoxiously loud cow-print pants, and so I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m gonna wear these to the field, and then if somebody wants to pretend that they have a rope and I’m the freakin’ longhorn, we’re gonna do it.’
“It’s just so funny. We just go all out.”
Carwile’s favorite theme came last season: bougie athletic wear.
She wore almost head-to-toe Lululemon. Leggings. Shirt.
“I was Lulu-ed out to the max,” Carwile said.
The fun has been documented on OSU’s social media platforms, complete with glamour shots and slow-motion videos.
Gajewski admits to being a bit envious of his players’ carefree attitudes. They don’t mind what other people might think of their goofiness. They just want to have fun with their teammates.
“That’s what I love,” he said. “That’s what I want to be. That’s the program that I want to have is, you can be you here. You can have fun here.”
Gajewski admits, too, to being completely in the dark about what the players are planning for this week.
“I cannot wait to see what regionals brings,” he said.
On the field and in the pregame.
