WCWS creates magical moment for A&M’s Massey
College softball is all about making memories. The girls go out and give it everything they have for four years in hopes of making that one (or more) play that will cement their names in the history books.
With two outs in the bottom of seventh inning and her team down 8-1, Texas A&M senior Celena Massey made a memory that will last her a lifetime.
Massey, a Texas native, entered the game as a pinch hitter. It was her final at bat of her college career and what happened on the second pitch was Oklahoma City magic.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what the at bat was going to be like,” said Massey. “I just went up there hacking and after it I saw them jumping and I was like holy moly it’s out!”
Listed as a catcher, Massey played in five games as freshman and recorded one hit. During her sophomore campaign, she saw playing time in 39 games and recorded 14 hits including two doubles and four home runs. Last year, she appeared in 10 games and recorded two hits in nine at bats. This season, she was role player who had four at bats in 13 games.
“I was out of my mind,” said head coach Jo Evans, while fighting back emotions. “I actually (after the game) apologized to Kirk (Walker) and Kelly (Inouye-Perez) for acting so ridiculous when we got a home run and the score was 8-2. I just wanted to make sure they knew I wasn’t trying to show anybody up. In that moment when you’ve got a kid you love and respect and they go up and do that, I was just fired up and going crazy over there.”
Evans thought she blew it in the top of the seventh when UCLA scored five and she didn’t put Massey in behind the plate. She said she was mad at herself for not thinking of it a pitch sooner.
“To me it’s about those kids,” said Evans. “I didn’t have some master plan in my mind, that’s just how it played out.”
As soon as Massey made contact, the Texas A&M dugout erupted and emptied to swarm and greet their teammate at home plate. Massey and the teammates who were with her at the postgame press conference couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces even though the UCLA Bruins eliminated them 8-2.
“When we saw that ball go over the fence, you better know we were gonna be the first ones out to that home plate to be cheering louder than she was around the bases,” said junior Ashley Walters. “We were talking about it earlier, she’s gonna have kids and tell them about this and they aren’t going to believe her. Like you’re lying, you didn’t hit a home run in your last at bat in the College World Series. That’s just unbelievable.”
