OU Softball’s Alex Storako Responds After Former Coach Causes Stir on Twitter
When you win a lot, people are going to hate you. It’s a tale as old as sports.
Babe Ruth, a member of the 1927 Yankees, famously said, “the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.” The Great Bambino wasn’t around to see the rise of social media, but he prophetically summarized the sports world on Twitter with that statement.
The 2023 Oklahoma Sooners, who are quite similar to Ruth’s ’27 Yankees, are 59-1 on the year and are just two wins away from a third straight national championship. The vast majority of the Sooners’ success is credited to Patty Gasso, who has been the best coach in softball for more than a decade now.
However, there have been some who oppose what Oklahoma has built that points to their proximity to Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City as a reason for their success. Others have pointed to OU’s ability to land some of the top transfer talent in the country as the reason they’ve won 51 games in a row.
Sure, the additions of Haley Lee and Alex Storako have helped tremendously in 2023, but transfers alone aren’t enough to make that happen.
Over the weekend, a bit of drama was stirred up surrounding the aforementioned transfer, Alex Storako. The former Michigan Wolverines, and UM graduate, has a 16-0 record in 2023 with a 1.12 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 99.2 IP.
Her former coach, and former Michigan head softball coach Carol Hutchins, isn’t exactly a fan of the Sooners, or the transfer portal, at least judging by her Twitter feed.
Now, we’re not talking about some coach that nobody’s ever heard of. Hutchins was the Michigan head softball coach from 1985-2022. The winningest head coach in softball history, with 1,707 victories over 37 years and a WCWS title in 2005. Yes, that Carol Hutchins.
During Oklahoma’s game with Tennessee, Hutchins tweeted, “Oklahoma has a 10th man on the field!”, suggesting that the umpires were favoring the Sooners.
While OU fans weren’t exactly happy about that tweet, the one that seemed to really tick people off.
The quote tweet of Sierra Romero was doubly agitating for Oklahoma fans, considering that Sierra Romero is the older sibling of Sydney Romero, who won two national championships with Oklahoma (2016, 2017) at third base.
Now, “Those Who Stay Will Be Champions” is a creed at Michigan, and has been around since Bo Schembechler became the head football coach in 1969. So, if I’m reading this right, Hutchins seems to be implying that Storako was wrong for leaving Michigan to come to Oklahoma?
Well, considering Michigan finished just a game over .500 and missed the NCAA Tournament, I’d say Storako did the right thing for her career.
She also didn’t seem too worried about what Hutchins seemingly had to say about her decision.
Storako will also have the option to play softball after college, and likely owes at least some of that to her move to Norman.
Storako was selected to the Oklahoma City Spark as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WPF Draft, a league started by former Oklahoma Sooner, Lauren Chamberlain.
However, before she can enjoy a professional career, Storako and her teammates have a major task ahead of them, as a best-of-three series with Florida State awaits them, starting on Wednesday. If things go the Sooners’ way, “those who leave will win championships.”
