Jayda Coleman Soaking Up ‘Craziest Experience’ With Team USA Before 2025 World Games

Oklahoma.i home – Jayda Coleman didn’t waste any team creating more memorable moments at Devon Park.

In Friday’s USA Softball Showcasethe former Oklahoma outfielder hammered a two-run bomb in the first contest between Team USA and the USA All-Stars.

She followed up that showing with another RBI in the day’s second game, and she robbed a home run in center field to put an exclamation point on her day.

“To see the fire, to see the athleticism, to see the battle they had today back and forth really made me happy,” Team USA coach Patty Gasso said after the showcase.

Coleman was always right at home at Devon Park in her four trips to the Women’s College World Series, but she was absent from the stage earlier this month in her first season after graduating from collegiate softball.

Ahead of next month’s World Games in China, she reminded everyone exactly what she brings to the Red, White and Blue.

Some athletes can struggle to make the transition from the day-to-day structure of college softball to the professional lifestyle.

Athletes play shorter seasons with the Oklahoma City Spark or the AUSL before breaking for the fall, which means much of the training in the offseason falls solely on the shoulders of each athlete.

Coleman managed it spectacularly, which allowed her to continue her high level of play for Team USA.

“I think I still have Coach Gasso and JT (Gasso’s) voice in my head as I’m going through, even when I’m training, it’s just natural for me to just kind of hear those adjustments in my head and kind of motivate myself,” Coleman said after the pair of games on Friday. “It’s a different type of challenge because during the offseason you’re like, ‘Uh, I don’t really feel like it.’ But then you have moments like this where you’re like I need to work up to that.”

Staying self-motivated will be key for any of the athletes in the USA Softball player pool as the 2028 Olympic Games are still far away.

“I just talked to the team about making training a lifestyle and make a decision if that’s what you want to do,” Patty Gasso said. “Because it’s going to be a long journey and you’ve got to just fall in love with the process or it’s just not going to work for you.”

Coleman just has to keep following the blueprint she set for herself over the last year.

“I think I did actually pretty well leading up to this and motivating myself and pushing myself,” she said. “And then coming to training camp and just watching all these amazing players, it just makes you want to also be amazing. You just want to push to be as good as them.”

The talent around Coleman brought out her best, as she finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs and the strong defensive play across both games.

And the showing was made even sweeter by the fact that Coleman got to show out while playing alongside one of her longtime idols.

“To see girls that I used to watch in college, like Amanda Lorenzshe was my (host) that I went (on a college visit) to Florida with and she drove me around on her little moped,” Coleman said. “And now I’m behind her in the lineup and I’m like, this is the craziest experience. I never thought we’d be here and now we’re here. It’s awesome.”