If anyone has some idea of what the University of Tennessee baseball team is about to experience when it reaches Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series, it’s former Ooltewah softball star Kayla Boseman.
After originally signing with Mississippi State out of high school, Boseman transferred to James Madison, which meant she was a part of the Dukes squad that reached the NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, earlier this month.
And just in case you’ve forgotten, JMU not only got there, but won its first two games against top-ranked and eventual winner Oklahoma, as well as Oklahoma State, to become the first mid-major to win its first two contests at the event.
“We made history,” Boseman beamed through a cell phone Tuesday morning. “We beat the No. 1 team in the country in their home state. I wish we could have won it all. But as a little girl growing up, this is what you dream about, reaching the World Series. So we definitely left happy.”
They should be. Merely consider that both their defeats came at the hands of the national champion Sooners, who after losing to the Dukes 4-3 in the opening game of the Series, later beat JMU 6-3 and 7-1 on their way to winning their fourth NCAA championship of the last eight that have been staged (2020 was canceled due to COVID-19).