Wiedmer: Former Ooltewah softball star Kayla Boseman has advice for how Vols can enjoy College World Series

Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee baseball players celebrate Sunday night's 3-1 victory over Liberty that propelled the Vols to a spot in the NCAA tournament's super regionals.
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee baseball players celebrate Sunday night's 3-1 victory over Liberty that propelled the Vols to a spot in the NCAA tournament's super regionals.

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).

"I'll never forget the last game we played, when it was over, they gave us a standing ovation," she said. "Just being there, it made all my childhood dreams come true."

It had been a nightmare season for Boseman before reaching Oklahoma City. A knee injury basically shut down the pitcher's time on the field. Then, on February 15, she found out her beloved grandfather, Robert Boseman Sr., had passed away unexpectedly in Nashville. To make things much worse, Boseman contracted COVID-19 on the flight home from JMU and couldn't attend the funeral.

"Watching your grandfather's funeral on a livestream feed is very tough," she said.

Thankfully, the Dukes' softball season was anything but tough. Buoyed by a senior-laden lineup, JMU won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament with ease, followed that by capturing the Knoxville regional with two wins over Liberty and a 3-1 victory over the host Lady Vols, then took two out of three at Missouri to claim that super regional and a spot in OKC. They ended the year with a preposterously good 41-4 record.

"When we beat Oklahoma, I just knew we had the whole tournament," she said. "If we could beat them, we could beat everybody."

But Oklahoma wasn't just anybody. And having to play them three of your four World Series games wouldn't have been anybody's recipe for success.

Yet there was also a cuddly, underdog charm to JMU from the start of World Series, right down to barely getting to the stadium for the opener against OU.

"We didn't really know much about the traffic in Oklahoma City," Boseman recalled. "It's like 10:15 and our game is at 11 and we're still struck in traffic. We had to have a police escort called in to make the game on time."

But everything else was, in Boseman's words: "Amazing. The food was amazing. The support was amazing. I couldn't believe all these people cared enough about us to fly from Harrisonburg, Va., to come cheer for us. We got all these clothes with the World Series logo on them. I brought back a World Series softball and a JMU shirt with a World Series patch on it. It was all pretty special."

Her parents, Robert Jr. and Felicia even made it out from Chattanooga to watch the magic.

In the days since their storybook run ended on Monday, June 7, Boseman said she's watched all the Dukes' World Series games "at least once. But I know I'll watch them all again at some point."

Her social media outlets - Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat - blew up to the point that while she says she never shut them off, "I did get off it. I did quit paying attention to it."

With almost the whole team graduated, Boseman knows next year's Dukes will have to work doubly hard to have any chance to repeat their 2021 season.

But no matter what happens a year from now, the rising junior also knows she's just been a part of a college softball season she'll never forget.

She also knows who she'll root for if Tennessee faces her old school, Mississippi State, in the CWS.

"I still have love for my 'Dogs," Boseman said. "But I can't go against my home state. So I'd be pulling for Tennessee in that one."

And what advice would she give to the Vols as they reach college baseball's biggest stage for the first time in 16 years?

"Best feeling ever, whether you play or not," Boseman said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Best moment of your life."

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com

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