Maybe it’s the shoes.
Battling a foot injury that has limited her in recent weeks, OU softball standout Ella Parker has been trying to do anything she can to get some relief from the pain.
“It’s just a matter of handling pain and what pain can do to your mind when it just won’t go away,” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said. “She has gotten better at handling that.”
Parker recently changed shoes in an attempt to find something that would at least help a bit.
The immediate results have been noticeable.
In the Sooners’ 6-0 win over UCF on April 4, Parker blasted a grand slam.
Then Tuesday’s 11-3 Bedlam win at Devon Park, offered even more rock-solid evidence that Parker was turning things around.
She went 3 for 3 with a walk, two RBIs and a run.
“I don’t know if any of us know what exactly she’s going through,” Gasso said. “I mean, she holds it back. She doesn’t show it and it definitely messes with your psyche and I think it was for a little bit. But things are changing. I can feel that in her and her confidence and her swings are strong and I’m so happy for her because she’s been really battling this and I think she might be coming out of this now.”
Gasso said the pain was something Parker was going to have to manage through the rest of the season.
Parker and the second-ranked Sooners will take on Alabama in a three-game road series beginning Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The first game of the series is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday and will be televised on ESPN2. The teams will meet again at 5 p.m. Sunday and 6 p.m. Monday. The latter two games of the series will be on the SEC Network.
Parker was as hot as anyone in the country early in the season, hitting .608.
But from March 2 to Wednesday, Parker was just 5 for 42.
Her home run against UCF was a turning point.
“Definitely felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Parker said. “... But now, it’s just in the back of my mind. It’s just really focusing on what’s ahead of me rather than what’s behind me.”
Parker said the injury had been “frustrating.”
She was a little unsure about changing shoes initially.
“But it’s like, I’m at the point that I’m willing to try anything to give myself some type of pain relief,” Parker said. “But it’s not necessarily the pain. Obviously, there’s gonna be pain. But adrenaline kicks in, so that’s been really helpful to ease my mind. It’s just not being able to feel 100%. I feel like I have to lean a lot on my teammates. I feel like I’m not at my best, but knowing my teammates have my back has … given me a lot of relief.”
