The comeback kid

Throwing pitches instead of catching them.

Dalton Silva often recounts the first time he watched Juaron WattsBrown compete on a baseball diamond. Silva remembers the moment Watts-Brown threw a runner down at second base. WattsBrown was participating in the Babe Ruth Instructional Baseball League. Silva, a graduate assistant at Lubbock Christian, was there scouting. But back then, Watts-Brown’s duties weren’t even on the mound. They were behind the plate as a catcher. The instant the ball left Watts-Brown’s hand, Silva saw potential, but at a different position.

Don’t let their tears fool you; the Cowgirls

Gajewski said, with a laugh, about facing criticism. “I’m usually a guy that people like, so I’ve had to deal with that.”

Now, Watts-Brown is an ace pitcher at OSU and leads the Big 12 in strikeouts with elusive curveballs and wipeout sliders. Setbacks have been frequent for the redshirt sophomore. Still, he’s found a way around each.

“You could just see it then,” Silva said. “The arm slot he threw the ball with, the athleticism, just everything about him. He had so much potential on the mound, and it was so obvious.”

Silva understood having Watts-Brown -the most athletic guy on the roster -- at catcher. Still, he felt it necessary to make his opinion known.

So, he found the adolescent Watts-Brown postgame to give his opinion.

“Buddy, you need to tell your coach you’re not playing catcher anymore, you need to be pitching,” Silvia instructed. “Stop catching, because you’re not gonna be a catcher in the future.”

To his surprise, Watts-Brown took his advice. He made his worth on the mound, impressing various scouts and coaches.

By Watts-Brown’s sophomore year of high school at Handford (California) High School, Silva had departed Lubbock Christian and became the pitching coach for Handford’s baseball team.

During their first bullpen session, WattsBrown displayed precisely what Silva had foreseen. Every pitch appeared better than the previous.

“I knew then the kid was gonna be elite,” Silva said. “His breaking pitches were on the level of elite. I remember being so surprised, and I knew how good he was.”

See Watts-Brown on 4

Ashton Slaughter Assistant Sports Editor

Tears poured down Kenny Gajewski’s face with one out remaining in the Stillwater Super Regional.

These tears weren’t brought on by sadness but by joy and a lot of relief.

It’s been a difficult year for the OSU head coach, who in his eighth season at the helm of the program led the Cowgirls to a fourth-consecutive Women’s College World Series. He parted ways with friend and hitting coach Jeff Cottrill, who left for Missouri; an influx of players came in and exited the program via the portal; he even faced criticism for the first time in his career after a losing streak.

“That’s been a new experience,”

The Cowgirls’ season seemingly hit a wall during their 2-11 streak to end the season. Fans and media — both local and national — were asking questions, intensifying the pressure on a team that was No. 2 in the country at one point.

And while the questions were ramping up, Gajewski admittedly didn’t have the answers for their slump.

“I wasn’t able to pinpoint what was going wrong,” he said. “I think I have a better feel of that now. I just wish I was 20 years in, and I could’ve said, ‘Hey, here’s what it is we got to get this fixed.’”

Entering the Stillwater Regional, four staff members of D1Softball picked Wichita State to upset OSU. Skepticism was at an all-time high. They didn’t lose. Shocker.

The Cowgirls then rolled through Oregon the next weekend in the Super Regional, outscoring the Ducks 17-

1. There were no questions swirling around the program then; the Cowgirls were “back” in the eyes of most.

Gajewski wasn’t the only one fac ing hardships this season.