In honoring Box's spirit, Seng, softball team should lift yours
Published: 5/30/2011 6:40 PM
Last Modified: 5/30/2011 6:40 PM
I can only imagine the number of people affected by one of the worst weeks of news in Oklahoma Sooners history. I can only assume every bit of positive news helps them cope, so I'll share two stories…
Very late Friday night, amid the despair of being ejected from a Big 12 tournament-ending loss to Kansas State, Sunny Golloway could at least take solace in Tyson Seng.
"Tyson was at a funeral service today," Golloway said.
He was at Austin Box's funeral. He was there not just as a guest, but as a pallbearer for a friend since junior high. A newspaper photographer caught him crying as he hugged a former Enid teammate of his and Box's. Seng had told the Norman Transcript's John Shinn it was going to be "the toughest day of my life." Seems he was right.
And yet there he at Bricktown Ballpark Friday night, pitching nearly four innings of relief to try to keep OU in the Big 12 tournament. He nearly did it, too. He allowed no runs and two singles while walking none and striking out four.
It was Seng's strongest outing of the year. Amazing.
"He was very special," Golloway confirmed. "Before the game started I went down the line. He got here late. He was getting back from Enid. I hugged him. He said, 'Coach, I'm ready to go today.' I told him that I loved him and we're with him.
"Look at the performance. It's special stuff. I feel for him, I feel for all of us. I tell ya what, everybody's proud of him. Let's just put it that way."
Now, rewind to the weekend before last.
The day after Box's death, the OU softball team took the field for its NCAA regional with the No. 12 on the sides of their helmets. The Box family noticed, and made a personal visit to the softball office the following Monday. There, they presented coach Patty Gasso a letter expressing their gratitude.
Gasso waited until after practice Thursday, the day before the Sooners' super regional at Arizona, before sharing it with her team. Box had played baseball growing up, as you've likely heard, and his family wanted the Sooners to know they had "an angel in their outfield" as they carried on through the postseason.
OU swept Arizona to advance to this week's Women's College World Series for the first time since 2004. The Sooners baseball team is at the TCU Regional this week. They'll be playing with Box's No. 12 stitched into their crimson caps.
Both teams will hope to honor his memory for another week. Both teams should feel good that they already have done so.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
