(LifeSiteNews) — A power trio from the NCAA women’s softball world series champions unanimously testified Thursday that Christ, not winning games, is the source of their true joy.
While the University of Oklahoma Sooners had just won the 2023 Women’s College World Series title and set a record for their longest winning streak at 53 games, three of the team’s best players emphasized that their only stable source of “joy” is Jesus Christ.
“The only way you can have a joy that doesn’t fade away is from the Lord. Any other type of joy is actually happiness that comes from circumstances and outcomes,” shortstop Grace Lyons said during a postgame press conference when she and her teammates were asked how they “keep the joy for so long” amid the possibility of anxiety.
“That’s really the only answer to that. There’s no other way softball brings you that because of how much failure comes in it, and just how much of a roller coaster the game can be,” she added.
Teammate Jayda Coleman, a Sooners outfielder, agreed “1,000 percent,” sharing how during her freshman year she didn’t experience lasting joy even after winning the College World Series because she hadn’t yet found Christ.
“I was so happy that we won … but I didn’t feel joy. I didn’t know what to do the next day, I didn’t know what to do the following week, and I didn’t feel filled. I had to find Christ,” Coleman said.
“I think that is what makes our team so strong. We’re not afraid to lose because it’s not the end of the world if we do lose. Yes, obviously we’ve worked our butts off to be here and we want to win … but our life is in Christ and that’s all that matters,” she continued.
Third baseman Alyssa Brito further described how Christ is the team’s guiding star and the source of their motivation, as captured in a motto of the team: “eyes up.”
“You see us … pointing up, but we’re really fixing our eyes on Christ,” Brito said.
“I think that’s why we’re so steady in what we do, in our love for each other and our love for the game, because we know this game is giving us the opportunity to glorify God,” she went on.
According to Brito, once the team shared that purpose, it changed them for the better.
“I know I’ve seen so much of a growth in myself once I turned to Jesus,” said Brito, adding that He changed her “outlook on life, not just softball,” by giving her a greater life purpose: “living to exemplify the Kingdom.”
“And I think that brings so much freedom,” said Brito, echoing her teammates in sharing that playing “for something bigger” brings her “so much joy,” because whether they win or lose, they “have so much more.”
“We have an eternity of joy with our Father and I’m so excited about that,” she concluded.
The players’ bold witness for Christ shines especially bright amid recent complacency among Los Angeles Dodgers baseball players as their management plans to honor anti-Christian, anti-Catholic interests, with all players remaining silent except for two.