Sooners softball commit Jordy Bahl looks to build on perfection
PAPILLION, Neb. (BVM) — There are a lot of talented high school softball players around the country.
There are not many like Papillion-La Vista rising senior Jordy Bahl.
“It’s difficult to even understand it until you see it,” Papillion-La Vista head softball coach Todd Petersen said. “I guess it would be like if you were an ordinary basketball coach and Michael Jordan came walking into your gym.”
It’s high praise, but Bahl is worth it. The 2019-20 Gatorade Nebraska Softball Player of the Year posted a 27-0 record with a minuscule 0.15 ERA while leading the 36-0 Monarchs — the first-ever Class A team to finish a season unbeaten — to the state title last fall. Bahl, who also batted .581 with 59 RBIs and tied the Class A record for home runs (22), is already committed to perennial power Oklahoma and is ranked as the No. 1 recruit among the Class of 2021 by Softball America and Extra Innings Softball.
“We have a strong tradition with our program and we’ve had a number of girls play Division I, but Jordyn is still the best I’ve seen,” Petersen said. “We have other kids on our team that have great work ethic and they’re great athletes, but this is like just another level.”
Bahl’s combination of talent and work ethic helped turn her into one of the best softball players in the country, and that’s brought on plenty of attention and expectation for a player who has already put together one of the greatest softball seasons in the state’s history.
“There’s pressure,” Bahl said, “but you really just have to keep going to work, just do yourself and don’t try to please other people. Just control what you can control every day and not worry too much about what other people’s expectations for you are, but just know that you’re doing the best you can do.”
Bahl’s best last season was about as close as one can get to perfection, but she doesn’t believe that means she can’t be better. The same goes for her team, which will somehow try to top their perfect run this fall.
“The possibilities are endless,” Bahl said. “Yeah, we went undefeated, but we could not even allow a run next year. Everyone could have a better batting average. There’s not really any limitations. We’re just going to work way harder than we did last year and see what happens.”
Regardless of what Bahl is able to achieve in her final high school season, she’s going to have even more to look forward to at the next level with one of the best college softball programs in the country. The Sooners have won four national championships, including back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, and have claimed the last eight Big 12 regular season titles. Bahl committed to OU last fall after re-opening her recruitment last summer. She was originally set on staying close to home when she committed to Nebraska prior to her freshman year.
“I was really young when I decided to go to Nebraska,” Bahl said, “so I never really had a recruiting process. I wanted the recruiting process to see what the best fit for me actually was and I just fell in love with the place, the coaching staff; everything felt right.”
Bahl, who also excels in the classroom with a 4.33 GPA, will have a hard time matching her exceptional junior season on the field this fall. But her coach believes she still hasn’t reached her full potential as a player.
“I think with her work ethic and drive, the things that she does as a captain and as a team player, she’s going to continue to improve and she’s going to continue to get better and that’s a tribute to her,” Peterson said. “She’s a tireless worker. She’ll continue to drive herself to keep improving. She knows there’s another level she needs to get to to do what she wants to do at Oklahoma, so she’s going to work at it to get there.”
