'He's just jealous': Why Oklahoma State softball coach calls his pitching staff 'the cult'

STILLWATER — Smiling as he said it, Kenny Gajewski recently referred to his Oklahoma State softball pitching staff as a cult.

Kelly Maxwell, the cornerstone of that staff, prefers “family.”

“I don’t know why he keeps using that word,” Maxwell said with a laugh. “It’s a family. It’s not a cult. I think he’s just jealous.”

Above all, call the Cowgirl pitching staff critical to the goal of contending for a Women’s College World Series championship in June.

“They’re like the tightest group of people, and they’re competing for innings in the most selfish position on any softball team,” Gajewski said at OSU media day earlier this week.

“They pull for each other.”

Third-ranked OSU opens its season in Mexico, kicking off a weekend of four games in the Puerto Vallarta College Classic with a 6 p.m. Friday contest against No. 24 Oregon.

More:What Kenny Gajewski, Kelly Maxwell & Cowgirls said at Oklahoma State softball media day

And Maxwell, the dominant left-handed redshirt senior, is sure to see the circle for the opener. But after that, Gajewski will start to get a feel for what appears to be the deepest pitching staff he’s had as he enters his eighth year as head coach.

“Being able to have those other girls come in and get their innings is really gonna help take the load off,” Maxwell said. “Being able to have four other pitchers who can help carry that load is gonna be awesome for our staff.”

The Cowgirl pitching staff was deep and talented last year, with Maxwell on her way to All-America status, backed up by Miranda Elish and Morgan Day, who won 13 games apiece in a variety of crucial situations. The team had a combined earned-run average of 1.86 with 557 strikeouts in 407 ⅓ innings.

“This group has to exceed that for me to call them the best staff that we’ve ever had here,” Gajewski said. “They have the arm talent. They have a really good coach (pitching coach John Bargfeldt). And they have a team around them that’s gonna help them.”

Elish and Day were both super-seniors and are gone now, but Gajewski has reloaded with even more arms in the arsenal.

Behind Maxwell, Alabama transfer Lexi Kilfoyl steps in after a strong three years with the Crimson Tide. She had a 2.36 ERA and a 9-3 record to go with 79 strikeouts in 80 innings pitched last season and should get more opportunities to throw with the Cowgirls.

Another transfer, Ivy Rosenberry, comes in from Virginia Tech, where she, too, was limited in her opportunities behind the staff ace.

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But Gajewski uses his staff differently than others. Even though Maxwell threw 189 ⅔ innings last season, both Elish and Day surpassed the 100-inning mark, and that opens the door for Rosenberry and others to get in the circle more than before, despite the overall depth of the staff.

Gajewski feels he can go five-deep from the bullpen with freshman Kyra Aycock — who was the No. 10 pitching prospect nationally in the last recruiting class — and sophomore Bailie Runner, an Oologah native who did not appear in a game last season, offering different looks at the back end of the rotation.

Part of the family feel of the rotation is Maxwell’s effort to be more open with her fellow pitchers.

“In years past, I haven’t always been very heartfelt with other pitchers on the team,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure everyone felt included. So we hang out a lot.”

That included a group trip to the Stillwater steakhouse the Ranchers Club, “on our freshman’s meal card,” Maxwell said with a laugh.

“We’re gonna make that a tradition.”

When Kilfoyl first started hearing the “cult” comments from her teammates, she jumped on it.

“Ok,” she said, “be scared of us, then.”

More:Why Kelly Maxwell wants to be a Cowgirl an extra year and why it's huge for OSU softball

But having played high-level travel ball, then spending three years at an elite college program in Alabama, Kilfoyl understands how unique the bond of the OSU pitchers is.

“Within the pitching staff, it’s really hard, because everyone wants to be the starting pitcher,” she said. “Everyone wants to be the ace.

“Because you’re on the same team, you want to have everyone’s best interest at heart. When someone wants to be the ace, you start to get jealous of other people. So I think it’s good that we are a cult and we’re all so close that we truly love each other and we want each other to succeed.”

With their strengthening bond away from the field, Maxwell feels more comfortable being a strong leader for the staff in practice and workouts.

“I think it helps because you can hold them accountable easier when you’re their friend,” she said. “If they’re not feeling you or something like that, it’s gonna be hard for them to accept what you’re trying to say. We worked hard on that this year as a team, just being able to work on those little details.

“I think that’s what’s gonna take us to the next level this year.”

OSU vs. Oregon

FIRST PITCH: 6 p.m. Friday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (FloSoftball)

More:What Josh Holliday, Nolan McLean and others said at Oklahoma State baseball media day

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Oklahoma State softball coach calls his pitching staff 'the cult'