Mussatto: How Oklahoma State softball has become 'toughest ticket in town'

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State softball, according to coach Kenny Gajewski, is the toughest ticket in town.

“There’s a waiting list a mile long,” Gajewski said.

You know what beats a mile-long waiting list?

A 107-foot ladder.

A postseason-record crowd of 1,470 was on hand Friday to watch OSU bludgeon Arizona 8-0 in Game 1 of the Stillwater Super Regional, but that number doesn’t count the three Stillwater firefighters who watched from a perch high atop their ladder truck beyond left field.

“It’s definitely one of the perks of the job, being able to park wherever we want and get the best seat in the house,” captain Reagan Caram said.

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Maybe not the best seat, but definitely the one with the most scenic view.

The Stillwater Fire Department works closely with OSU, but Caram’s rooting interests go deeper than that. His daughter, Chayse Caram, recently graduated from Dale High School, where she was a standout on the diamond.

Chayse Caram grew up playing with and against OSU third baseman Tallen Edwards. Caram also played against Cowgirls infielder Lexi McDonald, who went to Silo, one of Dale’s rivals.

“It’s a really neat deal to see those girls go from young teenagers to be the amazing female athletes they are now,” Reagan Caram said.

The Stillwater firefighters stayed from the first pitch to the last out Friday in the Cowgirls’ run-rule win, but of course one call can send them packing.

Like last weekend, during OSU’s regional win against Kentucky.

“We caught an apartment fire,” Caram said. “We were able to get the stuff down really quick and it was actually on this side of town, and so we had a really fast response.”

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The firefighters, only a few of which climbed the ladder for a better view, weren’t the only ticketless fans who flocked to Cowgirl Stadium. A few hundred sat in lawn chairs behind the left-field fence, watching the game on a big screen attached to a box truck.

The ESPN broadcast was a few seconds delayed, which meant every cheer from inside the stadium was some kind of spoiler.

Not that anyone seemed to mind. Everything about Friday night was a party. On the field, in the stands and around the stadium.

As Gajewski drove to practice Thursday, Cowgirl Stadium, even in its empty state, struck him.

“Man, this place has changed,” Gajewski thought. “This is not what we started with.”

Gajewski has petitioned for a new stadium, but the current one has continued to evolve, to grow with the increased interest in the sport.

Gajewski credited Jesse Martin, an OSU associate athletic director who oversees softball, for continuing to enhance the atmosphere at Cowgirl Stadium.

OSU plans to add seats in right field and another deck in left field before next season. The stadium will need more bathrooms, more space for food trucks.

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A new scoreboard will soon be installed.

“It’s gonna be massive,” Gajewski said.

OSU softball’s biggest problem is having too many fans to accommodate them all.

The scene beyond the left-field fence Friday was emblematic of that.

It’s where the firefighters always watch from, but not always from the rescue ladder.

Like everyone else, they just wanted a glimpse at what’s become the toughest ticket in town.

“We’re gonna be watching at the station anyway, right?” Caram said. “Might as well come up here and support the team.”

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Oklahoma State softball has become 'toughest ticket in town'