OKLAHOMA CITY — Sydney Sherrill talks at Florida State's pregame tailgate on Wednesday night about why she has come back to support the Seminoles in games at Tallahassee and OKC, how Lonni Alameda influenced her life and coaching career and some thoughts on the FSU-Oklahoma series.

Sherrill helped FSU win the 2018 national title and to a runner-up finish in 2021.

"I’m just super proud," Sherrill said. "I have a lot of pride from where I went and all of the time I put in, what this university has given to me, so I all I wish to be back on that field. But I can’t. but a lot of my best friends are on that field. The coaching staff has done a lot for me as a person, and I’ll cheer them on anytime I can.

"I’m thankful that I’ve gone into the coaching side of things so I’m able to be here back in my hometown and play professionally this summer. So it’s working out perfectly that I get to be the biggest Florida State fan at the right time."

Sherrill has wrapped up her first season as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University. Becoming a softball coach was not what she planned but is a career she realized was what she desired in large part because of Lonni Alameda and FSU's staff.

"Coming into college, I didn’t think coaching was what I wanted to do at all," Sherrill said. "But seeing the impact they made on me and Coacha made on me, I just knew that I could do that for young girls as well. And how big of an impact she made on me. She completely changed my life. You talk to Kat Sandercock and she will say the exact same thing. That impact is huge. And I think it created me to be a powerful, strong woman in a really hard role of being a coach in a male-dominated coaching in the sport of softball.

"I definitely want to be a part of this sport in any way I can. And being a coach is something I was dreaming of in college because of the way Coacha coached me. So now to be able to be a coach and to be that light for young girls, it’s awesome. I’m doing all of the roles right now – coach, fan and player. I’m just living the softball dream."

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