You can put this down as another chapter of hometown hero makes good.
Muskogee grad Elexis Watson, a member of the Rogers State University Hillcats team that won the NCAA Division II national softball championship recently in Denver, was honored in front of friends and family on Saturday in a ceremony led by Muskogee mayor Marlon Coleman.
This followed last year’s ceremony that honored former Lady Rougher and WNBA draft pick Aaliyah Wilson — like Watson, a All-Phoenix Female Athlete of the Year during their high school years.
“When I became mayor, I wanted to be certain we would always pause to celebrate our young people, particularly those that left and found success while representing Muskogee,” said Coleman, who read a proclamation marking Saturday as “Elexis Watson Day” in Muskogee.
In emotional remarks, Watson thanked the assembled group for their support over the years.
“I’m so happy and sad too,” she said. “I’ve never felt so much love from people outside my family. Before I went into high school, I told my parents that I wanted to leave my mark playing softball in any way I can, and I think I did at Muskogee High through my softball career, by graduating with honors, and by earning a college scholarship.”
Watson started her college career at Southeastern State but became disenchanted after her sophomore year and transferred to Rogers State. Her first year was limited to 28 games due to COVID-19 but it earned her an extra year of eligibility. In her final two years she started in over 120 games with a career batting average of .324 with 25 home runs, 14 this past season which tied her for the team high. She was All-MIAA last year and made the MIAA All-Tournament team.
As the 2022 season started, Hillcat coach Andrea Vaughn was about the only one who really thought Rogers could go all the way, according to Watson. But as the team entered postseason play that changed.
“I think we all thought about it, but it wasn’t until after we won the MIAA tournament that we started saying ‘Oh, maybe we can do this,’” Watson said. “The regionals were probably the toughest part of postseason. We had to play two teams from Minnesota (Minnesota State and Winona State) and we had to beat one of them (Minnesota State) twice to advance and that last game went 15 innings.”
Even after they won the regional and then swept the super regional against UCO, going to Denver seemed unreal.
“We were pretty nervous the first few innings but once we got settled in it just seemed meant to be,” said Watson, a first baseman. “The last out was a grounder to second and she threw it to me, and I just started shaking and threw my glove in the air and somehow I ended up on the bottom of the dogpile, but it was worth it.”
With softball now behind her, Watson will pursue her doctorate degree in physical therapy at Langston University and she gave some final thoughts about her time on the diamond.
“I feel like I made my mark in high school and I hope I impressed little girls that look like me to see that with hard work you can succeed.”
