Joanna Gail shifts to the right.
She grabs the ball as it threatens to head into left field. A tough play for most, the difficult is routine for the on-field leader of the Oregon softball team.
Off the field, Gail has taken an equally large role, as a student-leader.
The San Diego native welcomes the expectations in either role whether it’s making a game-saving play or helping to make a difference in individual’s lives. Softball has long been a part of Gail’s life, but as her college career comes to a close the active senior is preparing for her life beyond the softball field.
As the softball season enters its final stretch, Gail is also cognizant of her future goals, which for her, involves attending grad school at Washington.

Gail, for now, is joining her teammates in the final nine games of the regular season, including eight at home at Howe Field. The third baseman is batting .284 for Oregon in 50 games with nine doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBIs – all second on the team.
Developing that ability, whether you welcome the pressure and succeed under it, Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen says is a combination of having that trait or developing it.
“Some players definitely have it in them, but they have to work to develop it because unfortunately not every time when you’re up in those situations do you deliver and then you have to live with the disappointment,” Arendsen said. “I think Jo rolls with things pretty well.”
Consider the game-saving play mentioned above that ended Oregon’s 3-2 upset of Arizona at Howe Field in early April and completed the Ducks’ first win in Pacific-10 Conference play.
There is also the opposite side of the spectrum, where placed in a pressure situation, an athlete fails, but keeps coming back for another chance.
Twice, Gail has had the chance to affect the outcome of losses to rival Oregon State and come up empty. She had two runners on with two outs and Oregon trailing, 7-4, in the team’s first meeting at Howe Field. The second game in Corvallis she again had two runners on and two outs in the first inning. Both times Gail struck out – the second time looking.
Even so, Gail welcomes the pressure.
“It’s one of those roles unfortunately where you’re the hero or the scapegoat,” Gail said. “Even though you’re together with your teammates, you have individual at-bats. You make individual plays on defense. Making a mistake in either place can cost a game.”
She has more opportunity today with Oregon making its twice-postponed visit for the third game of the Civil War series. The game, weather permitting, is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. at the OSU Softball Complex.
Gail gained an appreciation for competition growing up with a collection of three brothers and a sister in an athletic family. Her dad, Barry, played baseball at LaSalle University. Her mom, Kate, was a cheerleader and played tennis at Iowa State University.
Even board games drew the family members together hungry for a challenge.
“(Family) really gave me a sense of competitiveness that I carry with me today,” she said.
Teammates recognize talent
Catcher Ashley Kivett has an up-close view of Gail’s fielding abilities from her spot behind the plate.
“There’s a really big confidence that everybody has in Jo,” Kivett said. “She’s an amazing fielder.”
Or maybe a more apt view comes from left fielder Sari-Jane Jenkins, who stands behind Gail, and has a keen view of the highlight-reel plays, as well as the reactions of fans when Oregon goes on road trips.
Jenkins will see plays she’s come to expect that leave opposing fans in silence.
“For me, it’s just fun to sit back and watch,” She said. “Hopefully, one day I don’t get caught because sometimes I get a little too relaxed being back there with her at third because I know she stops a lot.”
At third base, Gail has an up-close view of some of the most powerful hitters in the Pac-10.
“Sometimes you’re putting your life in danger because those girls can hit the ball so hard,” Jenkins said. “So for Jo, I don’t even think she can really react, it’s just instinct.”
Olympic experience
Gail, like other young softball players, grew up with dreams of playing softball in the Olympics. The opportunity wasn’t there with the U.S. team, so Gail, who’s grandmother was born in Greece, gave her another avenue to achieve her dream.
Ohio State had recruited Gail, and on the first day she could talk to coaches as a high school junior, she learned from the Buckeyes coach about tryouts for the Greek national team.
She survived a variety of tryouts to make the squad.
“I think if anyone were given that opportunity they would do the same thing,” Gail said. “It was just an amazing experience being able to represent my heritage and my ancestry and to get to know family members that I would have probably never had the chance to.”
Gail had gained an idea of the food and traditions from her grandmother, but making the team allowed her to experience the country firsthand and meet relatives she had never known.
“It was just such a feeling of warmth and coming home,” she said. “The Greek people in general are just extremely generous so it was just the coolest experience.”
The Olympic experience has allowed her to visit Athens, Greece and Beijing among other places. Last summer, Gail helped Greece finish at the top of Pool B at the Africa/Europe Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a 5-0 record, but fell short in the knockout stage, ending in fourth place behind the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic.
National Pro Fastpitch, the growing professional softball league in the United States, had its annual draft in January and it ended without a team selecting Gail. If a team had picked her, she says she would have considered playing, but now she is seeking to end her college career on a positive note. She’ll then start graduate school and focus on earning a Masters degree in intercollegiate athletic leadership.
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