Selections were based on a “fan-driven vote” held throughout the summer. The list was organized by position group, with Gordon being chosen as one of six outfielders. Infield positions were allotted five honorees, while the three other Dukes selected filled three of four spots for utility players.
Those former JMU softball stars named to the Sports Illustrated Softball All-Quarter-Century Team include: Odicci Alexander, Megan Good, Jailyn Ford, and Gordon.
“Along with their laundry list of accolades, Alexander and Gordon most notably led the program to its first-ever berth in the Women’s College World Series in 2021, where the Dukes were the first unseeded team in WCWS history to begin competition with two-straight wins,” reads a press release from JMU.
On June 3, 2021, Gordon hit a go-ahead, solo home run in the top of the eighth inning to give JMU a 4-3 lead over #1 Oklahoma. The fifth-year senior then caught the final out in left field to clinch the series-opening victory that has shocked the world of college softball.
Oklahoma (50-3) entered the game as the heavy favorite — in the game and the World Series. The Sooners’ potent offense was averaging 11 runs per game and has been dubbed the “best-ever” in college softball. However, JMU hurler Odicci Alexander fanned nine Sooners on the day — more than any opponent the No.1 team had faced all season. Oklahoma had only suffered a dozen strikeouts in the entire postseason before that day.
Prior to the game-winning round tripper, Gordon had gone 2-for-24 and had not gotten a hit in her last 14 at-bats.
“It’s been a little frustrating,” Gordon told ESPN analysts after the game. “I just told myself nothing else matters except that at bat.”
According to the JMU Athletics Department, the four former Dukes combined earned 12 All-American selections, eight player of the year honors, seven pitcher of the year nods, along with Good being recognized as the 2017 Division I NFCA National Player of Year. In addition to numerous all-conference and all-region accolades, they also were members of five conference championship teams, eight NCAA Regional appearances, and three NCAA Super Regionals.
In the summer of 2022, Kate Gordon Short reached the professional ranks when she was paid to play as an outfielder for the Smash It Sports Vipers — one of two teams competing in barnstorming fashion during the inaugural season of Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF). The lone survivor of the now-defunct NPF, the USSSA Pride, makes up the other half of the emerging WPF.
In the summer of 2021, the Pride featured a former teammate of Gordon’s — Odicci Alexander.
Still active in the professional softball world, Alexander was part of the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) this summer as a member of the Bandits, while Ford pitched and played first base on the New York Pride, a team out of the Pro Women’s Fastpitch Softball League.
For Kate Gordon Short, playing professional softball represents a dream within a dream
Gordon hits winning HR in 8th to beat #1 Oklahoma in World Series opener
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