NCAA softball - The greatness and best moments from home run queen Jocelyn Alo

Before she ever dreamed of putting on an Oklahoma uniform, before she ever landed in Norman, launched her first collegiate home run and emerged as a power-hitting superstar, before she did the unthinkable and broke the NCAA career home run record, Jocelyn Alo was a 10-year-old growing up along the north shore of O'ahu, poised to take the first step in a long and historic journey.

The 45-minute drive that day from her small village of Hau'ula to Waipi'o went by faster than normal as she felt a wave of excitement. They were on their way to CORPS Field, which had 12 new baseball and softball diamonds. But she wouldn't be playing softball. She was the only girl on the East Side Park Rats baseball team, not that she was bothered by the distinction. She'd recently bought a new bat — a slick, black and silver Easton Omen — and it felt like Thor's hammer in her hands.

During her first at-bat, she got a pitch she liked, a breaking ball, but she was so anxious that she was a little further out onto her front foot than she'd like to be when she made contact. Still, it felt good, solid. Actually, it felt like nothing she'd ever experienced. It was totally effortless, she said, as she swung through the ball and watched as it sailed toward center field. It was roughly 240 feet to the wall in dead center, and the ball just kept going and going and going — back, back, gone.

Not only was it the first outside-the-park home run she'd ever hit, it was the first time anyone had hit it over the fences at the new field. More than a decade later, she can still remember how powerful she felt in that moment. Everyone went crazy as she rounded the bases, herself included.

«It's a pretty addictive feeling,» she said before making an admission. «And