It’s been almost two years since pitcher Odicci Alexander (pronounced “Odyssey”) led the unseeded James Madison University softball team on a Cinderella run to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series (the school’s first World Series appearance). Alexander’s dynamite performance, which included holding the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners to just three runs and tossing nine strikeouts to send JMU to the semis, earned her accolades across the sports world (including a top 10 play on SportsCenter).
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How former Pitcher of the Year Odicci Alexander has stayed in the softball game
Since her improbable run at the 2021 Women’s College World Series, Alexander has embarked on a pro career.
Courtesy of Under Armour
After that season, she was named Softball America Pitcher of the Year and nominated for an ESPY Award for best female college athlete. She signed a deal with Under Armour, and launched a pro career. So what has the 25-year-old pitcher been up to since that breakout season? Here’s a look:
She signed to two professional U.S. teams
Shortly after the College World Series in 2021, Alexander signed with the USSSA Pride, a member of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league, where she played for two seasons. The team, based out of Viera, Florida, is also where she threw her first professional no-hitter against the Carolina Collegiate League, with 11 strikeouts and just one walk.
Alexander currently plays with Athletes Unlimited, an upstart fantasy-style pro sports league in which athletes are awarded points based on game performance, with the top four point-scorers at the end of each week becoming team captains who draft a team for the following week. She first signed onto the 60-player league in 2021, where she ended the season 22nd in league standings. The 2023 season week 1 draft starts July 24 and games (which are played at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois) will be broadcast across ESPN channels.
She played pro overseas
Unlike in the U.S., softball is a well-established pro sport in Japan leading a pipeline of players from other countries to seek out playing opportunities there. Alexander hopped on that trend in 2022 when she joined Japan’s Diamond League, competing for Toda Medics based in Toda, Saitama. It was also the first season that the 16-team league re-branded as the Diamond League and debuted a new competition format.
She helped Team USA win three gold medals
Continuing her busy 2022, Alexander also made the cut that year for the USA Softball Women’s National Team. She most recently competed with the team at the Pan American Championship in Guatemala City, Guatemala, last November, where Team USA won the gold medal, defeating Canada 12-1. Alexander was one of five pitchers who held opponents to 13 runs on 26 hits over the week-long tournament. The win earned the team a spot in the first stage of qualifying for the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup. This followed gold-medal wins for the team (and Alexander) at the Canada Cup last June and at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, last July.
She’s coaching at the collegiate level
During the 2022 collegiate season, Alexander worked as a volunteer assistant coach for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels women’s softball team. Then in August 2022, Howard University named her to its coaching staff as assistant softball coach for the HBCU. Season-to-date in 2023 the Bison are 12-23; next up is a triple-header against Maryland Eastern Shore Apr. 22-23.