OKLAHOMA CITY – Seasons that end in the Women’s College World Series are to be celebrated. Only eight teams get here. It’s hard. And it’s especially hard for players to deal with the real-time disappointment when falling short of their championship goals, which will be the case for all but one team. 
 
For seniors, with the added realization their careers are over, the struggles in the moment becomes 10-fold. 
 

So, there was Florida coach Tim Walton Friday night at Devon Park, keeping himself together while the heart of his 2025 team – seniors Kendra Falby, Reagan Walsh and Korbe Otis – emptied a vault of orange and blue emotions at the post-game podium following the Gators’ 11-3 loss in their WCWS elimination game against Tennessee. 
 
Walton, in his 20^th UF season, had seen the scene play out many times. Pick one. Stacey Nelson, Francesca Enea, Megan Bush, Amanda Lorenz, Hannah Adams, Skylar Wallace, to name only a few. Icons, all of them. Each exited their time at UF at the World Series, but without a championship. Now came three more.
 
 It wasn’t any easier.
 
“It was a terrible day, but still a good season for the Gators,” Walton said after just the second time his team was ousted from OKC in two games. “Lost, but yet we still won in my mind, just how much we came together and how much fun we had along the way.” 
 
First came Walsh, a fourth-year player and one of the program’s all-time power hitters, who spoke briefly of the pride she held for her team before tailing off, halting and apologizing for her tears. 
 
Otis, who transferred from Louisville two years ago and became an outfield and academic stalwart, chimed in and spoke of her thanks to Gator Nation and the thrill that came with reaching the WCWS in her final two collegiate seasons. She hit a home run in her final at-bat. 
 
“That was 8-year-old Korbe’s dream, to give her dad at home run ball,” said Otis, the pre-med major with a 4.0 grade-point average. “I got to do that.”
 

 
And then came Falby, the even effervescent one with two Golden Gloves to her name. 
 
“I’m trying to figure out if I can get more eligibility,” she said. “I might sleep in this jersey forever.” 
 
Walsh chimed in, “We’re stealing them. 
 
That’s when Falby, unprompted, broke into a full-throated Florida steam of joyful consciousness that loses something in type. 
 
Watch it for yourself. 
 

it’s more than a game 💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/dCuKtkNzOb

— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) May 31, 2025

 
Walton was floored by the soliloquy, but in no way surprised. 
 
“It’s never easy,” Walton said. “They’re all amazing. I’m one of the luckier guys in the world getting to coach athletes like this.”
 
The tough part, of course, is that he won’t get to coach these athletes again. But that’s part of the deal. 
 
The Gators will have another outstanding team in 2026 with excellent players who double as impressive young women and ambassadors for the university. The Florida softball standard, as created by Walton, is to get to Oklahoma City, which he’s has done in 65% of his seasons. Pretty good. 
 
As for the sheer class and grace of his players in their most difficult, vulnerable moments? Closer to 100%.
 

One final time, @kendrafalby and the #Gators seniors chomp for their adoring fans.

Really gonna miss her in that orange and blue. pic.twitter.com/UHQSWg5Nxb

— InAllKindsOfWeather.com (@AllKindsWeather) May 31, 2025

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu