Jala Wright leading Duke softball into NCAA Tournament. What the team, family said

Duke center fielder D’Auna Jennings jumped on one foot and fist pumped the air.

“Let’s go!” she screamed as she tapped Jala Wright’s batting helmet after Wright crossed home plate in the eighth inning of a game against Florida State in Tallahassee on March 17.

Wright’s speedy base running snapped a tie and was the first of four runs for the Blue Devils as they rallied to win the weekend series over the nationally ranked Seminoles.

That play also exemplified the player Wright wants to be: attack-focused and team-minded.

“No matter what, we play as a team. We’re ‘free swaggy dogs,’” Wright said nearly two months later, after another big victory over the Seminoles, this time to win the ACC Championship. “I’m playing for these girls right next to me. I just want to go out with a bang and we all want to go out with the bang. It’s just a testament to our culture.”

Duke hosts an NCAA Regional this weekend, and Wright, a pitcher from Charlotte, will be in the middle of it all.

The senior isn’t one to boast on her accomplishments, or brag about her time spent in the weight room, but people around Wright aren’t afraid to hype her up, and they say she’s grown into a clutch softball player, emotional leader and key piece of the Blue Devils’ postseason goals.

“It’s been tremendous to see it all come together and see her grow into a wonderful young lady,” her father, Jocqua Wright, said last week. “We couldn’t be more proud to see her grow within herself.”

Setting a standard

Wright walked into the Duke media room May 9 with a smile stretched across her face — not because she set a new single-game strikeout record, but, she said, because she was proud of her teammates for gutting out a 2-0 win over Boston College in 10 innings.

Wright recorded 17 strikeouts, the most by any player in program history, and yet she talked about putting her teammates in the best position possible.

Duke softball wins on 10th-inning walkoff homer; Wright sets program strikeout record

“There’s not a doubt in my mind that she’s gonna go out there and do that; do what she did,” left fielder Aminah Vega said after that game. “She does it every time. It’s just a matter of when we’re gonna come in clutch for her and just do it for her.”

Wright took over the starting job last season after Peyton St. George graduated in 2022. St. George played five seasons with the Blue Devils from 2018-22 and led the program to its first ACC title in 2021, two straight NCAA Regional appearances and a Super Regional.

St. George, now playing in a professional softball league, received All-America and All-ACC First Team honors.

Duke head coach Marissa Young said St. George laid the foundation for pitchers, and Wright embraced the challenge.

“I think that Jala has a lot more to overcome,” Young said. “For her, it was really about running your own race, being focused on your own journey, and not getting caught up in the comparison game. I think she’s gonna be another name in this program that people aspire to follow and reach the standards that she set.”

‘This is home’

Wright is a transfer portal success story.

The senior’s family moved from New Jersey to Charlotte when she was 3. North Carolina is all she knows.

Wright was heavily recruited in middle school and high school. Young, a former pitcher for Michigan, remembers Wright being a “phenomenal athlete” and competitor. Wright took an official visit to Duke, but she started her career at Michigan State.

“I’m a firm believer in, ‘You never burn a bridge,’” Young said. “I think how you treat people, even when they choose to go somewhere else, really matters.”

The Spartans, who the Blue Devils played in the non-conference season, ended up not being the right fit and she wanted to come home. Wright’s mother, Felicia Morings, said programs around the state showed interest, but Duke was the easy choice.

The family already had a relationship with Young, and the coach was familiar with Wright’s pitching style. And, Durham is only about two hours from Charlotte. The family hasn’t missed a game.

“When she got here to Duke, she was just like, ‘This is it. This is home. I want to be here,’” Morings said.

Wright thrived under Young and her staff. She earned All-ACC Second Team honors last season and has earned Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes honors every season.

This season, the senior was named ACC Pitcher of the Year. Wright leads the ACC and ranks No. 5 in the nation for earned run average (1.20), while ranking in the top 20 in hits per seven innings (4.37) and strikeouts per seven innings (8.6).

Wright’s strikeout numbers climbed every year she played at Duke, while her ERA and runs allowed dropped this season. Wright could also return for a fifth year under the NCAA’s COVID-19 pandemic eligibility rules.

Her family said Wright’s reliance on faith, loved ones and mental health care created a conduit for success on the field. She’s matured and shown toughness, and that’s part of why Duke is back in the NCAA Tournament.

“She’s learned what it means to be a pitcher and not just throw the ball,” Morings said. “That’s a big difference.”

‘Nobody that wants it more’

Duke earned the No. 10 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament this spring, and is hosting a regional bracket this weekend.

Duke softball hosts NCAA Regional. What to know about the Blue Devils’ bracket

Wright will be among those leading the charge. She’ll pound the strike zone, force hitters to chase, and surprise batters with her drop ball and changeup — and she will likely do it with a smile on her face.

“There’s nobody that wants it more,” Young said. “She’s her true self, inside and out. You love to see girls that are not afraid to be who they are. To me, it shows that they’re in a safe environment where they know they’re loved and supported. She’s just gonna thrive and whatever she does because of her passion and her enthusiasm for life.”

She brings energy, laughs and excitement to the Blue Devils team — a contagious spirit — that Duke hopes it can ride deep into the postseason.