University of Massachusets Athletics
Kelley's Big Bat Key For Minutewomen
May 19, 2006 | Softball
May 19, 2006
Kelley's Big Bat Key For Minutewomen
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette
AMHERST - For KJ Kelley, it's not about adding to her impressive numbers or even entirely about making it to the Women's College World Series, her longtime dream.
Those things matter but right now as the University of Massachusetts softball team heads into the NCAA regional at the UMass Softball Complex beginning today, Kelley's main concern is just extending her career one game at a time.
'Having the team coming together means more than the records right now,' she said. 'The records show things after I'm done, but right now I'm just enjoying my teammates. You want it to last as long as you can. Our dream is to go to the World Series. We're going to keep trucking along until our time is up. Hopefully that's not going to be for a while.'
It seems like Kelley has been trucking along for quite a while. From her first day in Amherst the senior catcher from Rainier, Ore., has been in the heart of the UMass batting order.
She announced herself as a difference-maker in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament her freshman year. With one out and a runner on third in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh inning, Temple elected to walk both Brandi Cross and Kaila Holtz to put the pressure on Kelley.
She drilled the first pitch she saw up the middle.
'I was just staying relaxed. I trusted myself. I knew my team needed me to come through,' she said that day. 'They wanted to see if a freshman can do that and I proved that I can.'
Nobody has doubted her since as she's compiled as impressive an offensive career as anyone ever at UMass. Her 40 career home runs shattered the previous record of 26. Kelley also owns career records in runs batted in (149) and walks (109) to go along with a .334 career batting average.
'For her to hold those records, says something,' UMass coach Elaine Sortino said. 'There's been some great hitters in this program. Her power numbers are fantastic. She's been in the heart of our order for four years.
'She's improved immeasurably,' Sortino added. 'In the fall of her freshman year she couldn't hit the ball out of the infield. She had to do so much work on her hitting. We knew how much brute force and power she had, but she really had to re-educate herself.'
The education is almost over as graduation looms. Whether the remainder of her career is measured in days or weeks, it's coming to an end soon. She's trying not to think about it, but Kelley remembers the final days for the seniors her freshman season.
'Watching the seniors and knowing it was their last game. I was close with those seniors. I think about the feelings I had for them and how much they meant to me and the team,' said Kelley, who hopes to get into coaching after her career is done. 'We keep telling the freshmen to enjoy every minute of it. It flies by.
'You don't think about when the last game is coming, whether it's now or in two weeks. You just keep pushing and fighting hard. Hopefully you can keep going and get to the World Series. But right now I'm enjoying what I have left. I'm trying not to think that it's over because it's still going right now.'
It will keep going at noon today when the Minutewomen (37-14) play Albany (36-11-1) in the first game of the NCAA regional. Texas A&M (33-17) faces Lehigh (41-12) at 2:30 p.m.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage including a frequently updated UMass sports blog, go to www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/umsports.