I am constantly getting requests to share the story of my softball career, so I thought it was about time I put it in writing & share it with everyone.

I started playing at the age of 8 on one of the New Franklin league teams, which in hindsight I now know was just recreational.  My first season, my Dad was working night shifts & he would come home in the morning & ask how the prior night’s game went.  That season we lost every single game.  For the last game of the season, Dad was able to get off work & attend it.  Thank goodness!  Our team coach didn’t show up.  Dad ended up coaching the team that game and we won!  The following summer started Dad’s career in coaching.  We finished second place in the league, and the summer after that we won the league & never looked back.

When I was 12, because Dad was the coach, I caught for our primary pitcher over the winter while Dad worked with her; however my primary positions were shortstop and first base.  Two weeks prior to the season starting, she approached Dad to tell him that she would be on vacation with her family at the beginning of the season & would miss several games.  The very next practice, Dad had everyone on the team try pitching, and I ended up being the one who was the most accurate.   While catching over the winter, I had unconsciously absorbed what he had been working with her on. I turned 13 that August and my pitching career had begun.  For those who say that you have to start pitching at a very young age to be any good, let me dispel that myth right now.  I was almost 13.  If you know who Michele Smith is (1996 & 2000 USA Olympic Gold medalist pitcher), she started pitching when she was 15 years old.  If it’s something you truly have a passion for, it’s never too late to start.

I then started getting pitching lessons from the then Mizzou head coach, Jay Miller.  Dad & I learned the craft & the game of fast pitch together. My lessons were usually scheduled after the Mizzou team practices, so we would arrive early to watch some of their practice & I fell in love.  I loved the atmosphere, I loved being around the team, I loved working w/ Coach Miller.  It was set; I WAS going to be a pitcher at Mizzou, and thus our following of Mizzou softball began.

I attended my first Mizzou camp at the age of 13, which further solidified my ambition to be a Missouri Tiger someday.  At that time, the Big 12 Conference was the Big 8 Conference.  We started attending the Mizzou games as well as the Big 8 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City every year. We have never looked back and continue the tradition today of attending the Big 12 Conference Tournament each year.  It was during these years that I met Michele Smith for the first time.  I idolized her & wanted to be her.  She is 5 years older than me and was a pitcher at Oklahoma State University.  Little did I know how good she would become, that we would actually end up becoming friends, and that I’d eventually play with & against her.  Even though she has retired from USA Softball and is playing professionally in Japan, she & I stay in contact with each other.

As I began to progress & voiced my collegiate aspirations, Coach Miller told me that if I had any chance of playing in college, I needed to get on a competitive team in St. Louis, which was the hotbed of Midwest softball at that time.  I had surpassed the abilities of the New Franklin league, and softball had not yet been started in Columbia (summer or schools).   Of course this meant breaking away from my hometown team and venturing out to the big cities.  Anyone who is from a small town understands the peer pressure & politics that I had to deal with.  I was viewed as a traitor & snob, and was teased for “being too good for New Franklin”.  Even my so-called best friends turned their backs on me.  There were many tearful nights spent in making the decision to leave my friends behind & go to St. Louis to play.  But I will tell you today that it was the best decision of my life.

At the age of 15; the summer between my sophomore & junior years, I played for 5 different teams.
(1) New Franklin’s league team
(2) Marshall Angels – a semi-competitive team that played a league in Marshall, MO.
(3) Royal Sports Angels – a competitive team out of St. Louis
(4) Trenton Angels – a competitive team out of Trenton, MO that played mostly in Kansas City
(5) Attadart – a women’s league team in Jefferson City

Ask my parents how much laundry they did & how many miles they put on their cars that summer! Not to mention the amount of Shoe Goo & number of shoes I went through.  It was the craziest schedule anyone has seen.  We kept uniforms for all 5 teams in the car at all times for fear of forgetting where I was going on a given night & not having the right uniform.  Sometimes we’d leave a tournament with one team & join a game with another team on the way home.  Crazy, huh?  Nope, that’s dedication!

During that summer, I was testing the waters to see how good I really was.  The Royal Sports Angels turned out to be a great learning experience for me & really motivated me to leave my competition in the dust.  They had an ace pitcher, Heather, whose father called the shots.  He wasn’t a coach of the team, yet he had a major impact on the lineup & how much everyone played.  He saw my role as being the bullpen catcher, not an equal to his daughter.  Obviously my time with that team was short.  But the thing I learned the most was that I was a competitor & wanted to make a name for myself.  As an aside, that team had several would-be Missouri Tigers on it.  Too fun!

My junior year of high school (1988), despite my improvement & summer accomplishments, I was still stuck in the small town political game of seniority.  There was a senior pitcher who always got the ball, even though the entire town knew I was better.  Finally at the end of the season, it took her going to our coach & telling him that she wanted me to pitch the post-season games.   We ended up taking second in the state.  Talk about fueling the fire & making me even hungrier!  I wanted the State Championship!

After the high school season ended, my Dad contacted the Hallsville catcher, who was a senior.  Sally had impressed us with her natural & raw ability, and we thought she might want to play in St. Louis with me the following summer.   She ended up committing to Mizzou later that fall.

The summer of 1989, Sally & I joined the St. Louis Sting.  They were an 18U competitive team.  Sally & I drove to St. Louis an average of 4 times a week for practices, league games & tournaments.  We became the best of friends & developed a bond that is unrivaled today.  We got to the point to where we could practically read each other’s mind. Sally & I were certainly the “new kids” in town, but it didn’t take long before we made names for ourselves.  We won the Mid-America Regional Tournament & qualified for Nationals.  That year it was changed from 18U to 19U.  The reason, to allow several college freshman to play one more year of Junior Olympic ball before having to move up to the women’s league.  Some of those freshman included Lisa Fernandez, DeeDee Weiman & Heather Compton, three of the most notable pitchers in the country that year.  We ended up finishing 25^th at Nationals & were ecstatic.  I’m not sure anyone really expected us to do that well.

My friendship with Sally continues to this day & will be life-long.  Even though we lost touch for a couple years after college, the friendship has come full circle.  We now both work at State Farm Insurance and our desks are side-by-side.  Truly amazing!

My senior year of high school (1989), I owned New Franklin softball and didn’t really know it.  Suddenly people were listening to me & watching to see what I was doing.  What is really interesting, my previous friends, who had turned their backs on me a couple of years earlier for aspiring to play at a higher level, were now suddenly my friends again.  There’s nothing like a little fame to bring everyone back together!  During my senior year, our high school superintendent made the mistake of telling me that he had Mizzou football tickets for the weekend of the Missouri State Championships.  I made him promise me that WHEN we made it to the state playoffs; he would give away his tickets & come watch our games.  The deal was set & I’m proud to say that he watched softball that weekend, not Mizzou football.  We won the MO State Championship, and I set a record for strikeouts in the 2-game championship series with 33.  18 strikeouts in the semi-final game, 15 in the final game.

The Mizzou coaches were in attendance, as was Karen, their sophomore pitcher from Canada.  A short time later I was contacted to go on a recruiting trip to Mizzou, as well as several other colleges.  While on the recruiting trip at Mizzou, Karen was my host and we made a pact to each win our respective national tournaments the next summer, 1990.

A few weeks after my recruiting trip to Mizzou, I got THE CALL!  Remember Heather, my rival on the Royal Sports Angels?  Coach Miller picked me over her. I’m pretty sure there was a fair amount of me bouncing around the house like an idiot after I hung up the phone.  I was going to be a Missouri Tiger; my lifelong dream had come true.

The summer of 1990 came around & I was 17.  I left the Sting & joined the Ballwin Saints.  They were a women’s class “A” team based in the Ballwin area of St. Louis.  I was by far one of the youngest on the team, and one of my new teammates was one of the Mizzou assistant coaches.  How’s that for irony?  I had a very successful summer which was capped off by winning the Women’s Class “A” National Tournament, being named 1^st team All-American and tournament MVP.  Again, I was probably one of the youngest players there.  I didn’t understand at the time how big of a deal it was to accomplish what I did at that tournament, but I now know that it was quite a feat!   Immediately after closing ceremonies ended, we literally sprinted through the airport to catch our red-eye flight home.  Our 4 foot tall trophy was dismantled & snagged a seat in First Class!

Upon arriving home, I dumped my luggage & trophies in my room at my apartment, grabbed breakfast & headed off to my first day of college classes.  At the team meeting later that day, Karen & I exchanged stories about Nationals only to find that we had each won the National title, she in Canada, me in the US.  And we each were named tournament MVP’s.  The pact we had made on my recruiting trip 10 months earlier had come true.  I was a Missouri Tiger, a National Champion, and had 5 days until I turned 18.  How in the world do you top that?  Little did I know that the best was yet to come.

Then started my freshman year at Mizzou, 1990-91.  I was no longer the all-star, and the world certainly didn’t revolve around me.  I was facing a serious challenge to earn playing time, and I accepted that challenge.  Thank goodness Sally & I were roommates that year.  We were each other’s rock & support.  She caught the first game I pitched as a Missouri Tiger, and we won!   Later that season I injured my left knee in practice.  As I slid into third base, our third baseman fell on me & I ended up stretching the tendon that attaches to the back of your kneecap, and tweaked some cartilage.  It was decided that I would red-shirt that season to gain back a full year of eligibility.  I practiced with the team but did not play in games.  I was the keeper of the pitching charts during games, and I became darn good at it.  I even earned the “Golden Pencil” award during our post-season team awards.   Even though I wasn’t playing in games, I was able to learn a lot just from watching.  We advanced to the Women’s College World Series as one of the top 8 teams in the country, which was an incredible experience!

Immediately after the season ended in May, I had arthroscopic surgery.  They shaved off the scar tissue that had built up on the back of my knee cap, and cleaned everything out.  Good as new, and so began the summer of 1991. I once again played with the Saints.  It was fairly uneventful as I had to slowly ease back into pitching and was not quite back to 100% by the time nationals rolled around, but I was determined to claim a spot in the starting rotation at Mizzou that fall.

The summer of 1993, I was once again named to the All-American team, however this time it was for the Women’s Class “AA” Nationals.  Once we (The Saints) won “A” nationals in 1990, we were forced to move up to the “AA” level.  That’s where all of the “big dogs” played… Michele Smith, Lisa Fernandez, Dot Richardson, etc.  Due to being named an All-American, I was considered one of the top 60 softball players in the country & was invited to play at the 1993 Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas.   The 60 of us were split into four teams & played games against each other.  Two future Olympians were on my team there… Julie Smith & Leah O’Brien-Amico. We ended up with the silver medal.  Not too bad!

I returned to Mizzou for my fourth year, the 1993-94 season.  Even with my summer accomplishments I still had things to prove at Mizzou.  I ended up setting the NCAA record for saves in a season, which I believe still stands today.

The summer of 1994 I switched teams & joined the St. Louis Classics.  They were considered the top women’s class “AA” team in the Midwest.  If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!  I moved to St. Louis for the summer & lived with my coach & his wife.  I had a great summer & was once again named as one of the top 60 softball players in the country and was invited to the Olympic Festival.  This time it was in St. Louis.  Too cool!  The other two pitchers on my team were Susie Parra & Michelle Granger.   Susie was a stand-out pitcher at the University of Arizona, and Michelle was a left-handed fire baller from the University of California-Berkeley.  Go out & Google them sometime!  Two great pitchers!  I had the taste of silver in my mouth from the prior summer, but I wanted the gold!  What stood in my way?  Michele Smith and Lisa Fernandez! I’m proud to say that I have the gold medal hanging in my house!   As good as Michele, Lisa & the other top pitchers there were, they didn’t have the awesome team that I had.  We came together & pulled out a win in the gold medal game.   It couldn’t get any better than this, or could it?

On cloud nine, I returned for my fifth & final season at Mizzou.  I was dominating on the mound, and batting fourth.  Life was perfect.  It was then that my world came crashing down around me & I suffered a near career ending knee injury during our fall season.  We were in a tournament at Creighton and were playing Drake University.  We were winning & I was having a career game both on the mound and at bat.  Toward the end of the game, I was called upon to sacrifice bunt.  I laid it down & about halfway to first base I saw the throw go sailing over my head into right field.    As I planted my left foot on first base, out of nowhere the second baseman dove into me, hitting me just below the knee with her shoulder.  I knew immediately that my knee was gone. The impact flipped me over and I landed on my back, however I was able to turn around & see the winning run score.   My teammates carried me off of the field & I began the long journey home.  They splinted my leg at the field, however they didn’t have any crutches for me to use, so my teammates had to carry me everywhere.  The 6 hour bus ride home was torture, but even worse, I had to call my parents and tell them what had happened.  I can’t imagine receiving that call & having to meet me at the hospital in the middle of the night.  After a few x-rays, it was confirmed that nothing was broken.  It was worse.  It was suspected that I had torn one or more ligaments & possibly cartilage.  The next day I was seen by our team orthopedic doctor & an MRI was scheduled.  The MRI confirmed that I had completely severed the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and my medial collateral ligament (MCL) was holding together by a strand the size of a hair.  Any cartilage damage was yet to be determined.

One of my St. Louis Classics teammates & future Olympian, Dani Tyler, was the shortstop for Drake University.  She later informed me that their second baseman had a history of “taking out” players on opposing teams.  Hmmm, that’s so nice of her!

The doctors were pretty conservative in their projections for my recovery & being able to play the following spring. Given the 9 month recovery time that surgery required, having surgery & then returning to play in the spring wasn’t an option.  My saving grace was that I was a pitcher.  I was fitted with a de-rotation brace.  Its job was to hold my knee in place.  Worst case scenario, it wouldn’t hold, I’d have surgery & my college career would be over.  Best case scenario, it would hold, I’d make it through the season & then have surgery, however I would be limited to just pitching.  Only pitching.  No running, no jogging, no hitting, limited fielding drills, no side-to-side movement.  Just pitch.  It was worth a shot, and the gamble paid off.  The exercise bike became my best friend.  Any time I wasn’t pitching at practice, I was riding the bike in an effort to strengthen all of the muscles around my knee.  It wasn’t uncommon for me to ride 30+ miles a practice.

So now it was February 1995 and the season was only a couple weeks away.  I still hadn’t worked up the courage to pitch full motion with a full stride. It was my left knee, my stride leg, and I just knew that it wouldn’t be able to support my weight when I landed.  It was a huge mind game that I was playing with myself; however I knew that I had to give it a try.  I also knew that surgery was inevitable; but I wanted it to be later rather than sooner.  I finally worked up the courage to pitch full stride, and much to my surprise my knee held.  The brace did its job.

While I was completely sure that the injury was the worst possible thing that could have happened, it really turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  It forced me to refine my pitching form to take as much torque & stress off of my knee as possible.  What ended up happening was that my spins were tighter, and my ball movement & accuracy improved.

Want to know “the rest of the story”?

About a month later, we were on spring break in Florida in a tournament.  Our opponent was Drake University.  I didn’t start the game, but was in relief.  Our starting pitcher ran into some difficulties and in the 5^th inning Coach Miller put me in.  Bases loaded, no outs, 3-0 count on the batter.  The batter was Drake’s second baseman, Jen, the girl I vowed revenge on.   She was their #3 batter.  The #4 batter was Dani Tyler, future Olympian & my summer teammate.  No pressure, right?  The outcome was better than any revenge plot I could have drawn up.  Going in with a 3-0 count, I struck out Jen on three pitches.  Then struck Dani out, and got the #5 hitter to pop out.  It was at that moment that I regained my confidence & knew that I could have a good season despite the injury.

Since my knee held up for the Mizzou season, I thought I might as well see how far into the summer it would last.  Shortly after the Mizzou season had ended, I was notified that I was one of just 12 pitchers to be invited to the first ever Olympic Team tryout camp in Oklahoma City, OK.  Softball would make its debut in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA, and I had a real shot at making it.

Despite the limitations the injury put on me, not being able to run or hit, I had a great tryout. Current University of California-Fullerton head coach Michelle Gromacki was my catcher at the camp & she brought out the best in me.  She was a fantastic catcher who loved digging drop balls out of the dirt!  To all of you catchers out there, learn how to dig those balls out of the dirt!

As with the Olympic Festivals, we were broken into teams & played scrimmage games against each other for an entire week.  Lisa Fernandez & I were the only pitchers at the camp that did not allow a run to be scored all week.  The 1996 Olympic team was announced the last night of camp.  Neither Michelle or I made the team & we were both crushed, as were several of the other girls who tried out. The instability of my knee combined with my lack of international experience were what kept me off the team. Once again, I was convinced that my life was over and I cried all the way home in the back of my parents’ mini-van.  Talk about a long drive!

The following week I had reconstructive knee surgery.  The day I got home from the hospital, I received a call from Cindy Bristow.  She had just been named as a coach in the Women’s Professional Softball League, which was making its debut, and she asked me to be a pitcher on her team. At that time, the WPSL pitching distance was 46 feet, the bases were 65 feet apart, played with an 11 inch ball, and the runners could lead off base like they do in baseball.  Still in somewhat of an anesthetic coma, I declined the offer & set off on my road to recovery.

The next summer, 1996, I returned to the St. Louis Classics to play.  A chance at redemption once again presented itself.  The Olympic team was going on a summer tour to tune up for the 1996 Olympics and our team was selected as one of their opponents.  We ended up losing the game by only 1 or 2 runs, which ended up being the closest game of the entire tour.  They were used to run-ruling every team they played.  I am proud to say that with the help of my defense, I did not allow a run to score during my innings on the mound that game.

I continued to play through the summer of 1999, at which time I retired at the end of the season.  I had started a full-time job at State Farm in 1995, and had gotten into helping coach some of the local Columbia teams toward the end of my college career.  I came to realize that short of making the Olympic team, I had accomplished everything possible as a player, and I couldn’t devote the time to training that it would take to continue playing at the elite level.  I was beginning to really enjoy coaching & decided to focus my efforts on coaching full-time.  I felt it was time to give back to the sport that had given me so much.  The more I got into coaching; Dad started dusting off his coaching shoes & began helping coach other local teams.

After the 2000 summer season, we both aspired to offer a more competitive alternative to the local talent.  Dad and I decided to form our own competitive softball organization, and the Missouri Pride was born.  Now here we are 6 years later & still going strong.  The organization has made a name for itself & we’re now a force to be reckoned with.

I am often asked if I miss playing, and that answer is yes.  I’ll probably always miss it; however I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of coaching. Being able to interact during practices, occasionally joining in the drills, and throwing batting practice once in a while satisfies my craving to play.  Making a difference in young players’ lives & helping them achieve their dreams is more than I can ask for.  I want everyone to be able to experience all of the things that I got to experience during my career.  The travel was phenomenal, and the friends I have made are just incredible.  Those are my true friends & even though we’re spread all across the United States, we stay in touch to this day.  I have so many memories that I will cherish until the day that I die.

Softball is more than just a game.  It’s a way of life.   It has helped shape me into the person I am today, which carries over into my life off of the field.  I hope that by sharing my story you get to know me a little better & understand where I’m coming from.  I also hope that it serves as an inspiration to young players to never give up, to never quit, and to go after your dreams.

I still remember a poem that I wrote for English class while I was in high school…

Sometimes I wonder just how good I can be,
sitting here thinking, my thoughts I can see.
Pitching, some think it is a chore,
but really it is something that I adore.
I just wish I knew, from what people have said,
some say it will just go to my head.
I don't care and I don't mind,
because someday they will wake and find,
that I have grown up and left them behind.
But for right now, all I can do,
is dream of playing for Ol' Mizzou.

I went after my dreams & made them a reality.  I challenge each of you to do the same.

Best of luck to you!
Kacey

*** 12/03/07 UPDATE ***