| Ferris softball player Krystle Bailey looks to throw a player out at first base during a game earlier last season in Florida. (Photo/Sandy Gholston) |
BIG RAPIDS – Krystle Bailey has emerged as a battle-tested softball warrior after three seasons at Ferris State University.
But, with three softball campaigns to her credit, Bailey finds herself having to come to grips with the reality she has just one spring left to put it all together as part of an accomplished senior class for the Bulldogs. Bailey has proven to be rock steady behind the plate for the Bulldogs having started 52 times as a freshman, in 2006; all 45 during her sophomore campaign, in 2007; and all 52 games as a junior, last spring.
It has been quite the ride for the senior from Wyoming in suburban Grand Rapids, including last spring’s historic run to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region championship, and thus is in no mood to think about the future – a future beyond this spring.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet that this is going to be my last season (of college softball),” Bailey said during a break from team practice in the Multipurpose Room inside the Ewigleben Sports Complex. “I just want to go out and play and focus on the season knowing, at some point, it’s going to hit me when it’s all over and that will be when I’ll start thinking about it a little more, but it definitely hasn’t hit me yet.”
It will definitely hit the program one of these days when it looks toward the backstop and Bailey is no longer pillar of consistency as Ferris’ starting catcher. As a rookie, she batted .271 with 45 hits, six doubles, a home run and 28 runs batted in. Then, she had her best season at the plate, as a sophomore, when she hit .336 with 48 hits, had 10 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 17 RBI. Last spring, Bailey hit .253 with 39 hits, seven doubles, two triples, two home runs and 24 runs driven in as the Bulldogs finished the campaign 35-18.
The offensive numbers only tell part of the story. Bailey, a hard worker and a student of the game, calls a top-notch game behind the plate and has the confidence of head coach Keri Becker in that role. It’s no easy task calling a game (as a catcher) for a variety of pitchers and going against strong league, regional and national competition. Bailey has been superb working with a pitching staff that includes veterans Sarah Mueller, Holly Bruntjens, Rhea Flores, Amanda Jager, Kayle Stevenson and welcomes newcomer Shannon Roney.
“I try to work hard and set a good example as one of the seniors and one of the leaders on the team,” Bailey said. “It can be a little pressure when people are looking up to you, but I don’t mind people looking up to me because I want to work to become even more of a leader for our team. We have such a good team and we all want to have a successful season.”
Bailey figures to have a lot of people asking her and her teammates about winning the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, returning to regionals, winning regionals again, returning to the national championships and more. The 5-foot-4 catcher, however, is taking things a little slower.
“Right now, we’re taking it one day at a time and we’re going to work hard to be stronger by the end of the season,” said Bailey, whose team is scheduled to begin the 2009 campaign in Owensboro, Ky. at the Kentucky Wesleyan Great Lakes Challenge (Feb. 28-March 1) if weather and field conditions cooperate. “We have to take it one step at a time. … It’s a long season.”
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