Star catcher Kayla Kowalik is key to Kentucky softball in more than the batter’s box
When it came time for Kentucky softball All-America catcher Kayla Kowalik to decide whether she would use the extra year of eligibility granted all NCAA athletes in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic there was little drama.
Unlike fall and winter sports teams who played all or most of their seasons in 2020, spring athletes saw their 2020 seasons ended after just a few weeks of competition when coronavirus cases began to spread in the United States. Those spring athletes were the first to receive clearance from the NCAA to spend an extra year in college.
“I’m not going to lie: The minute COVID hit and they were like, ‘We’re going to give these athletes the opportunity back,’ I was like, ‘Coach (Rachel) Lawson, I’m coming back,’” Kowalik said. “I knew immediately that I wanted that year back, and I knew I kind of wanted to pursue my MBA and extend my education. That kind of helped out there, but I knew immediately I wanted to stick around softball and specifically stick around Kentucky softball and our staff.”
What wasn’t known when Kowalik first made that decision was how big a boost her return would end up being for the Wildcats.
In the two years since the 2020 season ended early, Kowalik has hit .460 with 19 home runs, 134 runs scored and 40 stolen bases.
As a junior in 2021, Kowalik led all Power Five conference batters with a .495 average to earn first-team All-America honors from the coaches association. Her average dipped to .420 as a senior, but she still was named first-team All-SEC and to the league’s All-Defensive Team. Kowalik now holds the UK program record for runs scored in a career (214).
Lawson jokes Kowalik didn’t give her coach much choice in the decision about whether she would return for the 2023 season. Kowalik simply informed Lawson she was going to graduate school.
While Kowalik could have searched for graduate programs elsewhere that paired with powerhouse softball programs, there was no doubt about her sticking around in Lexington.
“You’re never going to find an athlete that is more committed than Kayla is to the University of Kentucky,” Lawson said.
As Kentucky prepares to open the 2023 season Friday with a doubleheader against St. John’s and Louisville at the NFCA Lead-Off Classic in Clearwater, Florida, Lawson thinks Kowalik has found another element to add to her game that will be essential to the Wildcats’ chances of making a deep NCAA Tournament run.
“In the past if the pitcher wasn’t doing well, she’d look at me and be like, ‘Next. Get the next one in here,’” Lawson said. “She’d kind of talk to them, but she was like, ‘No, you’ve got to live up to my standard.’
“I love that about her because people definitely want to play at the level she plays at. With that said, now she has figured out how to talk to them, how to manage the staff, all that sort of stuff. She’s like having another coach on the field. That’s been something that has been really helpful this year, and I think it’s helped our staff actually grow.”
How quickly Kentucky’s pitching staff gels will say much about the Wildcats’ ability to exceed their preseason No. 20 ranking in the coaches’ poll.
Tatum Spangler, who pitched 60 2/3 innings with a team-best 2.42 ERA, and Miranda Stoddard, who led the team with 72 innings pitched a year ago, are gone. Junior Stephanie Schoonover now leads the way for a group that includes graduate student Kennedy Sullivan, senior Sloan Gayan, sophomore Alexia Lacatena and sophomore Izzy Harrison, who are all expected to pitch key innings this spring.
“I feel a lot better right now about our pitching than I did at this point last year,” Lawson said. “Last year, I had no idea who was going to start. This year, we have a lot of options. I don’t necessarily know who my opening day starter is going to be, but it’s because I have good options.”
Still, Lawson acknowledges pitching is “the big question mark” and those pitchers will have to prove worthy of her preseason confidence in actual games.
That’s where Kowalik’s newfound ability to manage pitchers comes in handy.
“Kind of a switch just flipped a little bit through last year,” Kowalik said. “I’m like, all right, what can I do to help our pitchers out and what can I do to not only be a really good player but be a really good person for my teammates in the way they need to?”
Kowalik has different strategies for talking to each of the Wildcats’ pitchers when she needs to make a visit to the circle during a key moment.
Harrison likes to lighten the moment with a joke. Lacatena needs a quiet moment to center herself. Schoonover is a constant source of energy that helps Kowalik find her own emotion on the field.
“As we got older, you could see (Kowalik) take on more of the role of helping guide everyone,” senior outfield Rylea Smith said. “... Also, knowing leadership isn’t always spoken. It’s also actions. Just knowing you have someone that reliable that you can put your trust in, also helps with making sure we’re all going in the right path.”
Kowalik’s Kentucky legacy is set. Named Miss Wildcat at the athletic department’s Catspy Awards, Kowalik has already left her mark on the program’s record book.
Trying to match or exceed the type of lofty statistics Kowalik has posted the last two seasons could be seen as suffocating pressure, but Kentucky’s star catcher chooses instead to focus on team goals before individual ones. A batting title would certainly help Kentucky in its quest to reach the World Series, but what Kowalik brings that does not show up in the box score could be equally as important in her final season as a Wildcat.
“The way I look at pitcher-catcher relationships is I am helping them do what they need to do as much as they’re helping the team,” Kowalik said. “So, if I can help them be better, our team is going to be infinitely better.”
Cats start season in Florida
Kentucky plays two games Friday to open its 2023 season, facing St. John’s at 11 a.m. and Louisville at 1:30 p.m.
The games are part of the 2023 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Lead-Off Classic, a season-opening showcase featuring 16 teams playing 40 games over three days.
The event includes five of the nation’s top 25 teams in the USA Today preseason coaches’ poll, including No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Northwestern, No. 13 Tennessee, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 Auburn.
In addition to Louisville, St. John’s and the top-25 contingent, the field also includes Fordham, Howard, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Prairie View A&M, South Alabama and Southern.
On Saturday, Kentucky faces Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. and Southern at 6:30 p.m. The Wildcats wrap things up Sunday against Texas at 12:30 p.m.
This weekend
2023 NFCA Lead-Off Classic
What: A 16-team season-opening showcase featuring five of the nation’s top 25 teams in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll.
Where: Eddie C. Moore Complex at Clearwater, Fla.
When: Friday through Sunday
Live streaming: Available for free on GameChanger app or GC.com
2023 Kentucky softball schedule
All times Eastern and subject to change
Home games in all capital letters
Feb. 10: St. John’s, 11 a.m.-1
Feb. 10: Louisville, 1:30 p.m.-1
Feb. 11: Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.-1
Feb. 11: Southern, 6:30 p.m.-1
Feb. 12: Texas, 12:30 p.m.-1
Feb. 17: Texas-Arlington, Noon-2
Feb. 17: McNeese State, 2:30 p.m.-2
Feb. 18: South Dakota, 5 p.m.-2
Feb. 18: North Texas, 8:30 p.m.-2
Feb. 19: Sam Houston State, 11 a.m.-2
Feb. 21: At Loyola Marymount, 3 p.m.
Feb. 23: Washington, 3 p.m.-3
Feb. 23: San Diego State, 5:30 p.m.-3
Feb. 24: UCLA, 8:30 p.m.-3
Feb. 25: Northwestern, 8:30 p.m.-3
Feb. 25: UC-Riverside, 11 p.m.-3
March 3: Illinois-Chicago, 4 p.m.-4
March 3: At Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m.-4
March 4: Illinois-Chicago, 1:30 p.m.-4
March 4: At Oklahoma, 4 p.m.-4
March 8: DAYTON, 5 p.m.
March 10: At Missouri, 5 p.m.
March 11: At Missouri, 2 p.m.
March 12: At Missouri, 2 p.m.
March 14: At Saint Louis, 5 p.m.
March 16: LIBERTY, 2 p.m.
March 18: DEPAUL, 3 p.m.-5
March 18: MICHIGAN, 5:30 p.m.-5
March 19: LONGWOOD, 12:30 p.m.-5
March 19: MICHIGAN, 5:30 p.m.-5
March 24: TEXAS A&M, 6:30 p.m.
March 25: TEXAS A&M, 2 p.m.
March 26: TEXAS A&M, 1 p.m.
March 29: LOUISVILLE, 6:30 p.m.
April 1: At Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
April 2: At Georgia, 6 p.m.
April 3: At Georgia, 7 p.m.
April 7: At Ole Miss, TBA
April 8: At Ole Miss, TBA
April 9: At Ole Miss, 4 p.m.
April 12: At Bellarmine, 4 p.m.
April 14: TENNESSEE, 6:30 p.m.
April 15: TENNESSEE, Noon
April 16: TENNESSEE, 2 p.m.
April 18: At Northern Kentucky, 5 p.m.
April 21: ARKANSAS, 6:30 p.m.
April 22: ARKANSAS, 6 p.m.
April 23: ARKANSAS, 1 p.m.
April 26: EASTERN KENTUCKY, 5:30 p.m.
April 28: At Mississippi State, 7 p.m.
April 29: At Mississippi State, 5 p.m.
April 30: At Mississippi State, 1 p.m.
May 5: FLORIDA, 6:30 p.m.
May 6: FLORIDA, 3 p.m.
May 7: FLORIDA, 2 p.m.
May 9-13: SEC Tournament-6
1-NFCA Lead-Off Classic at Clearwater, Fla.; 2-North Texas Tournament at Denton, Texas; 3-Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Palm Springs, Calif.; 4-Oklahoma Tournament at Norman, Okla.; 5-John Cropp Classic at Lexington; 6-At Fayetteville, Ark.
