RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Last year at this time, Kassidy Krupit was finished up her senior high school softball season at Lambert High in Suwanee, Georgia as she set 23 school records and earned her fourth 1st Team All-State selection.
What a difference a year makes!
Since then, she was released from her scholarship she signed in November with the University of Delaware after the school changed coaches, earned 1st Team Extra Inning Softball All-American honors, was selected as a Top 20 pick in the 2018 Extra Elite 100, made the cut as a PGF All-American and played on ESPN and was announced as the first invitee to this year’s Louisville Slugger Hit Club.
She talked about “What I Did For Summer Vacation” in one of her many blogs for Extra Inning Softball.
And, oh, yea, she reopened her recruiting, but after a trip to Waco and the Baylor campus, fell in love with the school and ultimately signed with the Big 12 program and just a few weeks ago was announced as one of 28 players invited to try out for the USA Softball Jr. National team.
*** Be sure to watch live the Baylor vs. LSU game Friday night at 7 pm CST on Extra Inning Softball! Click HERE for more info!***
Today Kassidy has emerged as one of the most promising freshmen in college softball. In the Bears first two fall games, Kassidy cracked three home runs including one on the very first pitch she saw (granted, it was a fall game and doesn’t count in the standings, but still!).
She’s been starting at third base while playing some middle infield and even pitching and is also batting clean-up–all as a true freshman–and she wraps up her first semester of college softball this Friday in a big matchup against LSU live streamed here on Extra Inning Softball.
We caught up with Kassidy yesterday to get her perspective on her college experience so far… here’s what she had to say!
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How has the transition from high school to college gone for you so far?
It’s been a huge transition, I’ll admit it. College academics are tough, but I’ve been working really hard. I’m going to tutoring and have all the resources to succeed. It’s been pushing me which I need. Socially, it’s been great as I’ve met so many people made a lot of new friends. It’s tough to balance the three–athletics, academics and a social life–but it’s doable. Overall, feel like I’m managing school and getting the things done I need to do to have time to hang out with friends. You can do it all, it’s hard but definitely worth it.
What’s been the biggest adjustment between playing club softball and college softball, do you think?
Probably the amount of time spent around softball and how much we put it into it. Club softball is primarily a summer thing, you work up to playing nationals but in college it’s a lot of time spent on practice or something to do with softball and getting better every day. In club, there are some players who do it to make others like their parents or coaches happy, but you really have to love softball to play in college. I really believe that. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be here.
We hear you’ve had a great start this fall and are getting a lot of playing time… what prepared you the most to get on the field quickly at Baylor?
I would say my work ethic, I practiced hard over the summer and have continued it here. I really love softball, so my passion to improve and work hard helped me with the transition. I hit every day like I did at home and I’m practicing like I did every day before, it’s just in a new place. I’m getting extra reps before and after practice and proving to myself that I can do it, playing early and helping the team.
Talk about that first-ever at-bat in college and what you were thinking…
I was batting fourth, Goose McGlaun had just hit a home run in front of me and I was thinking, ‘Oh man how do I top that?’ On the first pitch, I put my bat on it and hit I straight to left-center for a home run! I was running around the bases and had the biggest smile I have ever had! It proved my hard work had paid off and was worth it.
What’s the team culture and chemistry like?
We’re all very close, we do a lot together. If someone wants to do something, we do stuff together. The freshmen, there are seven of us, are already close with the seniors and we all talk, regardless of age even if they are four years older than us. We all communicate really well, even on the field, and it’s awesome.
What do you want to major in and how’s school going?
I’m majoring in Pre-Physical Therapy and am taking 15 hours of classes. I have five classes: Christian Scripture, Pre-Calculus, Thinking & Writing (English), Strategic Learning (Life Skills) and Pre-Health Science Studies.
When not in class, studying or playing softball, what’s do you do for fun?
If we’re not practicing or playing or in school, I’m probably hanging out with my other teammates going to other sporting games.
What’s a typical day like for you now as a college athlete?
It depends on the day–Tuesdays and Thursdays I get up earlier–but on a typical Monday or Wednesday I have an 8 am class so I get up at 7:30 am, pick up my teammates at 7:45 and go to classes. I’ll be in class from 8 am to 11 am and then have physical therapy from 11 am to noon. I have another class from 12:20 pm to 1:10 pm and after that I’ll do homework or go to the field a little early to get in some reps and then we’ll practice from 2:30 pm to maybe 5 pm, then do weights from 5 pm to 6:15 pm. I’ll then eat and have tutoring or study hall from 7 pm to 9-ish and then go home to eat and hang out with my roommates, Madison Lindsey and Tyler Trott, and then do homework before going to bed about 11:30 pm.
Tomorrow night you have a big game against LSU… your thoughts?
It will be a good test for both teams to see where we’re at, it’s our last game of the fall and we’ve been looking forward to it especially as we’ve had three games rained out on us including one this week. We’ve had some tough practices as we’ve been preparing for games and we’re physically and mentally ready to go play. It’ll be fun to see how we do under pressure.