How Wrestling Helped KJ Haney Commit to Alabama Softball

You get the feeling KJ Haney, a 2020 grad from Hiram (Georgia) High ,could excel in just about any sport she wanted to.

The former 5-foot-10 basketball player was a 1^st Team All-Region and All-County sophomore softball standout this this past fall playing catcher and first base as she hit .596 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI—the last two setting school records—and had a 1.380 slugging percentage.

On Sundays for the next few months KJ—which stands for “Kaleigh Jordan”—will work out with her Atlanta Vipers team coached by Jason Holbrook, but soon will pick up the shot and discus to compete for her school’s track team this spring.

Currently, however, you’ll most likely find the Georgia multi-sport star on the wrestling mat which she picked up after watching her brother wrestle for five years.

“I’m probably not going to be as good as him,” she laughs, but attributes her workouts in wrestling to being a major factor in her achieving a dream that was years in the making—committing on Sunday to play softball for Patrick Murphy and the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

“Wrestling gives me a big advantage in softball,” Haney explains. “It gets my legs really, really strong and you get to use all the different muscles you don’t use in softball, but the most important thing is how it strengthens your mental game. In wrestling, you have to be mentally tough which directly translates to softball because there’s so much failure on the field, like when you can’t forget the two K’s (strikeouts) you had over your bomb (home run).”

Haney explains that the movements in wrestling have also helped her physically between the fastpitch lines.

“In wrestling you have to be flexible and you stretch a lot more,” she continues. “There are certain moves you don’t make often in softball, like how you bend your back, which is completely different than in softball. I feel it makes me flow better when I’m behind the plate as everything is stretched out and when I’m at first base my splits are better. It (wrestling) definitely improves your flexibility in your legs which in turn helps to make the scoop for the ball on throws in the dirt when I’m at first.”

KJ joined the Vipers in August and made it immediately clear to Coach Holbrook what her primary goal was.

“From Day 1 she told me she wanted to play at Alabama,” Holbrook remembers. “It has been her goal since she started playing softball, but I told her she needed to work hard, put in the time and be ready to perform when the opportunity came and she indeed was ready. This fall in showcase ball, KJ batted .417 with a .562 on-base percentage and hit five home runs with 14 RBI. Her home runs are no question—they usually end up in the trees!”

Her big opportunity came in November to shine in front of her future college coach and KJ seized the moment. With Murphy and staff in attendance at a tournament in Montgomery, Alabama, Haney blasted four bombs including one she says is the furthest she’s ever hit.

“During our last game that night, I saw that they (Alabama coaches) were watching when I got into the batter’s box. I remember watching the ball come out of the pitcher’s hand, I swung and it was the furthest I’ve ever hit the ball—it one-hopped the slow pitch fence and went about 350 feet total. After that Coach Murphy started talking to my coach.”

The conversations continued and culminated into an unofficial visit to the Tide campus last Sunday when the major words came that the athlete had long hope to hear: KJ had an offer to play for her dream school.

“It was crazy!” the slugger exclaimed. “When he first offered I didn’t know what to say, I was in awe! I thought, ‘What do I do?’ Coach Murphy asked, ‘Are you going to make my day?’ and I looked at my mom and dad and they both were crying. I told Coach Murphy, ‘I’m in!’”

Despite her dangerous power bat and wrestling-influenced fluid play behind the plate and at first, KJ says it was another trait that the Tide coaches said they liked best about her.

“They told me they liked my leadership and how I’m a person above an athlete,” she states. “I do try my best to be a leader on my team, like if you see someone slipping you encourage them to get better, something like You got this!’ If you tell them they’re the best, they’ll play with confidence and be a different person and player. I feel that Alabama seeing me encourage my teammates was one thing they liked most about me.”

Adds her Holbrook, her club coach: “KJ joined the club team last fall and she was an instant spark plug. She loves the games and loves to compete and since Coach Murphy only takes the best talent and only wants players with an ‘Attitude of Gratitude,’ he is getting it in KJ.”

Haney says she’s been a Tide fan since the age of 9 when she watched them on TV while on a family vacation in Florida.

“I liked the way they cheered in the dugout and I could see that they had a special bond. I knew instantly that I wanted to go to Alabama and that I wanted to work hard to get there. I went to several of their camps and every time I went I learned something new. It was great absorbing the energy of the players there and it confirmed this was where I wanted to go.”

Immediately after committing to Coach Murphy, KJ said she called everyone she knew, excitedly relating the news that “I just committed to my dream school!”

But the very first thing she did up on leaving the campus was go visit her grandfather—her mother Alaina’s father, Wayne Brown—who is battling pancreatic and liver cancer which is starting to spread throughout his body.

“Telling about my situation made his day,” KJ says quietly. “He’s a Georgia Tech fan, but he looked at me and said, ‘Roll Tide!’”

Once Haney returned home, the magnitude of her weekend’s decision began to hit her.

“It’s unbelievable, really, because it’s always been a dream. When I went to bed Sunday night, I kept thinking, ‘Is this really happening to me?’ But it just means I have to work harder because when I finally do get there I’ll have to work even more as I’ll want to be the best I can be to represent my school.”

Still on a verbal high, she laughs when she admits, “About 95 percent of everything I own is Crimson colored! I basically wear Alabama gear on a daily basis. Everything I’m in right now is Alabama gear.”

KJ says she’s eager for softball practice for her high school to pick up for a few weeks over spring break and then to start travel ball tournaments in March. Describing herself as “dedicated and competitive in everything I do” on the athletic fields, KJ says she’s “loud, funny and encouraging” off of it.

The one word she doesn’t mention, but which comes through in her passionate conversations, is “motivated.”  That becomes apparent as she brims with excitement as she talks about where she goes from here.

“Once you commit, the easy part is over,” she explains. “If anything, you have to work ten times harder to get better and better every single day. When it’s the seventh inning and you need to get that last out, you have to be mentally tough and I’m going to have to work hard to be faster and more mentally strong. I know it won’t just be handed to me… that’s not how life is.”