April 9, 2002

by Dan Froehlich
UK Media Relations

Growing up just outside of Athens, Ga., University of Kentucky softball player Beth Fogle saw herself wearing the red and black of the hometown Georgia Bulldogs when she went to college. That was, after all, where her parents met, where her older brother went, where her entire family went. However, something got in the way of her taking the 15-minute trip to Athens for classes – playing softball.

“I ran track and cross country, played basketball and softball when I was in high school,” Fogle said. “But I wasn’t very good at basketball at all.”

But she was a very good track athlete. Early on at Oconee County High School, she was one of the best track athletes on the team to the point where she was medalling in races. But in the eyes of many, she was just an average softball player. Her high school track coach approached her after her freshman year and told her she had to make a choice – track or softball.

“He told me he could guarantee that I would go to a Division I school on a track or cross country scholarship, but softball was not going to happen,” she said. “But I thought, ‘softball’s good, I’m going to do that instead.'”

So that’s exactly what she did. She quit the track team to focus on softball, though she never imagined playing at the highest level of college ball because, as she admits, “I was stinking it up on the softball field.”

But her pure stubbornness made her persevere to try and prove the track coach wrong. Then came the arduous task of getting recognized as a softball player. Gifted with lots of speed, a handful coaches took notice, but not as many as Fogle would have liked.

During her freshman year, she had been invited to try out for a traveling softball team. Riding in the car with her dad after the first day of the tryout, her father told her not to get down on herself if she didn’t make the team. She had given it her all. When the final cuts were being made, the coaching staff told her that the last spot was down to her and one other girl – both of whom had plenty of speed. Whoever could learn how to slap for hits first would be the one to make the squad.

“That was it,” Fogle said. “I started to practice slapping the ball off the tee and then off of live pitching. It just clicked for me because I became pretty good at it. From then on I knew I wanted to play softball.”

While success followed her on the playing field, none of the big schools came calling, not even her own beloved Bulldogs gave her a chance.

“The Georgia coach told me that he would never recruit a slapper who couldn’t hit the ball to the fences. Sure I was disappointed, but it definitely motivated me to play better,” Fogle said.

And she did. The UK coaches came to watch one of her travel-ball teammates play when they saw Fogle race down the line for an infield single. From there, the relationship grew to the point where Fogle chose to come to Lexington.

Now in the Bluegrass, Fogle has become one of the most consistent Cats on the softball diamond. A four-year starter for the Wildcats, Fogle is a leader on this year’s talented team, trying to teach the crop of youngsters on the team what she learned throughout her first three years at UK.

“The one thing I try to impress upon everybody, especially the freshman, is don’t look at our stats,” Fogle said. “That is what I have learned the most this year and I wish I would have learned it early. Stats don’t really matter. Winning does. I could go 0-for-20, but if the team wins, that’s important.”

And in case you were wondering, Fogle, who now believes that blue is a much better color than red, hasn’t forgotten about getting snubbed by the Bulldog coaching staff.

“They’re not in Athens anymore, but they are still at schools in the SEC. And funny enough, I always seem to have my best games whenever they are in the opposite dugout.”