Megan Yocke calls Kara Dill the smallest three hitter in the country, so you can imagine everyone’s surprise that she’s been able to fill the biggest shoes on the Kentucky softball this team. Of course, when you look at Dill’s rail-thin frame, you know that can’t be true. She’s far from the team’s strongest player and isn’t built like a Brittany Cervantes or a Meagan Aull.But figuratively, she’s stepped into size 20 shoes this year.Dill, a sophomore shortstop, had the unenviable, almost unfair task of replacing the most successful and most important player in Kentucky softball history – Molly Johnson.”I couldn’t ask for a better player to come in after Molly because Kara is never someone who steps outside of herself,” head coach Rachel Lawson said. “She is very internally motivated and really focuses at the task at hand. She’s not easily distracted or tries to live up to other expectations.”Truth be told, Dill and Johnson are two very different players. Johnson guided Kentucky to the first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2009 and 2010 with power, a cannon arm and pure athletic ability. Dill, on the other hand, is a developing defender with zero career home runs and very little power. But whether she was groomed to or not, Dill was going to be viewed as Johnson’s replacement. When you play the same position as the program’s only All-American, it’s only natural for comparisons to be made.”I know I’m not Molly,” Dill said Tuesday after Kentucky’s 7-0 shutout victory over Eastern Kentucky. “I can’t do the things Molly can do. I can’t sit there and compare myself to her or I’ll never feel like I’m good enough. I try to take what I’m decent at and try to get better at it. I’m not going to be Molly and I’m never going to be Molly. We’re not built the same way.”It’s that mentality that has helped Dill thrive in a role that few others could succeed in. Three-fourths through the season with a 32-10 record overall, Dill leads the team in batting average with a .386 mark. She extended her career-long hitting streak to 11 games Tuesday, which is the longest hitting streak on the team this season. Dill has succeeded in a much different way than Johnson. Primarily a slap hitter, Dill used her speed against the Colonels to beat out a throw for an infield single while adding a double. She also stole two bases on the evening to give her a team-high 17 stolen bags.”Last season she didn’t get as many at-bats as she is this season,” Lawson said. “You can see her growing as a ballplayer each and every weekend. She’s a huge secret to our success this season.”Dill hit .238 in 126 at-bats her freshman season as an infield utility player. The difference this year is she’s making contact at a higher rate and forcing more walks, the perfect recipe for a team that has a lot of big bats around her with the capability of batting her in (UK is four home runs away from breaking the 2007 school record). “She’s the perfect yin to the rest of the team’s yang,” senior captain Megan Yocke said.As if filling Johnson’s shoes weren’t big enough, Johnson returned to the program this year as an assistant coach. Every day when Dill takes the field or the batter’s box, she has a daily reminder of what she’s replacing either in the dugout or in the first base coach’s box.It’d be a lot of pressure for most players, but Dill has used Johnson as a mentor for experience and expertise to improve her own game. “To have someone like that on your team to support you is amazing,” Dill said. “She’s so willing to help me in anything I do.”The wherewithal to use Johnson to her benefit is largely due to Dill’s intelligence. In what will be the first semester of her junior year athletically, Dill is scheduled to graduate in December with a degree in exercise physiology.Through a dual-credit program at her high school in LaGrange, Ohio, Dill took college courses at a local community college and earned her associate’s degree upon graduation her senior year. Had it not been for some credits that didn’t transfer to Kentucky, she would actually be graduating college with a bachelor’s degree this spring. Dill, of course, isn’t going anywhere over the next two years. While she pursues a master’s degree to become a strength and conditioning coach, she’ll complete her two years of athletic eligibility as a key cog in the softball program.She may have a bachelor’s degree in hand at this time next year, but she’s become too good of a player and too important to UK to get started on her professional career just yet. Just ask the person that Dill had to fill the shoes of.”Getting the experience that she did last year and the consistent playing time has really helped her,” Johnson said. “As she continues to get more experience and more reps, she’s going to continue to grow. What you saw at the beginning of the season is a lot different than what you’re seeing now. She’s become a great hitter and is getting to a lot more balls. “She’s really coming out of her own shell.”Dill and the Wildcats face archrival Louisville on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the UK Softball Complex.