Vick Ready for Another Big Season in Kentucky Uniform
Growing up, Bailey Vick would have done just about anything to get into a Kentucky softball uniform.
“Coach (Rachel) Lawson would come to a tournament and I would say, ‘If I could just have a Kentucky uniform on. I’ll be the bat girl. I just want Kentucky across my chest. I’ll do anything,'” Vick said.
Vick will be wearing the UK uniform as a player for the second straight season in 2018. As a freshman last year, Vick earned 2017 SEC All-Freshman and SEC All-Defensive team awards.
However, it almost never happened. That’s because two years ago, Vick didn’t believe she was going to play collegiate softball at all, let alone at Kentucky.
With several smaller schools showing interest in her, Vick was just about to hang up her cleats and move on. The left fielder had already found a roommate and decided to go to the University of Louisville to just be a regular student. But then, Vick got the call from Kentucky, and she couldn’t say no.
“I was like, ‘Maybe it’s time, put the glove and the cleats away. Maybe it’s just not for me,” Vick said. “Coach (Kristine) Himes, contacted me in some way and this was an option and I was like, ‘Absolutely, I’ll play for Kentucky.'”
Born and raised a Wildcat fan, Vick played six seasons of varsity softball at McCracken County High School in Paducah where she helped her team win a state title in 2015. The dream was always Kentucky for Vick, who just recently found a picture of her at five years old with Mitch Barnhart.
“My all time goal was to get to a school like Kentucky,” Vick said. “Kentucky was number one, obviously.”
As a freshman, Vick started in all 58 games of the 2017 season that ended with a loss in the NCAA Super Regional to Oregon. She fielded 100 percent of her balls in left field, raked in a .351 batting average with 50 hits and stole 10 bases.
“She just stepped on the field last year, she got so much better throughout the fall, earned her starting position and was one of our best players last year,” teammate Katie Reed said of Vick.
Kentucky returns each member of its outfield with juniors Kelsee Henson, Sarah Rainwater and senior Brooklin Hinz. Vick is just one piece four-man outfield Lawson has dubbed “the best it’s ever been.”
Vick’s play in the outfield earned her SEC All-Defensive Team last season. With a year under her belt, and a year spent playing alongside her fellow outfielders, the Wildcat outfield is better than ever.
“Last year I was a freshman; I wasn’t really comfortable. Now, I just feel like I can call balls more, I belong out there,” Vick said. “I think our communication is a lot better out there and we trust each other more. It’s all around a lot better.”
Not only is Vick loving being in a Kentucky uniform, but the coaches and her teammates love having her on their side as well.
