Reed Ready to Add to Impressive Resume
Kentucky shortstop Katie Reed has only played two seasons with the UK softball team, yet she has already been able to establish herself as one of the elite players in the program’s history. And she still has two years to add to her resume.
As a sophomore in 2017, Reed had a breakout season, hitting .356 with three home runs and 21 RBIs. In SEC-only games, Reed hit .380, which was second in the conference. Her 71 base hits last season were the fifth-most by any UK player in a season in program history. And she was able to compile those numbers despite making the move from second base to the more demanding shortstop spot.
Reed was named to the All-SEC First Team, becoming just the eighth player in program history to earn that distinction and she’s only getting better, according to UK head coach Rachel Lawson.
“Katie Reed is significantly better now this year than she was at this point in time last year or even when she was a freshman,” Lawson said at Thursday’s media day.
As Reed adds to her career numbers in 2018, she will also add to her legacy as a part of the UK program. The junior is not thinking about any of that, but she does continue to strive for bigger and better things.
“I think I’ve always had high goals for myself and that started with my parents,” Reed said. “They set high goals for me when I was younger. When I got here, my coaches and teammates believed in me and believed that I could do these things that, I don’t know that if I believed I could do those. But once I had their support, I set the goals higher.”
Reed established herself as a key cog in the program immediately. She had a hit in each of her first 18 games, setting a school record for longest hitting streak in the process.
Despite all of her success on the field and in the classroom, where she maintains a 4.0 grade point average, Reed still has had some issues with her confidence.
“I think that coming to college, being away from home, having to do things more on my own, that kind of forced me to grow up a little more and be more confident in myself,” Reed said. “Being shortstop last year, I think I had to take more of a leadership role and I think that helped me develop more confidence.”
Heading into her junior season, Reed knows that her leadership role will be even bigger on the 2018 team.
“I think we’ll have a couple of freshmen who will be impact players for us and we have some really great sophomores as well, and I think they kind of look up to the upperclassmen, especially in times of adversity in games,” Reed said. “I know when I was a freshman, I did the same thing.”
If the younger players on the team are looking for a role model or someone to look up to, it would be tough to find a better candidate than Katie Reed.
