Long distances? Hanover Central senior Kaitlin Duffy doesn’t have time for that.
Duffy has grown up in a family of runners, but that sport isn’t what really interested her.
“Softball is just where I shined,” she said. “I don’t focus very well, so running long distances gets very boring for me. I didn’t love running the way that they did, so I was OK with letting it go.”
Duffy isn’t unafraid of taking the road less traveled. Where she sticks to a more traditional role is in her approach at the plate. She consistently bats after leadoff hitter Gabi Comia, a senior shortstop and Florida commit who is one of the country’s top recruits, and Duffy understands what that means.
“My job is to move Gabi into scoring position, however it may be, and I’ll do whatever my team needs for me to get her into scoring position,” she said.
Duffy has found multiple ways to do that. She leads Hanover Central (10-8) with three sacrifices, nine walks and four hit-by-pitches.
Duffy’s batting average is .250, down from .450 last season, although she said she has been the victim of tough luck.
“I’m hitting it,” she said. “I’m just hitting it right at people.”
Duffy is important on defense too. She has made just one error in center field, and Hanover Central coach Sam Antkiewicz said her speed and hustle are key factors in her effectiveness.
“She’s a dynamic outfielder, and she’s always been that way,” Antkiewicz said. “She only knows one speed, and that’s at 150%, whether she’s in the field or on the bases or at the plate.”
Duffy, a former switch hitter who became a left-handed slap hitter to break out of a three-month slump during her sophomore season, has also played basketball. But she gave up track when competing spring schedules forced her to pick, and there probably wasn’t anyone more disappointed about that decision initially than Duffy’s mother, Michelle, who is Hanover Central’s track coach.
But Michelle Duffy said she quickly realized softball was the right sport for her daughter.
“She could’ve excelled as a runner. She’s an athletic kid,” Michelle Duffy said. “But her love was for softball. That’s simply where her passion was. You want your kids to follow their hearts, and it was clear that hers was on the field.”
But limiting the discussion of Kaitlin Duffy’s interests to softball ignores her seemingly endless list of activities. She has played multiple lead roles in school plays, sang in the school choir, served as class president for all four years and worked a part-time job concurrently with softball.
“I don’t sleep very much, to be honest,” she said. “I never wanted to be labeled as just an athlete. I’m a theater kid, I’m a choir kid and I’ve met some of my best friends through that.”
All those extracurricular activities don’t include Duffy’s other passion: hair. She said she’s the “team braider,” routinely helping teammates with their pregame look. She intends to attend the Aveda Fredric’s Institute in Indianapolis after being accepted into its cosmetology program.
That means this softball season will be her last, so Duffy wants to contribute to another playoff run for the 2023 Class 3A regional champion Wildcats, especially at the plate.
“The contact is there,” she said. “But as for the execution, we’re still working on that. The postseason is a couple of weeks away, so I’ve still got time.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
