Katelyn Boyd never played T-ball.

She never had to.

In first grade, she was good enough to enter directly into the all-boys Farm League — the second step of the ladder toward the Little League Majors, where pitching was live.

“My brother played baseball, so I kind of followed in his footsteps,” she said. “I always wanted to be as good as the boys, if not better.”

At that point, she wasn’t on the road to becoming the softball phenom she is now; as a first-grader, she hadn’t even thought about it.

In her mind, she was a baseball player, and she played until she was 11 years old.

Then, her world was put on pause.

“A really close friend who was in charge of the [baseball] league approached me and she said ‘Kateyln you can’t play with the boys all the time, you need to make the switch to softball,’” Boyd said. “I was very reluctant, kind of like, ‘I don’t want to play with a bunch of girls.’”

But in seventh grade, she made the switch, and the rest is history.

Since her notable high-school career at Horizon High School, where she se
pitchers like this, I think that if I can hit off Jenny Finch, then I can hit off anyone. It’s good motivation and a confidence booster.”

But Boyd’s work ethic doesn’t stop there.

She comes early or stays after her 3- to 4-hour practices to focus on improving her hitting.

“I hit well this last tournament, and I want to be a consistent hitter,” she said. “I don’t just want to hit well here or hit well there — I don’t want to be on and off. I think it’s important to work even if you’re feeling good and doing well. The more you do it the more muscle memory you build and the better you get at it.”

Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.