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Kyllie Magill good fit at UMass |
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Saturday, 20 June 2009 |
By ERIC BENEVIDES
Sports writer
It barely took a minute for this Lady Minuteman to adjust to the Division I collegiate ranks.
And after collecting a hit in her first at-bat and at least one in seven of her first 10 games, one thing was crystal clear -- Kyllie Magill had settled in nicely in the next step of her softball career as the University of Massachusetts’s second baseman.
A native of Seekonk and a 2008 graduate of St. Raphael Academy, Magill made quite a splash in her rookie season for the Lady Minutemen. The former two-time All-State catcher and shortstop for the Saints started in 49 of UMass’s 51 games and finished third on the team in batting (.316), tied for fourth in hits (42), fifth in runs scored (26), and second in stolen bases (10).
She also played a vital role in the Lady Minutemen’s quest for a berth in the College World Series, but UMass came up a win short when they dropped a 15-inning heartbreaker on their own home turf to eventual national champion Washington in the regional finals.
“We should have beat Washington,” said Magill, whose team ended up with a 41-10 record and ranked 14th in the final Top 25 national polls. “If we could scored another run and won that game, we would have advanced and Washington would have been knocked out. But we had a really good season and I’m happy with the way things went.”
The last time local fans saw Magill in action, she was putting the finishing touches on a splendid high school career and All-State senior season that saw the SRA valedictorian bat .380 from the leadoff spot with 18 runs scored and 13 stolen bases and help the Saints open the playoffs with a pair of upset victories on the road before losing their next two games and falling a game short of the losers’ bracket final.
Then came the fall, and Magill took the two-hour drive to Amherst and did her best to adjust to college life not only as a student, but as a Division I athlete.
“I had to put a lot more time into softball,” said Magill, who posted a 3.88 grade point average as a freshman biology major. “In high school, I did a lot of stuff on my own, but in college, every day, you’re doing something. You might have practice for 3-4 hours and conditioning three days a week, and then you have to go lift weights or hit on our own.”
Starting the softball season as early as the first week of February in Boca Raton, Fla. and not as late as early April in the New England cold and rain was also another adjustment, and there were a few more things Magill had to get used to in her rookie campaign.
“The game is so much faster,” said Magill. “In high school, there’s so many little mistakes that should never happen, but here, they don’t happen because everyone on the field is good. When you play a high school team, most of the time, you have to worry about their 3-4-5 hitters, but at this level, you have to worry about the whole lineup.”
At the beginning of the season, UMass coach Elaine Sortino inserted Magill into the No. 9 spot in her lineup, but she didn’t last there very long. After batting .483 during a 12-game stretch that saw her collect hits in 11 games, Magill moved up the No. 2 spot for 15 games before ending the season as the No. 7 batter.
Along the way, Magill has had some memorable games, starting with the one when she hit her first home run in a 10-2 victory over St. Bonaventure in late March.
“That was my first game batting second,” said Magill. “It came in a blowout game, but it was kind of cool because it was at home.”
Her second home run came two weeks later in the first game of a doubleheader on the road against St. Joseph’s, but it wasn’t the home run that made the game memorable.
“We were down 2-0 to St. Joe’s which was an Atlantic-10 conference game and we never lose in our conference,” said Magill. “Their pitcher had a perfect game going and I broke it up with a home run in the fourth inning. We later tied the game up 3-3 and I drove in a run in the 10th with a single up the middle to win it.”
Magill also had a game-winning hit in a showdown against defending national champion Arizona State, which was ranked third at the time while the Lady Minutemen were hanging in the polls at 23rd.
“We had lost three games in a row to ranked teams (at the Cathedral City Classic in California),” said Magill, “but we beat Arizona State 1-0 and I drove in the winning run with a single in the fifth.”
While the wins clearly stick out in Magill’s mind, so does the agonizing loss to Washington in the regional finals.
“We should have won,” said Magill. “In one inning, we had a runner on first with no outs and I followed with a single. We both moved up a base on a passed ball, but their pitcher came back and struck out our 8-9-1 batters. Then in the eighth inning, their right fielder robbed a home run from our cleanup hitter. It was a tough loss and a very tough way to end the season.”
While Magill excelled offensively, she had her share of difficulties defensively, particularly with her throwing, as she struggled to make the simple throw to first in the early stages of the season, As a result, she ended up with nine errors and a .950 fielding percentage.
“Fielding was easy, but for some reason, I couldn’t throw,” said Magill. “I’ve been so used to catching and playing shortstop and the outfield, it was just tough trying to shorten up my throw. I think was all mental. It’s only a 20-30 foot throw that looks easy, but you can’t lob it and you can’t hum it either. I made one throw 15 feet off the line off the other team’s dugout, and during warmups, I almost hit my coach a couple of couple of times. I actually had to come to practice early and throw some on the side, figure out how to do it.”
With her first collegiate season in the books, Magill is currently playing in her final summer with the Rhode Island Thunder’s Under-18 travel team. She has already played in 10 games, and even though she is not allowed to play in a few tournaments that don’t allow college players, she still plans to get 30-35 games of action under her belt.
During and after the summer season, Magill also plans to work on some aspects of her game that will make her a better player as a sophomore and for seasons to come.
“The thing my coaches told me to do for my hitting is to work on power and lift (in the offseason),” said Magill. “When I hit, I tend to just just my whole upper body and I have to start using my legs more. And at second, I need to work more on my transfer, getting the ball out of my glove quicker and turning double plays. I have a lot of work to do, but it will get me ready for next season.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 June 2009 )
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Best wishes to the Tigers tonight in the SuperBowl! - Celeste Swaim-Black
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games this weekend!! - From all the coach's I wish the best to the Warriors on Saturday game keep up the
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