Seniors Kaylee Tow and Mallory Peyton are both starting first basemen and productive hitters in the SEC but they grew up in Madisonville playing together.
If Alabama advances to the College World Series, Shannon Peyton would be happy for senior first baseman Kaylee Tow. However, if the Crimson Tide does not advance because it loses to visiting Kentucky in this weekend’s Super Regional, Peyton would be just as happy because his daughter, Mallory, is a senior first baseman for the Wildcats.
Tow and Mallory Peyton were Madisonville-North Hopkins High School teammates who won the state championship in 2017 with a 38-6 record when Shannon Peyton was the coach. They started playing together when they were 6 years old.
“We are very fond of Kaylee. We keep up with her quite a bit and are good friends with her family,” Shannon Peyton said. “But you always want to win. It’s just a competition.”
Both first basemen are terrific players. Tow is a two-time All-American hitting .365 with 45 runs batted-in and seven home runs. Mallory Peyton, despite missing time with a broken bone in her hand, is hitting .308 and has knocked in 50 runs and 12 home runs, including a walk-off homer in her final regular-season game.
“That was pretty cool to see you daughter have a walk-off on Senior Day. That was awesome,” Shannon Peyton admitted.
The former Madisonville coach figured Tow and his daughter were “pretty good” when no matter who or where they played at an early age they kept having success.
“Kaylee just had that spunk at even age 6 or 7 that was pretty unique. She was ultra-competitive,” Shannon Peyton said. “If she was playing her grandmother in checkers, she would want to win every game. One of her greatest attributes is how competitive she is. She did not like to make an out.”
Tow didn’t make a lot of outs in high school. She was the 2017 Miss Softball and set state records in runs scored (359), hits (365), and walks. Her 90 hits in 2015 set a state record. She also had 75 career homers and 75 career doubles.
Mallory Peyton was also a productive high school hitter with 342 hits, 95 doubles, and 70 homers in her career to rank among the state leaders in all three categories. She also scored 67 runs during the state title year.
“It was nuts offensively what they could do,” Shannon Peyton said. “Mallory could always hit. They both could. They had a great friendship and pushed each other. I think they always wanted to outdo the other one. But I have to admit at the time even I didn’t realize how good they were.
“I didn’t realize I had two Division I SEC athletes on my team. What is inside them is what sets them apart from most players. They are talented physically but they both have that special mental mindset. They were driven and dedicated from a very early age.”
That’s why Madisonville played such a competitive high school schedule and also why Shannon Peyton often had the duo play against older players in youth leagues. Maybe that’s why they both seem to excel so often now with the game on the line.
“That’s just a spot they are kind of used to being in,” he said.
The two players did talk about going to college together. They actually made a visit to UK the same weekend that Lauren Johnson of Daviess County and Montana Fouts of East Carter were on campus. Peyton and Johnson both picked UK while Tow and Fouts, a dominating pitcher, both picked Alabama.
“They all four could have been on the same team,” Shannon Peyton said. “Nothing was really planned but it seems to have worked out well for all of them. You can’t force them to do what they do not want do and their hearts just led them in different directions.”
Shannon Peyton said he would “absolutely” be in Tuscaloosa this weekend and knows what the Cats face. But UK did win two of three at Alabama in 2019. The Cats also lost in Tuscaloosa to Alabama in this year’s SEC Tournament.
“The crowd will be more raucous than the last time we played them (in the SEC Tournament). It’s going to be one of the loudest crowds but some of these kids have heard it before,” he said. “As long as they can shut out the noise a little bit and get some big hits, we can play with them.”
