Kayla Kowalik led the nation in batting average and total hits. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Maybe she was only second-team on the all-Southeastern Conference team but that didn’t keep Kentucky catcher Kayla Kowalik from being named a National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association First Team All-American.
Kentucky coach Rachel Lawson said when Kowalik was left off the all-SEC first team because SEC Player of the Year Bailey Hemphill of Alabama also played catcher that the league needed to find a way to have its best players on the first team — and no one could dispute that Kowalik was one of the SEC best players.
She led the nation in hitting with her .495 average and also in total hits with 100, another UK school record. She had 11 doubles, six triples, and 12 home runs — she did not have a home run her first two years at Kentucky. She had a .554 on-base percentage because she walked 27 times.
Kowalik was also a workhorse behind the plate as she caught every inning of UK’s SEC game but still had a .993 fielding percentage. She threw out four base runners, including one in the NCAA Regional final against Notre Dame.
Unlike most catchers, Kowalik was also a threat to steal bases and led UK with 23 steals — the most by a UK player since Molly Belcher, now a UK assistant coach, had 29 in 2009.
Kowalik is only the fifth UK player to earn All-American honors and just the third along with Abbey Cheek (2019) and Kelsey Nunley (2016) to make the first team. The other two All-Americans were Belcher (2009) and Katie Reed (2017).
Kowalik could have two years of eligibility remaining if she opts to take the extra COVID year.
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Hemphill, a graduate student, also earned first-team All-American honors. Hemphill is drawing almost one walk per game and has a .579 on-base percentage, ranking seventh and eighth nationally, going into the College World Series. She is batting .416 with 57 hits, seven doubles and leads the Crimson Tide with 12 homers, a .745 slugging percentage, and 53 walks.
Another Alabama player, junior pitcher Montana Fouts (who played at East Carter High School in Kentucky), also was selected. She has a 25-3 record, 1.49 ERA, nine shutouts, and 314 strikeouts in 196 2/3 innings of work going into the World Series. Her 300-plus strikeouts are the most for an Alabama pitcher since 2017 and Fouts also set a program record with 20 double-digit strikeout games in 2021. Fouts is ranked in the NCAA’s top 10 in strikeouts, strikeouts per seven innings, shutouts, and wins.
