McCracken County junior Ally Hutchins has been an effective high school pitcher but will be a position player at Kentucky. (Nicole Hess Photo)
Now that she knows she will play her college softball for coach Rachel Lawson at Kentucky, McCracken County junior Ally Hutchins wants to make sure one thing does not happen to her this year.
“I don’t want to get caught up in going to UK. I don’t want to let my head get too big,” said Hutchins. “I just want to try and get better every game I play and not let being committed to Kentucky change that.”
Hutchins grew up a Kentucky fan. Her dad went to school at UK and she always thought she would like to play at Kentucky.
“I always wanted to play in the SEC, too,” Hutchins said. “When I was up there on a visit, it was like home and I knew that’s where I wanted to go for sure, so I committed. I know a lot of the teammates that I’m going to be up there with. They are some of my best friends, and I’m thankful for it all. My parents have done so much for me to be able to do this.”
Hutchins met current UK players but her travel team teammate, Taylor Hess, who committed UK a year ago, was also there. She’s from Minnesota and Hutchins said she “just showed up” at tournaments to join the other players from Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Alabama. Lexington Tates Creek junior Peyton Plotts was also at the same game and verbally committed the same day Hutchins did.
In 19 games as an eighth-grader in 2019, she hit .357 with one triple, two doubles, three home runs, 10 runs scored, 15 hits, and 17 RBIs with four stolen bases on five tries. She had 13 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.
As a sophomore Hutchins led her team with 46 runs scored and 11 home runs while also driving in 38 runs. She hit .339 with six doubles, four triples, and 16 walks and also had 21 steals in 22 tries. On the mound, she had 81 strikeouts in 72 innings with a 1.94 earned run average. She allowed 49 hits and 21 runs and went 8-3 with two saves.
McCracken finished 30-7 but was eliminated in the state tournament by Butler 6-4, a loss that Hutchins won’t soon forget because McCracken had a 4-1 lead. McCracken won the state championship in 2015 after losing in the final game in 2014.
“I really thought we had state but then a rain delay killed our momentum in the middle of the game on Saturday. We had to drive back (to Lexington) on Monday morning to finish the game and just didn’t get it done,” Hutchins said. “We have the talent to do it (win state) this year and next year. We only graduated three seniors, so I am really hopeful we can win state.”
“For the high school season, if we do not win a state title in one of the next few years, I’m going to be sad,” Hutchins said. “Because we have the talent to do it.”
Hutchins doesn’t plan to pitch in college despite her high school success.
“My high school team needed pitchers, so I pitched. I will be a position player at UK. The left side of the infield (shortstop, third base) is my best position,” Hutchins said.
At the plate, she’s a power hitter.
“I want to drive the ball. My family calls it the caveman mentality,” she said. “If I overthink things I don’t do well. I just try to swing at good pitches and hit it hard.”
What about her high stolen base percentage?
“I have always been pretty quick. I have really long legs,” Hutchins, who also played soccer before realizing her true love was softball, said. “I also have good instincts.”
