'Hungrier than ever' Kayla Kowalik ready for senior season at UK

Kentucky Softball star catcher Kayla Kowalik is prepared to lead her team to its first Women’s College World Series appearance since 2014.

After hitting .495 in a historic season last year, Kowalik returns to Lexington for her senior season, ready to be the team captain that Kentucky needs.

“I definitely feel really prepared. I think that, especially in my position that I’m kind of forced to be a leader,” Kowalik said at UK Softball’s media day on Tuesday. “I’m definitely outspoken and I have a very loud personality that allows me to be a leader.”

Focusing on the season ahead

Following her record-breaking season, which saw her earn multiple awards and accolades, including a nod to the NFCA All-American First Team, Kowalik is quick to put her past results to the side as the 2022 campaign rapidly approaches.

“I like to pay a little mind to it, it’s an honor that people see me that highly, but at the end of the day, I’m just playing the sport that I love, and you know, I wouldn’t be here If I didn’t love it,” she said. “That’s what I kind of try and put first instead of you know, the awards.”

Once she pushes her heap of awards to the side, Kowalik is focused on bettering her teammates and herself, starting with being a batterymate for Kentucky’s pitching staff.

“There are definitely moments where I’ve been able to step in and help guide them because I’ve been doing this a little longer,” she said. “I’m not a pitcher but I still know how to relieve stress and things like that.”

Learning from Coach Lawson

Part of Kowalik’s skills as a sensei behind the plate comes from UK head coach Rachel Lawson.

Lawson, who was a catcher during her time at Massachusetts, has instilled some of her captain qualities in the senior.

“I definitely think that she has helped me in the way that I deliver things and my leadership capabilities,” Kowalik said. “She kind of harps on me, rags on me a little bit. That definitely has helped me build confidence, and I don’t think that you could be a catcher if you’re not confident.”

Part of being there for your pitching staff is knowing how to keep them cool, calm and collected on the mound, something that Kowalik takes more of a jovial approach with.

“For the most part I try and keep things light-hearted,” she said. “Get a laugh out of them, get them to smile, because I think that when you’re enjoying what you’re doing, you’re going to play your best.”

Kowalik clearly enjoys what she does — she has competed at her best since her arrival in Lexington ahead of the 2019 season.

Staying calm and ready

Ranked as the No. 3 player in the nation, according to Extra Innings Softball, Kowalik credits much of her success at and behind the plate to her approach, something she hopes rubs off of her younger teammates.

“I definitely have a more aggressive type of approach. I hope that carries on to people because I think it works very well for me,” she said.

Everything for the preseason All-SEC catcher boils down to comfortability. Whether it be her at-bats at the plate, gunning down base-runners or being there for her teammates, Kowalik finds solace in the game she loves, even if that means pushing boundaries.

“I think to be comfortable, you have to be uncomfortable at points,” she said. “Pushing yourself to do things you wouldn’t normally do. I try and have meetings with the catchers, like ‘hey, go out of your comfort zone, let’s talk, let’s be loud,’ that way it’s normal once we start games.”

Taking it to the top

Kowalik and her fellow seniors are ready to push themselves to new heights, as they search for the coveted birth to the Women’s College World Series that has evaded UK since 2014.

“We have dipped our toes in the water, every year going to Super Regionals and not quite making it,” she said. “That makes us hungrier than ever, and I think that we have a great group of seniors that want to make it there.”

The Wildcats will begin their venture to the WCWS on Thursday, Feb. 10, taking on the Wisconsin Badgers in UK’s first of five games over a four-day span at the Northern Lights Southern Lights event in Leesburg, Florida. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. EST.