Register Star- "Catskill’s Holliday excelling at MCLA" by Justin Porreca
Hudson Valley 360
Register Star
By Justin Porreca
Being a dual-sport athlete at the collegiate level is a difficult task to juggle, but Catskill graduate Kaylyn Holiday is doing it well at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
A standout soccer player at Catskill High School, Holliday decided to take her talents to MCLA to in 2016. However, missing softball, Holliday picked up a bat for the Lady Trailblazers softball team this season after not playing the game for a calendar year.
"My freshman year I decided to play only one sport because I wanted to see what it was like playing a college sport in general and balancing my academics, so I figured if I only did one I'd miss the other and if I could do one, I could do both," Holliday explained.
Another reason behind Holliday's commitment to playing for the softball team was because of MCLA's coach Erica Li, who was an All-American at Williams College. Li was named interim head coach in November.
Despite being a dual-sport athlete now, Holliday is far from overwhelmed by juggling two sports and academics. It's something she's grown accustomed to.
"Throughout high school I was a three-sport athlete, so I figured I was able to do it. Sports keeps me fairly organized with my academics, so if I had the opportunity to play collegiate sports, I would have to keep my grades up too," Holliday said.
In her first season on the pitch for MCLA, Holliday played in 16 games — starting 13 at forward — and recorded four goals with two game-winners.
In her second season, the former three-time Patroon Conference All-Star appeared in 15 games and record two goals with a game-winner.
In her two seasons at MCLA, one of the challenges Holliday faced was adjusting to the higher level of competition.
"Some of the challenges I faced was keeping up with the pace of play because it is a lot different than in high school," Holliday said.
Holliday primarily wants to improve on her athletic abilities in the offseason and hopes that can help the soccer team notch some more wins after the Lady Trailblazers finished 3-13 in 2017.
When Holliday came to MCLA, a goal she set for herself was just getting on the field and having an opportunity to contribute. The Catskill alum has achieved that goal and now has the opportunity to see the softball field, as well.
The last time Holliday picked up a bat was in 2016, for the Lady Cats and the Ulster Fillies. For Catskill, Holliday was a second team All-Star as a senior and batted .408 with 20 hits, two triples, one home run and 12 RBI.
A year later, Holliday is 10 games into her MCLA career and is dominating the diamond.
"It was nerve-racking," Holliday said. "It's different when you're in the gym during the winter, you just get the balls hit at you. It's just not a game situation, but once we got down to Florida, the first game was a little nerve-racking. Once I got that first at-bat out of the way it was just like how I used to play."
Playing 10 games in Clermont, Florida for spring training, Holliday proved that she did not have any rust and could easily adjust to playing against Division III talent, despite sitting out a season.
The sophomore third baseman noted that her time playing for the Fillies prepared her for facing Division III players.
In 10 games, Holliday is batting .531 with 17 hits, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI. The sophomore currently leads the team in batting average, hits, doubles, home runs and RBI after MCLA's trip south.
Despite the early success, Holliday remains humble and understands that there is more work to be done with 24 games left on the schedule.
"It feels pretty good, but I don't think it's anything to be too proud about right now because we haven't gone through the full season yet, so I have a lot of work ahead of me," she said.
Against Trinity College, Holliday went 3-for-5 with one double, three RBI and her first career collegiate home run.
"Honestly, I didn't think it went over," she said. "I didn't think the ball went over at first, I thought it hit the inside of the funce and then coach said, 'Keep going,' and I was like, 'Oh.'"
Three days later, she bested that performance against St. Lawrence University, going 4-for-4 with two RBI and her second home run of the season.
Despite being 10 games into her first season, Holliday is not thinking about the future, or even next season, with the Lady Trailblazers, but she does plan on coming back next year.