Athletically Speaking With Katie Anne Bailey
June 12, 2014 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With the summer travel softball season in full swing, Mississippi State's student-athletes spent some time with HailState.com to discuss their starts in softball.
Katie Anne Bailey made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2014, appearing in 24 of the team's 60 games and starting 21 contests. She delivered two of Mississippi State's biggest wins of the campaign, driving in the game-winning run versus No. 8 Kentucky with a walk-off pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh for the Bulldogs' first Southeastern Conference victory of the year. In April, she plated the game-winning score versus No. 3 Alabama with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Q: How did you get started in softball?
A: I started playing softball because I refused to run long distances on the soccer field. I would literally sit or crouch down on the field. My dad decided to give softball a try. He knew I could sprint the 60 feet between bases. From that point, softball it has been.
Q: What was your first team's name?
A: My first travel ball team name was Wildfire. I think it was a GREAT team name. It defined the girls very well. My nickname was "Wild Thing." (That was during my pitching days.) My mother even designed the Wildfire logo!
Q: What are some of your routines/superstitions on game day or during games?
A: Well, my superstitions and routines have changed over the years. First in travel ball, it was a hairstyle (certain braids) or something.
In high school, it was the eye black. It was different every year. And then for playoffs, I would turn everything upside down. I also wore some decor (armbands, headbands). Those things usually had to be the same. Same with batting gloves. I would literally wear them until I COULD NOT wear them any longer. Also, my senior year, I said the pregame prayer in the huddle before every game.
For my freshman year of college I would have to say the things would be my jewelry and wristbands. My dad bought me a black and gray wrist/sweatband with my number on it, so I couldn't play without one on. It was just my secret way of having my dad there with me. It represented him.
Now that we are allowed to wear jewelry to play, I NEVER take off my necklaces. I'm always wearing my cross and St. Christopher. Before every game during the national anthem, I hold my cross necklace in between my thumb and index finger and my hand over my heart.
I also have special handshakes with the girls we have to do before every game.
Q: What is your favorite softball memory?
A: Wow. Favorite softball memory? I can name a few.
- All the times I played in Colorado or Tennessee and we went white-water rafting as a team
- Winning three state championships when I was in high school
- Hitting a grand slam on my birthday, at Georgia State on March 12, 2014
- Working any kind of camp while I was in high school
- My summer with the Birmingham Bolts travel team
- Playing in the postseason my freshman year at MSU
Q: If you could change one thing about softball, what would it be and why?
A: If I could change one thing about softball I would make sure it is on TV more. I don't think we get enough TV time. People love to watch it, even baseball players!
Q: I wear my uniform number because:
A: I knew I wanted to go to a single-digit number when I got to college. I didn't really know why, but I knew I wanted to.
I was No. 12 all of travel ball, and No. 14 in seventh through 12th grade. I was going to pick lucky No. 7, but there was some confusion so I picked No. 3 from the list of available numbers. It turned out to be a perfect fit for me and I sometimes wish I would have been No. 3 all of my life.
