Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Kenley Hawk’s Training Trials
May 22, 2020 | Softball, HailStateBEAT
by Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – The car slowed to a stop. The engine cut out and she could hear the door open. Sunlight flooded in as the trunk lid opened slowly and a pair of hands reached in. Bentley squinted in the sun as she was lifted out of the car and handed to her new mother.
Kenley Hawk couldn't help but gasp when she saw her for the first time. She'd been begging her parents to let her get a puppy of her own since the season ended. Hawk held Bentley in the April sun for the first of many photos she's posted on social media as the pup grows.
"When we got her, she could probably fit in both of my hands," Hawk said. "Now, she's 12 pounds. It's a big difference. She couldn't get up the steps, couldn't go down the steps, but now she looks at the other dogs like 'Move, I've got this.'"
As she's grown, Bentley's found her way into more trouble. There was the shoe phase. It was short-lived. A quick bump on the behind with the shoe she was gnawing on ended that fascination. Luckily, she's not much for furniture Hawk said.
Mississippi State's freshman pitcher has spent most of her free time taking the little goldendoodle on walks and working on training. Bentley's found mud pits to dig in, stumbled off the porch and fallen asleep with her face in her food bowl.
She's gotten the hang of sit and stay, but some of the more advanced tricks have challenged her.
"I think to lay down, that's probably the hardest," Hawk said. "She'll sit down and bow her head, but then she looks at me like, 'Did I do it?'"
Training her dog has given Hawk a better appreciation for her coaches as she sees the similarities with practicing and perfecting her pitches.
"We have to sit here and it has to be repetitive," she said. "I kind of have to do that with pitching, but now this time, I'm the teacher. I'm not the student, so it's different."
When she looks back at the 2020 season, Hawk's best description of the year is simply "unexpected." It wasn't just the sudden end that made her feel that way. It was also how surprised she was by what she didn't know when she got to campus.
Hawk realized she hadn't perfected her motion the way she thought she had in high school. She was discouraged at first. This is what she was supposed to be good at, and instead it seemed like everyone had everything figured out except for her.
"At first, I think it was kind of a shock, how much it took to get better," she said. "I think, of course, I settled in fast. I didn't really have a choice."
The Bulldogs pitching coach Josh Johnson helped with that. The numbers clearly show his impact on the staff. State went from second-to-last in the SEC with a 3.36 ERA in 2019 to ranking fourth in the nation in 2020 at 1.36.
"Listening to Josh talk and how much knowledge he has and what all he's been through with men's fastpitch softball and how I could use that since he was such a strong drop ball pitcher, I guess after I figured out I was a drop ball pitcher, it hit home. You know, I really need to take in everything he says," Hawk said.
It still wasn't easy for her. She would grow frustrated when the results didn't match her expectations. Hawk knew she could execute her pitches but didn't understand why she was struggling to hit her spots. Normally, she could break down her delivery herself and pinpoint what was going wrong, but now she was having to relearn her mechanics.
"I was not a very patient person when I graduated, but when I got to college I realized there is a process," she said. "You just have to trust it and lean on it. Being trained and finally trusting the process felt great. Now, I'm kind of taking that with Bentley. It's a process."
One of the biggest reasons Hawk wanted a dog was to have a companion when she goes hiking. Her family often hikes to the top of Pinnacle Mountain, which is about an hour and a half from their house. The trips take a few hours to reach the summit where they'll stop for lunch before trekking back down.
Bentley is already being conditioned for a life in the outdoors by Hawk's side. She's spent some time in a kayak – on dry land for now – to get used to sitting in the small space. Walks have been the most important step. Bentley stays right next to her people for now, so Hawk is optimistic she'll do alright off the leash on the trail.
In her second outing this spring, Hawk was let off her own leash in a way. Against Tennessee State in the Bulldogs' first home weekend of the year, she threw 6. innings in scoreless ballgame while striking out five batters. She was only lifted in the seventh after State put up the only runs of the game in bottom of the sixth.
Hawk points to that game as her biggest moment of growth in 2020.
"It was like wow you can be successful with one of your strongest pitches," she said. "You don't need seven, eight, nine pitches. You can just live off your strengths. That's when I realized if I really worked for it and I just pushed myself, then I could be good."
That had been Johnson's message to her all year. She just had to trust his process and learn to embrace it.
"I'm extremely stubborn and hard-headed, and I know this," Hawk said. "I guess it runs in the family. Bentley is too. If I ever gave Josh trouble in the fall, now I know what it's like."
Hawk is looking forward to her second season in Starkville, this time with Bentley along for the adventure. But she knows her family will miss having the puppy at home. While she can still fit, Bentley likes to sleep behind the toilet. It's a strange place to nap, but it will feel even stranger when she's not there anymore.
"I think it's going to be extremely hard," Hawk said. "Every morning everyone goes in there to look for her. I think right now that's just the routine, but when I leave in a couple of months, it's going to be 'Oh my gosh, nobody's behind the toilet now.'"
STARKVILLE – The car slowed to a stop. The engine cut out and she could hear the door open. Sunlight flooded in as the trunk lid opened slowly and a pair of hands reached in. Bentley squinted in the sun as she was lifted out of the car and handed to her new mother.
Kenley Hawk couldn't help but gasp when she saw her for the first time. She'd been begging her parents to let her get a puppy of her own since the season ended. Hawk held Bentley in the April sun for the first of many photos she's posted on social media as the pup grows.
"When we got her, she could probably fit in both of my hands," Hawk said. "Now, she's 12 pounds. It's a big difference. She couldn't get up the steps, couldn't go down the steps, but now she looks at the other dogs like 'Move, I've got this.'"
As she's grown, Bentley's found her way into more trouble. There was the shoe phase. It was short-lived. A quick bump on the behind with the shoe she was gnawing on ended that fascination. Luckily, she's not much for furniture Hawk said.
Mississippi State's freshman pitcher has spent most of her free time taking the little goldendoodle on walks and working on training. Bentley's found mud pits to dig in, stumbled off the porch and fallen asleep with her face in her food bowl.
She's gotten the hang of sit and stay, but some of the more advanced tricks have challenged her.
"I think to lay down, that's probably the hardest," Hawk said. "She'll sit down and bow her head, but then she looks at me like, 'Did I do it?'"
Training her dog has given Hawk a better appreciation for her coaches as she sees the similarities with practicing and perfecting her pitches.
"We have to sit here and it has to be repetitive," she said. "I kind of have to do that with pitching, but now this time, I'm the teacher. I'm not the student, so it's different."
When she looks back at the 2020 season, Hawk's best description of the year is simply "unexpected." It wasn't just the sudden end that made her feel that way. It was also how surprised she was by what she didn't know when she got to campus.
Hawk realized she hadn't perfected her motion the way she thought she had in high school. She was discouraged at first. This is what she was supposed to be good at, and instead it seemed like everyone had everything figured out except for her.
"At first, I think it was kind of a shock, how much it took to get better," she said. "I think, of course, I settled in fast. I didn't really have a choice."
The Bulldogs pitching coach Josh Johnson helped with that. The numbers clearly show his impact on the staff. State went from second-to-last in the SEC with a 3.36 ERA in 2019 to ranking fourth in the nation in 2020 at 1.36.
"Listening to Josh talk and how much knowledge he has and what all he's been through with men's fastpitch softball and how I could use that since he was such a strong drop ball pitcher, I guess after I figured out I was a drop ball pitcher, it hit home. You know, I really need to take in everything he says," Hawk said.
It still wasn't easy for her. She would grow frustrated when the results didn't match her expectations. Hawk knew she could execute her pitches but didn't understand why she was struggling to hit her spots. Normally, she could break down her delivery herself and pinpoint what was going wrong, but now she was having to relearn her mechanics.
"I was not a very patient person when I graduated, but when I got to college I realized there is a process," she said. "You just have to trust it and lean on it. Being trained and finally trusting the process felt great. Now, I'm kind of taking that with Bentley. It's a process."
One of the biggest reasons Hawk wanted a dog was to have a companion when she goes hiking. Her family often hikes to the top of Pinnacle Mountain, which is about an hour and a half from their house. The trips take a few hours to reach the summit where they'll stop for lunch before trekking back down.
Bentley is already being conditioned for a life in the outdoors by Hawk's side. She's spent some time in a kayak – on dry land for now – to get used to sitting in the small space. Walks have been the most important step. Bentley stays right next to her people for now, so Hawk is optimistic she'll do alright off the leash on the trail.
In her second outing this spring, Hawk was let off her own leash in a way. Against Tennessee State in the Bulldogs' first home weekend of the year, she threw 6. innings in scoreless ballgame while striking out five batters. She was only lifted in the seventh after State put up the only runs of the game in bottom of the sixth.
Hawk points to that game as her biggest moment of growth in 2020.
"It was like wow you can be successful with one of your strongest pitches," she said. "You don't need seven, eight, nine pitches. You can just live off your strengths. That's when I realized if I really worked for it and I just pushed myself, then I could be good."
That had been Johnson's message to her all year. She just had to trust his process and learn to embrace it.
"I'm extremely stubborn and hard-headed, and I know this," Hawk said. "I guess it runs in the family. Bentley is too. If I ever gave Josh trouble in the fall, now I know what it's like."
Hawk is looking forward to her second season in Starkville, this time with Bentley along for the adventure. But she knows her family will miss having the puppy at home. While she can still fit, Bentley likes to sleep behind the toilet. It's a strange place to nap, but it will feel even stranger when she's not there anymore.
"I think it's going to be extremely hard," Hawk said. "Every morning everyone goes in there to look for her. I think right now that's just the routine, but when I leave in a couple of months, it's going to be 'Oh my gosh, nobody's behind the toilet now.'"
Players Mentioned
P/OF
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