Kenley Gets Comfy In Her Own Cleats
May 17, 2022 | Softball, Joel Coleman
It took a little time, but pitcher Kenley Hawk has become the confident player the Bulldogs knew she could be.
STARKVILLE – What do you do when you don't know what to do? When you're looking for something but don't quite know what it is you're looking for?
The struggle was real for pitcher Kenley Hawk.
Rewind back to 2020 – Hawk's freshman season at Mississippi State. The world was adjusting to life in a pandemic. At the same time, Hawk was trying to figure out how to go from a superstar at Palestine-Wheatley High School in Arkansas, to a contributing piece for the Bulldogs.
It wasn't easy on Hawk, especially mentally. Life was a grind.
The situation seems hard to fathom for anyone that's watched Hawk pitch in 2022. These days, Hawk has no underlying yearning to fit in or be something she's not. The moments where Hawk thinks she has to be more than she's capable of are over.
Mississippi State opens up play in the Tallahassee Regional on Friday, looking to begin a postseason run. And a critical piece for the Dawgs' chances will be the right-handed hurler who had to discover being herself was enough.
Early Days At State
A quick look back at Hawk's high school resume and it's easy to understand why she might have come to MSU with pressure on her shoulders.
She arrived in Starkville as one of the country's top-rated prospects. Her prep career was full of no-hitters, shutouts and honors – including All-State and All-American accolades.
Before Hawk's debut year in maroon and white got cut short by the beginning of the COVID pandemic, her career got off to a solid start fitting of someone with her background. She made six appearances with a couple of starts in the circle, holding opponents to a .173 batting average and boasting a 2.33 earned run average over 15 innings.
Even with the early success though, Hawk admits she wasn't in the greatest of spots.
"Honestly, freshman year was extremely lonely," Hawk said.
She'd seek out advice from family on what her next move should be. Hawk recalls the things she heard back as being almost a lightbulb moment, where she realized her best option for her future was simply to get to work on herself.
"That's where I was like, 'I hate when family is right,'" Hawk said, recalling those times. "They were right. I'm just very hardheaded and stubborn, so it was just getting past that."
More adversity followed though. Hawk's sophomore season in 2021 didn't go as hoped. There were on-the-field struggles as she continued to try and live up to her own lofty expectations. It was all weighing her down.
"From freshman to sophomore year, I think I was playing really scared and wanting to be accepted and fill the shoes that I filled in high school, even knowing when you come to the SEC, it's a completely different level," Hawk said.
Hawk was having a hard time to say the least. The stress had taken away the confidence that'd made her the player she was in the first place. And she was about to get one more wake-up call.
Hurt And Healing
Life can be incredibly ironic sometimes. It certainly was for Hawk when she ultimately used physical pain as the motivation to correct course mentally.
Last summer, Hawk was set to play summer softball in the Florida Gulf Coast League. In her first game, a batted ball right back at her broke bones in her face. It stopped her summer before it started.
It's the reason Hawk now wears the faceguard when she pitches. As it turned out, the whole scenario also made Hawk see things more clearly.
"When that happened, it was like, 'OK, get it together,'" Hawk said. "So, when I came back [to Mississippi State after last summer], I was just like, 'Accepted or not, I'm just going to be me. If I earn playing time, that's amazing. If not, I'm just going to be a good teammate.' The confidence just kind of trickled on and just built up."
There was a new edge to Hawk.
"I came back to school, and I was like, 'No one is hitting me in the face again,'" she said.
Hawk had developed a good, old-fashioned chip on the shoulder. Opponents haven't hit much of anything off of Hawk since.
Blossoming Bulldog
In sports, talk of growing confidence can be cliché. In the case of Hawk, it's been on full display for all to see.
Heading into this weekend, Hawk has a 2.88 ERA, has held opponents to a .230 batting average and has struck out 101 hitters over 94.2 innings. That's more than 70 innings than Hawk threw over her first two seasons combined by the way.
Most recently, she shined in the SEC Tournament by tossing 5.2 shutout innings against Tennessee.
It's safe to say it at this point. Hawk has arrived.
"Honestly, it's been awesome," outfielder Chloe Malau'ulu said of her teammate. "From the first time that [Hawk] stepped foot out here her freshman year until now, it's a completely different person. It's been really exciting just to see her passion, her drive, her confidence out in the circle. We feed off of that energy every single day. It's really cool. I feel like sometimes it came from out of nowhere. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, where was this person? This is a completely different Kenley!' But it's also great to see she believes in herself just as much as we do."
Nothing can get to Hawk now. When there's adversity, she presses through.
Take for instance last month. Hawk had been pitching extremely well headed into a big weekend series at Alabama. On her way to the park for the first contest of the three-game set, Hawk's pitching hand was injured when it got caught in her hotel room door.
The situation might've rattled a younger Hawk. Not this version though. This Hawk fought through and bounced back.
"It speaks to the maturity of her and the growth mindset she's had to kind of learn," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's something we could talk with her about, but it was really kind of a decision she had to make."
More To Come
The most exciting part about all of this for both Mississippi State softball and Hawk is that, now that Hawk is growing, there's no limit to where the growth can take her. The best truly may be yet to come.
Think back to where Hawk was just two years ago and how far she's come to get to this point. Now just imagine what she'll be if the progression continues.
The Bulldogs have thought ahead, and to say there is excitement is an incredible understatement. And the key to it all is just for Kenley to keep right on being Kenley.
"I think this is really just a transformational season for Kenley and is going to set her up not just for postseason right now, but for the last couple of years she has here as well," Ricketts said. "I think she's ready for it. She's earned it. She's worked for it, and she's really shown she can shine at this level."
