Meet the Managers: Kat Wallace

STARKVILLE – Last fall, Kat Wallace put on a Mississippi State softball jersey for the first time and expected it to be her last time.

She'd been asked to model one of State's new uniforms for a photoshoot that would be used to announce the new look. And she looked the part.

A former junior college player who earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors at Jones College, Wallace was the most believable model on hand. The fit was almost too perfect. So perfect in fact, that Bulldog players started to pick up on it.

"I remember Shea [Moreno] told me that it looked like I was supposed to have that on," Wallace said.

Kat Wallace

Now nearly a year later, Moreno is being proven right. Wallace will trade her manager role for a roster spot, head coach Samantha Ricketts announced on Thursday. It's an exceptional rarity, a manager earning her way into a uniform, but to understand why Ricketts offered that opportunity, it's important to realize that Wallace has proven to be an exceptional find.

Following the team's annual exit interviews in May, Ricketts asked Wallace if she could be available for a call. When Wallace answered the FaceTime call, she was shocked to see not just Ricketts on her screen but the entire coaching staff.

"It was almost intimidating at first," she said. "Coach T-Bratt tried to crack a joke like he always does, asking me why I wasn't at camp or something. They told me that they had noticed my hard work over the last year. They knew what kind of character I had, and they offered me a scholarship to be on the team. Once they got into it, seeing that everyone was excited to share that news with me, it was pretty special."

It was fitting that the whole staff was on the call, especially since Ricketts wasn't the only one who had noticed what Wallace brought to the table.

"Kat Wallace was our diamond in the rough," director of operations Jamie Desporte said. "Kat came on as a manager and owned every single role that was given to her. She's a juco kid who loves the game and gives 100 percent effort with everything she does. She's a natural leader, and her work ethic and attitude are unmatched."

Kat Wallace

Wallace's story started with a love of the game. She played on smaller travel ball teams that didn't travel to major recruiting tournaments in Colorado or California. That's not why she and her teammates were there. When she graduated, she was realistic with herself on where her opportunities lied. Division I softball wasn't on the table.

"We were just playing because we enjoyed being around each other and just to play the game," she said. "We did want to play, but I wasn't ever on the big-name team. Going to Jones was as high a level I thought I'd reach, and it was the winningest program at its level. That was the highest level that I thought I would be playing at."

She could have kept playing after two seasons in junior college. There were conversations with a handful of Division II or NAIA schools, but instead, she chose to go where she'd always felt like she belonged.

Wallace grew up cheering for Mississippi State. She watched the Bulldogs play softball long before Ricketts and her staff were ever in the dugout. With academic scholarships on the table, she had the chance to attend the school of her dreams. But with that choice came letting go of her softball career.

"I guess coming to Mississippi State I really didn't know what doors were going to open for me or what my life was going to look like," she said. "I decided that I was going to work hard and do good and see what might happen."

She reached out to see if she could stay involved in the game she loved as a manager. From her first day at practice, she was fully bought into the program. She doesn't remember what her first task was, but it wasn't long before she was asked to step into that uniform for the first time.

Kat Wallace

"Kat has been exceptional since day one," Ricketts said. "She's been the ultimate teammate to our support staff and willing to do whatever she could to help the program. We're excited to add her to the roster and know she will represent Mississippi State with the same class, work ethic and loyalty as she did this past season for us."

Now as a player on the roster, Wallace doesn't expect to change that much. Her approach to the news that she will be playing in the spring matches what every coach wants to hear.

"I won't take a day for granted. I'll show up every day with a smile on my face and just be grateful to be there," Wallace said. "I wasn't entirely away from the game, but I think that I will appreciate the little moments more, the 6 a.m. workouts and the shuttle runs and doing all the hard stuff because I took a year without doing it."

Opening Day in 2023 is going to look a little different for Wallace. She'll still stand in front of the dugout for the National Anthem, like she has already for 64 games thus far. But this time she'll stand on the line as a teammate.

"It'll be a for real, sit there and think about it, tear roll down your cheek kind of moment," she said.

The childhood dream that had faded into fantasy will become a reality. Kat Wallace is a Bulldog.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Meet the Managers: Kat Wallace

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