AMG softball: GMC's Kaylie Harding leads from behind the plate
MILLEDGEVILLE -- In softball, playing catcher is not the typical assignment. From behind the plate, the player must not only play the position well, but also lead the team in managing pitchers, calling out defensive alignments when needed and more or less be an on-field coach.
GMC's Kaylie Harding excelled in those areas and more -- leading the Bulldogs to their second GHSA Class A public school championship in a row.
Harding, who led GMC in six offensive categories, is The Telegraph All-Middle Georgia Softball Player of the Year.
"Just having control over the whole field, being able to see everything," Harding said of why she welcomes the position of catcher. "Whenever we would get an out, I'd throw it around. I really like kind of leading. Sometimes it can be a bunch of pressure, but I enjoy it."
Harding was one of seven Bulldogs seniors who capped their high school careers with back-to-back state championships, enabling a group that had played together since sixth grade to win 108 games during a four-year span and also finish as GHSA Class A public runner-up during their freshman and sophomore seasons.
Harding played a major part in the Bulldogs finishing as champions again this season. The Bulldogs toppled FPD and Tattnall Square to win the GHSA Region 7-A tournament. They kept rolling in the Elite Eight in Columbus, going unbeaten to claim the Bulldogs' second crown in a row, besting Trion 5-2 and 4-2 to hoist the championship trophy yet again.
"I just had a feeling that this was going to be a special group," GMC head coach Julie Brooker said.
"That's honestly why I initially took the job at GMC, I knew I was going to have something to work with. It's rare at any size of school to have seven seniors hang on and just be part of it."
When facing GMC, finding a way to pitch past Harding was a challenge. She led the Bulldogs with a .457 batting average, 22 RBI, 25 runs scored, eight doubles, 43 hits and 16 stolen bases.
"Kaylie was just clutch; every time she came up in the lineup, you knew that she was going to make something happen, you knew she was going to hit the ball hard," Brooker said. "She has great bat speed, and I think that's what helped her."
But there has been more to Harding on the field than at the plate. She has also been up to the challenge as catcher, including playing through the not so glamorous aspects of it in her four-year career, including persevering through injuries such as a broken finger. And as the season grew later, days off from action behind the plate were rarer for Harding.
"Whatever you ask her to do, she's going to do it, whether it is running, blocking balls or playing through injuries," Brooker said. "She always wants to be in the ballgame. She'll play through injuries."
Harding has big plans for down the road. She and her twin sister, Karlie Harding will both head to Athens to play for Georgia next fall.
"We're just thankful for the opportunity," Kaylie Harding said. "To get to play against competition and test our ability and see how we stack up."
And it's a point of pride for Brooker, herself a former Georgia player under Bulldogs head coach Lu Harris-Champer, to see her players play for the same program that she was a part of.
"It's exciting, it's huge to me. I'll always be a Georgia softball alumni, and it's something cool that we'll share," Brooker said. "To finally come upon some players that have the dream that I have and want do what it takes to play at that level is really exciting."
This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "AMG softball: GMC's Kaylie Harding leads from behind the plate ."