Rylea Smith understands she might not be an all-star player but also knows she can have a key role for coach Rachel Lawson. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Senior outfielder Rylea Smith made a New Year’s resolution to make sure she “expressed my power as a player” and understood what her role needed to be to help coach Rachel Lawson’s team the most.
“Am I going to be an all-star player of the year, person? Probably not,” Smith said. “But I do understand I can protect those players like Kayla (Kowalik) and Erin (Coffel). I want to make sure I understand my role and can execute to make sure my team goes even further.”
Smith admits she is not going to be a big vocal leader for Kentucky softball (6-1-1). That’s not her personality.
“I am more of an uplifting person. I like to make sure people understand their effort is being seen but in leadership through my actions. I want my teammates to see me go 100 percent all the time and then they want to do that,” she said. “So for me it is more leading by example.”
Smith believes Kentucky has a “promising” freshman class to contribute this year, especially with so many upperclassmen willing and able to help guide them.
“We have been able to get them to catch up quickly. They are in a good spot to succeed early on,” Smith, who has started all eight games and is hitting .296, said. “But in the SEC no matter how many years of experience you have it is not easy. But because of how quickly they jumped in with us I think we are going to have really good results with them.”
