UK Commit McLaine Hudson Likes Pushing Herself

South Warren star McClaine Hudson not only could become Kentucky's all-time hits leader next season but she's also had success with USA Softball. (USA Softball Photo)

Almost every time McLaine Hudson steps on a softball field she impresses someone. However, she decided to make her verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky in October so she would no longer have to worry about impressing college coaches.

“I grew up a big Kentucky fan,” the versatile South Warren athlete said. “My dad grew up in Louisville but he converted to a UK fan. Mom was always a Kentucky fan. They both went to Western Kentucky. My sister and I grew up going to UK basketball and some UK football games. We loved Kentucky.”

Kentucky coach Rachel Lawson certainly is going to love having Hudson in two years.

In her sophomore season with the Spartans, Hudson helped her team reach the state semifinals. She hit .620 with 22 home runs, 67 RBIs and 81 runs scored. She broke the state’s all-time single season record for hits with 93. She went 36-for-39 on stolen bases. She was named the Class 3A player of the year by the Kentucky Softball Coaches’ Association.

“I got close in my eighth grade year to breaking the record. I hit a home run at John Cropp Stadium (at UK) to get the record. I was running around the bases jumping up and down. It had been a goal of mine since eighth grade,” she said.

Kaylee Tow of Madisonville-North Hopkins has the state career all-time hits record with  359 from 2012-17 (she also held the previous single season mark of 90). Going into her junior season, Hudson has 297 hits — 63 away from breaking Tow’s career mark.

‘I think it is important to keep pushing yourself. I am trying to prepare myself to play in the SEC which is the hardest conference in a lot of sports but especially softball,” Hudson said. “If I break the (hits) record, that would be great and hopefully if I stay healthy and we have the kind of year I think we will, I can do it. We didn’t lose a starter off last year’s team and we really want to win state next season.”

Hudson has athletic genes. Her mother was a softball player and her uncle, Travis Hudson, is the veteran volleyball coach at Western Kentucky University. She started playing softball — and soccer — when she was young but quit soccer to concentrate on softball. She admits her uncle thought she would be a terrific volleyball libero, and even Lawson told her the same thing.

The 5-5 junior does play basketball. She had scored over 1,100 points going into this season and averaged 16.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season. This year she is averaging 22.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

“When I am not playing softball, I do play basketball. I enjoy it because it is a really competitive sport, too, and brings out the fire in me. I don’t work as hard at basketball as I do softball but I like playing,” she said.

Hudson can play multiple positions in softball but is primarily a shortstop even though she did play second base for USA Softball.

“Playing for Team USA was a surreal experience,” the UK signee said. “The team I was on was so talented. Every person on that team was amazing. We scored a lot of runs.”

Hudson was so impressive at an OnDeck National Elite Camp where a Team USA official saw her and gave her a bid to the USA tryout camp that had about 400 players in various age groups and she made the cut to the 18U national team.

“Only 16 made the cut, so it was pretty amazing for me to do it,” she said.

She was back in Vero Beach, Fla., in mid-December for an invite-only showcase in front of the U.S. Junior Women’s National Team selection committee. Her team won to qualify for nationals in the summer.

Hitting is something she’s always been able to do.  As a freshman she hit .597 with 71 hits, 46 RBI, 11 doubles, two triples and 13 homers and was successful on 36 of 38 steal attempts. The year before she hit .570 as an eighth-grader with 85 hits, 28 RBI, nine doubles, six triples and seven homes and was not thrown out on 25 steal attempts.

“I am kind of a little shocked myself with how many home runs I have hit,” she said. “My first home run came in the seventh grade. When I was younger, I was more of a singles and doubles hitter but now it has translated to where I can also hit home runs in high school.”