ROCKINGHAM - It can be a big relief when a person, especially a high school student-athlete, gets the opportunity to continue playing the sport she loves at the collegiate level.
And for Richmond Senior High School rising junior first baseman Kayla Hawkins, her dream became a reality this past weekend when she verbally committed to play softball and continue her education at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C.
With her verbal commitment, Hawkins becomes the fifth player from the 2018 Richmond softball team to commit to a college program. Now graduated catcher Owen Bowers will report to Fort Myers, Fla., later this summer and start her career with Florida SouthWestern State College.
Other current members of the team who are committed are: rising seniors Savannah Lampley (UNC-Wilmington, shortstop), Taylor Parrish (Pfeiffer University, utility player) and Greyson Way (UNC-Greensboro, pitcher).
Hawkins, who is currently playing summer travel ball with Carolina Elite’s 16-U Maddaluna team, made her announcement public this past Friday, June 15, at a travel tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. She made her original commitment on Monday, June 11, but didn’t make it public until Friday. Joining her for the big moment was Coker head softball coach Travis McCall.
Her announcement came via her personal Twitter account, as Hawkins posted a picture with McCall and wrote: “(I’m) extremely excited to announce that I have verbally committed to Coker to further my softball career and academic career! Can’t wait to be a Cobra!!”
While the recruiting process can sometimes be grueling for high school athletes, Hawkins found making her choice relatively easy -- choosing Coker over fellow Division II school Limestone College, which was another program that showed interest in the power-hitting infielder.
“I went on my unofficial visit back in January,” Hawkins explained of her decision-making process. “As soon as I walked on campus, it felt like home -- like I was meant to be there.
“I really liked the campus,” she continued. “I know that the class sizes will be small, and I liked how small the school was. And I really love Coach McCall -- he’s really happy. I loved everything about Coker.”
Hawkins first became interested in Coker, and vice versa, through a softball camp she attended at Coker during the summer of 2017, where she met McCall. She also noted that the head coach has come to scout her at travel ball tournaments over the past year.
“It’s a big relief,” Hawkins commented on making her decision. “I’m very excited and it means everything to me to see my hard work pay off. This is everything that I’ve worked for.”
As one of only a handful of players to start as a freshman under current Richmond head softball coach Wendy Wallace, Hawkins has been a key figure in Richmond’s back-to-back trips to the Western Regional Finals. She played 31 games as a ninth grader during the 2017 season, and batted a modest .211 with two home runs, four doubles and collected 11 RBIs on 15 hits.
But this past spring as a sophomore, she made the switch from third base to first base, and exploded onto the scene offensively. She played an integral role in a dominating Richmond lineup, batting in the five spot in all of the Lady Raiders’ 29 games in 2018. She improved her batting average to .352, swatted nine dingers (third best on the team), and racked up 34 RBIs on 31 hits, six of which were doubles.
Her slash line for this past season was a .352 batting average, .450 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage. Defensively, Hawkins is also a strong first baseman, as she complied a .984 fielding percentage in 2018. In her career, Hawkins has a .282 batting average with 11 homers, 10 doubles, 46 hits and 45 RBIs.
“Playing with a team (as good as Richmond) has helped me a lot,” Hawkins said. “Now I want to keep getting better and work hard next year to get that (state championship) ring.”
While she won’t be on Coker’s campus in Hartsville until the fall of 2020, Hawkins is already setting goals for herself. Wanting to major in exercise science, she’s putting her academic focus on preparing herself for that career field with classes at Richmond. In terms of softball, the ultimate goal is to continue to learn and develop herself as a player.
“My goals are that I want to get a state championship ring and continue to work to get better,” Hawkins said. “I’ve been taking health science classes, and I’m in Beta Club. I hope to get inducted into the National Honor Society this year, too.”
In 2018, the Cobras went 36-18 overall, and tallied a 12-8 record in the South Atlantic Conference, which was good enough for second-place finish behind Lenoir-Rhyne University (45-10. 19-1). Coker advanced to the third round of the SAC tournament, and qualified for the Division II Southeast Regionals for the first time in 11 years, per McCall. Hawkins will look to join the Cobras and continue the upward trend they are setting.
