Kelsey Bennett first stepped onto campus as a freshman in 2018. In the time since then, the infielder from Buford, Ga. has been a strong mainstay in the lineup for Virginia Tech softball, excelling at the plate and the left side of the infield. Still, Bennett knows there is plenty more to achieve in her final season at Tech Softball Park. “I’m excited to see us come together,” said Bennett, who is ready to begin another season as the Hokies infielder. “Obviously we lost three up the middle in Keely (Rochard), Darby (Trull), and Mack (Lawter), but it will be interesting to see what happens when people get their names called upon to just do their thing.” The rising fifth-year senior never hesitates to mention the contributions of her teammates not only in the recent success of the team, but also the value of her overall experience in Blacksburg. Bennett can’t help but smile when mentioning her fellow recruiting classmates Jayme Bailey, Grace Chavez, and Meredith Slaw, as well as two fifth-year former transfers in Morgan Overaitis and Kelsey Brown. “It’s been cool to see us grow not only as softball players, but as people. It’s been great to see what everyone’s career paths are and meet their parents and grandparents,” Bennett claimed. It’s almost impossible to look back on Bennett’s career in Blacksburg without evoking a great amount of nostalgia. Before she officially suited up in maroon and orange, she originally committed to Virginia Tech her freshman year of high school, a not uncommon practice for softball student-athletes in the mid 2010s. Between the time she committed and her enrollment, Virginia Tech softball underwent a regime change, bringing in Pete D’Amour to lead the Hokies. That could have added an extra curveball to Bennett’s path to Blacksburg. Fortunately, though, as the former head coach of Kennesaw State, D’Amour was already familiar with Bennett’s softball acumen since her hometown was only an hour away from his former employer. “He had been to some of my high school games,” recalled Bennett, who was the Georgia AAAAA State Player of the Year in 2018. “He had seen my style of play, and that kind of put my mind at ease.” Her mind certainly seemed at ease when she erupted onto the collegiate softball scene in 2019. Bennett started every game at third base for the freshly supercharged Hokies, earning ACC Freshman of the Year honors after breaking the freshman program record for home runs with 14, slugging percentage at .725 and total bases with 116. The Hokies won the ACC Coastal and punched a ticket to NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2015. In addition to the team’s success, Bennett felt like her mental approach to the game grew, thanks to the example of upperclassmen leaders Emma Strouth, Caitlin Nolan and Kinsey Johnson. ‘If they would strike out, it wouldn’t ruin their entire game. For me, my freshman year, when I struck out you couldn’t talk to me for a while. But then my sophomore year, I struck out and would think ‘Dude, it’s not the end all be all.’ You can still have a competitive at-bat and a competitive game. We play a game of failure, so it’s ok to make mistakes.” Unfortunately, that sophomore year Bennett mentioned was cut short due to the pandemic. At the time of the abrupt end of the season, she was humming at a .368 batting average, 7 HR and 25 RBIs. The halt of her stellar individual start to her sophomore year was not the first thing on Bennett’s mind when looking back on 2020. “I think we were on track to being way better than my freshman year,” Bennett remembered, as the Hokies ended the season at the COVID pause with a record of 21-4. “Everyone was gelling and clicking at the same time.” Still, even with the disappointing temporary pause to her studentathlete experience, she was pleasantly surprised by how strong the team returned for the 2020 fall season. As the calendar turned to 2021, the Hokies picked up where they left off from the year before. Tech blazed to the NCAA Regionals for another season, earning a bid to the Tempe Regional for a chance to get the program to a Super Regional for the first time in over a decade. Bennett shined in the big moments for the Hokies on the campus of Arizona State, going an incredible 9-for-11 at the plate over the course of the regional. Four of those nine hits came in one game against the Sun Devils, leading the Hokies to an 8-2 win over the hosts. “I hadn’t had that kind of confidence since my freshman year,” the infielder remembered. “I was actually watching those games for fun just the other day.” Tech would eventually earn a trip to the Los Angeles Super Regional to take on UCLA, where the Hokies dropped the final two games of the series. Although the end was unfortunate, Bennett and her teammates established a place in the collegiate softball sphere as a legitimate contender. The greater New River Valley community also took notice, with more and more new fans cramming into Tech Softball Park in 2022. Bennett started nearly every game of the 2022 campaign at shortstop, serving as one of the leaders of the ACC Regular Season Champions. The All-ACC Third Team selection had her best year defensively commanding the middle of the infield, while the Hokies earned their first ever regional hosting bid in program history. Ticket availability for the Blacksburg Regional evaporated as thousands of KelseyBenn Softball senior ready for future, appreciative of past Continued on page 10 8 Inside Hokie Sports
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