Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ward relishes chance to play at home
ROGERS — Kylee Ward thought her final home game of her career would be against crosstown rival Rogers Heritage.
The Rogers senior and the rest of the teams in the Class 6A state tournament were planning on playing in Fayetteville, but the tournament was moved a few miles up Interstate 49 to Rogers, where the Lady Mounties will play on familiar turf. Rogers and Heritage will co-host the tournament with games being played at both venues today and Friday.
For Ward, who is headed the the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain in Mena to continue her softball career, the chance to take the field with family and friends in the stands is special.
“I’m excited and I know our team is excited,” said Ward. “Especially for me, my senior year, to get to play at home, I’m just really excited.”
The Lady Mounties (184) are the No. 2 seed from the 6A-West and drew a first-round bye for the state tournament. Rogers will take in the winner of the game between Conway and Fort Smith Southside at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
Rogers coach Mike Harper said Ward’s leadership this season has been crucial to the team’s success. There are only two seniors on the Lady Mounties’ roster.
“There were only three players in this year’s senior class, and one quit, so we knew it was going to be a very small class,” said Harper. “Kylee has really grown over four years. She was very timid and shy for a long time. This year she has had to step up and she has done that very well.”
Ward leads the team in every major offensive category including batting average (.462), OPS (1.335), hits (30), home runs (4) and RBIs (26). She has been the catalyst for the Lady Mounties both at the plate and on the field at second base.
She said she was not planning to play college softball until her sophomore year after switching travel softball teams. The new team put her in front of college scouts, which led to her signing a national letter of intent to play at Rich Mountain, a two-year program.
“My coach was really involved in the recruiting, but even then, I did not have the confidence that I could play in college. I didn’t think I was good enough to play in college. But after practicing and playing the games, I knew it was something that I wanted to do. And then I found the college that I loved.”
Ward has overcome adversity to become one of the top players in the region, said Harper. She had back surgery for scoliosis, where rods where inserted into her back.
“She was really, really scared when she came back from that,” said Harper. “It took her awhile to embrace the weight room and all of that, but she’s worked so hard and had to overcome so much, that everybody just respects her.”