Dear Softball ...

In the past, we have honored members of our senior class throughout the home schedule. With just one senior on our roster this spring, we were planning on honoring Katelyn Hendershott on Saturday, April 25 before we played Nebraska.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, we did not get the opportunity to properly honor "Shotty" at Secchia Stadium. We would have had her family gather with her for a pre-game ceremony, her number in the dirt behind second base, and tell everyone about her accomplishments and dedication to our program. Its among many of the things we missed so dearly this spring.

While her senior season looked a lot different than anyone would have chosen, we will find a time to honor her appropriately - but until then, here is her letter to the game of softball, as we have come to annually ask our seniors to write to reflect on their years with the game.

Thank you, Shotty, for everything you gave to our program every day. #ForeverASpartan

Gallery: (5-8-2020) Katelyn Hendershott

Dear Softball,

Many people, when they write these letters, it is because they are saying goodbye to the sport. Hanging up their cleats, stepping off the field for the last time, played their last inning, hit their last pitch. But I'm not saying goodbye, I just get to enjoy it from a different perspective. Though I am no longer a Michigan State softball student-athlete, I will always be a softball player.

Softball changed my life. It has taught me life lessons, shaped me as a person, and help me grow into the woman I am today. It has become a part of my DNA, and without it I would not be the person I am today. So, this is not a goodbye letter, but rather a thank you letter.

I was not always a "softball player". In fact, most of my life I swore I was going to play in the WNBA. I was a baller through and through. While I still played softball and loved the sport, I just loved basketball too. It wasn't until my freshman year in high school when my softball coach told me that while I was good at basketball, I didn't look like a basketball player. She told me I looked like a softball player.

I went home after practice that day and thought about what she said. She didn't mean how I physically looked but rather what I embodied. To be a softball player you have to be tough, you have to resilient, you have to absolutely love the game.

While growing up I had a lot of people tell me I would be good but not good enough, and that coach was the first person that helped me realize that I could do it, I was good enough and if I really wanted to do something I just had to work for it.

You see, the game has brought people into my life that have change the course of my life and taught me so much, not just about the sport of softball, but life. So, thank you, thank you for giving me mentors, friends, family, supporters, and so much more.

However, softball and I have not always seen eye to eye. As Coach J would say, "The game doesn't care". The game doesn't know or care who the best team is, or the weather conditions, or what's going on in your personal life or what your batting average is.

The game is the game, it never changes.

This was one of the best lessons the I learned. The lesson that keeps on giving. I was never the best person on the team, or the most talented. But I never let that stop me.

Every day I came to practice and I wanted to outwork everyone. I came in and hit extra, took extra reps, watched film. And even then, I was still never the best or the most talented. But the game doesn't care. I was blessed with the opportunity to come to college and get the best education because of softball. I showed up every day and left it all on the field, even when I didn't have very much.

A lot of people would say why put in all of this work and time and effort if your still not getting the results? My answer was always, 'Why wouldn't you?' Why wouldn't you give everything you have, why wouldn't you give your best effort?

I was doing it all because I loved the game and even when I failed, I knew I gave it my all. The game got my best self every time. This gave me toughness and resiliency, the kind of toughness that translated in all aspect of my life to the point that it's not just something that I possess but rather a personality trait, engrained into my DNA. Toughness is "the state of being strong enough to withstand adverse conditions and rough handling".

Throughout my career I have had three knee surgeries and one shoulder surgery. Each time I came back stronger, more determined, and most importantly with a greater love for the game. It could have been easy to blame the game for everything that I went through. Why did I get injured again? It's not fair, etc.

But again, the game doesn't care, but it was always there for me when I got back. Knowing that you can lose it all in a blink of an eye has taught me to never take anything for granted and to keep on going. Even when its hard and it seems like it's all for nothing, keep on going because the game will always be there. The game doesn't give up, so neither should you. So, thank you softball, for never giving up on me and not letting me give up on you.

Lastly, I cannot thank the game enough for providing me with the opportunity to receive one of the best educations in the country, for taking me to places I would have never been able to see and experience, and bringing some of the most amazing people into my life. For teaching me to never give up on myself, not letting me believe that I was not good enough, and for making me a strong, empowered woman.

Because of you I know I am good enough, I am strong, I am powerful, and I only hope I can give back to the game as much as it has given me. And now I get to enjoy the sport, not as a player, but instead as an enthusiast, as a fan, and as a coach.

This isn't goodbye, this is just the beginning.

Love forever, #34 Shotty

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