The women’s softball season has just kicked off at ETSU, and many players are rounding out their fifth year playing for the team. One of these players is Kelly Warren, a fifth-year senior and left-handed hitter from Richmond, Virginia.
“We’re really appreciative that she came back for her fifth year.” said assistant women’s softball coach Jimmy Hendrix. “[She] gave us a chance, and I really think she’s going to be a big part of the program this year, you know, as a player and as a person.”
Warren is beginning her fifth year playing for ETSU, a chance given to her because of disruptions last year from COVID-19. She typically plays as a slapper or a right fielder. She has been playing since she was little, and her high school team won state championships three years in a row. Today, ETSU’s team just took on a new coach, Belinda Hendrix, and is still getting used to a new coaching style. Warren wants to take advantage of Hendrix’s aggressive style to take more bases this year. Overall, Warren gets along well with her team.
“We’re all like pretty close, we all get along, I think that helps like on the field too. . . feeling like you can trust your teammates and being comfortable with them, I think that definitely translates onto the field.” Warren said.
Warren is a marketing major with a fashion merchandising concentration as well as digital marketing and management minors. She is vice president of the Collegiate Merchandising Association at ETSU. In addition to liking her team, Warren also loves the campus as a whole, especially the community that comes with it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a small school, but it’s also not like a big school. I like how it’s the middle ground between the two. . . I might not know every single athlete, but I feel like I know of every single athlete, I feel like we all kind of know of each other, and keep up with other teams and stuff, and I like that because it’s kind of like a small-town feel on campus.” Warren said.
You can see Warren and her team in action on Sep. 30 at 5 p.m., when they play Montreat College at Betty Basler Field.
