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Kaylee Wilcox prepares to bat in an April game at the Maumelle Diamond Center Softball Complex. (Photo by Bill Lawson) No limits: One-armed player excels at softball Monday, Jun 30, 2008 By Amanda Rhea Stephens Media MAUMELLE - Batting, pitching and catching are no problem for second baseman Kaylee Wilcox, quite an accomplishment considering she was born without the lower part of her left arm. Twelve-year-old Kaylee has played softball with the Maumelle Sports Association for four years. This year she joined the Ferndale Fireballs, a competitive team that competed at the state tournament in Bentonville over the weekend. Kaylee became interested in softball by watching her older sister, Taylor. "My sister had been playing, and my dad was coaching baseball and softball, so I just started playing," she said. Her little brother, Brady, plays baseball on the team that their father, Shawn Wilcox, coaches. The siblings frequently practice together and go to one another's tournaments. "We're a sports family, except for my mom," Kaylee said. "But she loves to go see the games." Kaylee's mother, Ann, said she was concerned at first about the challenges her daughter would face. But after seeing all Kaylee has accomplished, she knows that her worry was unnecessary. "She's proven me wrong," Ann Wilcox said. "I always tell her she's my hero." In some ways, Kaylee is not unlike Bethany Hamilton, the Hawaii teen who excelled in surfing despite losing an arm in a shark attack in 2003. Kaylee does anything she puts her mind to, said her grandmother, Wanda Haywood. "I've never seen such a tenacious child in my life," Haywood said. But Kaylee is fundamentally different from someone who lost a limb in an accident, said Haywood, because she did not have to adapt to life with one arm. "She never had one, so she's made do," Haywood said, adding that her granddaughter even opted not to use a prosthesis because "it hindered her." Playing softball seems to come naturally to Kaylee. "It's not hard," she said. "I've been doing it that way, right-handed, for awhile, so it's not really that difficult for me." Besides softball, Kaylee plays basketball and is a cheerleader at Mayflower Middle School, where she will be in seventh grade this fall. She is a straight-A student and is active in the school choir. "I'm no different than anyone else," Kaylee said. "A lot of people, when they get to know me, it just doesn't matter to them if I have just one arm." Laura Pipkins has been Kaylee's friend since fourth grade. They still go to school together and often visit each other's house. Although she is not on the softball team, Laura sometimes goes to Kaylee's practices to watch. "She's really good," Laura said. Most people pay no attention to Kaylee's arm, Laura said, but there have been a few awkward moments. "Sometimes little kids will come up and ask her what happened," Laura said. "It scares [them]. They don't understand." But Kaylee usually doesn't dwell on things like that, Laura said, adding, "I don't think it bothers her with everything that she does." Steve Woods, one of Kaylee's coaches with the Ferndale Fireballs, said she is so skilled at softball that many people fail to notice at first that she is missing part of her arm. He remembered one game in particular after which people approached him to compliment her. "Several of the umpires would come up to us after the game, and other team players' parents would come up to us and say, 'I had no clue she had no arm,'" Woods said. "They didn't notice until someone would point it out to them. She's that good." Bud Mallory, who coaches the Fireballs alongside Woods, has coached Kaylee for three years in the Maumelle Sports Association. He also coached her at last year's state tournament, when she was a shortstop. He said some people are uncertain of Kaylee's ability at first, but once they see her in action there is no doubt. "She hits harder than some girls who have two hands," Mallory said. Like all of his players, Kaylee sometimes gets down on herself when she makes mistakes, Mallory said. But she is made of stronger stuff than most girls her age, he said. "She's tough," he said. "She's a great asset to the team," said Woods, "not only with her athletic ability but with her attitude." Kaylee is so well-known for her constant smile that on the field she is nicknamed "Smiley." Sierra Clay, who goes to school with Kaylee and started playing with the Fireballs this year, said she was surprised the first time she saw her teammate play. But the two have been close friends since the fourth grade, and Sierra has enjoyed being on the team with Kaylee this year. "She's really fun to watch," Sierra said. Kaylee and Sierra will not be on the same Maumelle Sports Association team next year because Sierra is moving to a different age group. The girls are a bit disappointed, but they look forward to the next year, when Kaylee moves up, and they plan to play together on the softball team at Mayflower High School in a few years. Kaylee said she even plans to play softball beyond high school. "I think even if it's not college, I'll still be playing," she said. |
