School: Hatboro-Horsham
Softball
Favorite athlete: Shane Victorino
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Winning the state championship in 2008. I still get the butterflies in my stomach when I think back on it.”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “When our bus broke down on the 309 last year after our game in Quakertown, Danielle DiFilippo and I asked the bus driver to turn up the music, and we danced up and down the aisles. We tried to get everyone up and moving. It was so much fun; however, I did not have any good dance moves!”
Music on iPod: Jack Johnson, Dana Alexandra, Jason Mraz
Future plans: Attend West Chester University to study Secondary Education and Physics
Words to live by: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.”
One goal before turning 30: “Do something BIG.”
During a recent softball game, Kelly Krier paid senior co-captain Megan Kelly the ultimate compliment.
“I asked her if I could clone her and bring her back another four years,” the Hatboro-Horsham coach said. “Every day it’s just fun to practice with Megan and work with her.
“She will do anything for you as a coach. She’s extremely helpful in the offseason with organizing some of the open gyms and things like that. Both she and Chelsea (Edwards) were extremely helpful.”
Kelly has been a member of the varsity since Krier and assistant coach Erika Lee took over the reins of Hatboro’s program four years ago, and during that remarkable four-year span, the Hatters have won one state title and, on two other occasions, advanced to the state semifinals with the final chapter of this year’s season still to be written.
“To see her go is going to be sad,” Krier said of Kelly. “I’m just proud of how Megan has blossomed as a player and person. I know she’s so excited where this year’s team has gone.”
Kelly used the word ‘magical’ to describe her final high school season that has seen her Hatters’ squad – with just two seniors and two juniors on its roster – surprise just about everyone with its trip to the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals.
“That makes it kind of magical,” she said of the unexpected turn of events. “You feel like Cinderella. It’s amazing.
“The 2008 state championship season was probably more intense, but this year, the girls are so young. We have a lot of freshmen, and anywhere we get this year is a win because we’re so young.”
Kelly knows what it’s like to be a young player on a squad loaded with talent.
It was Kelly, then a sophomore leftfielder, who had the game-saving catch in the 2008 state championship game when – with the bases loaded and none out - she made a sliding shoestring catch of a fly ball to shallow left, turning a base hit into a double play that swung momentum firmly in the Hatters’ favor. The catch kept the scoreless tie intact, and the Hatters went on to earn a 3-0 win.
“I really remember being in the outfield and sliding to make the catch, and after that, I don’t remember it,” she said. “After the game, we went back to the Sadowl’s house and watched the game again. It came to that inning, and I still got nervous – ‘Oh my god, the bases are loaded, and there are no outs.’
“I still had that feeling, and even though I knew what happened already, it was still nerveracking.”
Kelly has been playing softball since she got her first taste of the sport playing t-ball when she was five. She also played a lot of soccer but was limited to competing with the Hatboro-Horsham Soccer Club since soccer and softball are both played in spring.
She began playing on the competitive travel softball circuit when she was 14, playing initially for the Horsham Banshees and then the Sellersville Belles and recently returning to the Banshees. That experience tipped the scales in favor of softball over soccer.
“You have to think more to play softball,” she said. “I guess I wasn’t a very good soccer player because I’m sure you have to think playing soccer too.
“In softball, I thought it was interesting how you could make little changes in your technique, and it makes you a better player. You have to think about everything.”
As a freshman, Kelly was the back-up shortstop and used in a limited role as a base runner and pinch hitter. By the time she was a sophomore, she was a fixture in the outfield – this despite the fact that she had always played shortstop.
“With Brittany Schlorf in front of her at shortstop, she realized her opportunities at shortstop weren’t that great,” Krier said. “At tryouts, she said, ‘I want to try out for the outfield.’
“She’s just a quick learner and ended up becoming a fantastic leftfielder for us. She ended up falling in love with the outfield.”
Kelly knew the 2008 team – after a trip to the state semis the year before – had its sights set high.
“When we started doing our preseason workouts in January, the upperclassmen were all like, ‘This is our year. We’re going to do it,’” Kelly recalled. “I really wanted to start that year, and I worked hard to get there.
“I wasn’t really nervous because the girls that I was playing with – I also started playing travel ball with them, and I felt like I belonged on the team.”
This year, Kelly moved to center field after playing left field her first two years.
“She really has taken command of the outfield,” Krier said. “She loves playing with Heather (Lutz) and Melissa (Spinosa) out there.
“She has been great in terms of Heather, who is a freshman and herself getting used to the outfield. Megan is always talking to her at games and practices, and that’s all on her own. That isn’t Erika or myself telling her to do that.”
This year, Kelly is batting leadoff after hitting out of the number nine spot as a sophomore and most of her junior season. She hit at a .459 clip during the regular season, and during one memorable week belted leadoff home runs in a pair of games.
She has been a catalyst during the post-season as well.
“She’s a weapon,” Krier said. “She can hit from either side, she can bunt, so she has a lot of weapons at her disposal hitting-wise.
“She hits for power, she’s the fastest girl on our team, and in terms of being a player, she’s just super productive, but more importantly, as a person, Megan is a special kid. She’s so sure of herself, and she’s been that way since she was a ninth grader.”
Krier goes on to recount the first day of practice Kelly’s freshman year.
“We were indoors because there was snow on the ground,” the Hatters’ coach said. “We had a lot of girls, and we wanted to see who was strong.
“We had a tough practice – a lot of running and drills, and Megan ended up winning everything running-wise. She pushed girls that were much older than her and made them better. She was real confident, and she always maintained that personality.”
An excellent student, Kelly took a full course load of honors classes as well as an AP class.
“She was exempt from most of her final exams – even in the spring when most seniors have senioritis,” Krier said. “She’s very bright, she’s a hard work, and every single teacher that she has speaks highly of her.”
Kelly says she got a wake-up call her junior year.
“I wasn’t a hard worker in the classroom, but I still got pretty good grades because it came easily to me,” she said. “My junior year, it was like I got hit by a truck. It was like, ‘Oh my god, I need to actually study.’
“I started having a better work ethic in the classroom.”
For her graduation project, Kelly volunteered to coach a little league team, which afforded her the opportunity to combine her enjoyment of softball with her desire to teach.
This fall she will attend West Chester University where she will major in secondary education with an interest in one day teaching physics.
She chose West Chester over East Stroudsburg, accepting a scholarship to play softball for the Golden Rams.
“It was a better fit for me,” she said matter-of-factly.
Kelly walks away from her high school career with nothing but fond memories.
“Really, what I’m going to remember most is my teammates and how much fun I had on the Hatters’ softball team and all the funny little things that happened at practice,” she said. “I don’t think I’m going to remember what my batting average was, but I’ll definitely remember all the fun we had.
“I’ll also remember the state championship game.”
The tone for the program, according to Kelly, is set by the coaches.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but they always try to make everything lighthearted,” she said. “They’re always joking around with each other.
“They’re there to have fun, and we’re there to have fun, and together we’re just having fun. It’s not as intense as I think other teams would be. I’m not sure, but I don’t think other teams have as much fun as we do.
“Everybody on the team likes each other. We have good team chemistry. I have friends who are on other high school teams, and they’re so good, but they don’t like it. I’m surprised because I wouldn’t want to play if I didn’t have fun.”
For four years, Kelly and her Hatter teammates have won more games and experienced a level of success few athletes attain, and best of all, they’ve had fun doing it.
