Lady Bulldog Picks Baylor

North Junior Kathy Shelton Verbally Commits To Play Softball For The Bears

It wasn’t too hard for McKinney North’s Kathy Shelton to tell the Baylor softball coaches Tuesday night that she wanted to verbally commit.

It was the call after that that gave her trouble.

“I had to tell Texas A&M that I committed, and that was even more scary,” Shelton said. “I liked [A&M]. But I could see myself at Baylor. They won the Big 12, and a girl on my club team is going there in ’08. I felt comfortable when I talked to the freshmen. They had been there only two weeks, and they knew exactly what was going on. It looked like they’d been there for years.”

Not only did the junior have to decide between the two schools, she also had to consider other schools that wanted her to play college volleyball.

“Since I was eight I knew I wanted to play a sport in college. I’ve played softball hard core for forever, but there were options to play volleyball. ” Shelton said. “The coaches asked me if I cared what position I played. I said wherever you need me to play.”

Though her parents both went to Texas A&M, they left the decision up to her. They both accompanied her on her official visit to Baylor during the middle of September. But the junior wanted to visit A&M on Oct. 5 before deciding.

Verbal commitments are non-binding, and Shelton won’t officially sign a letter of intent until November of 2008.

Shelton e-mails the Baylor coaches almost every day and saw them at her club softball tournament last week. The junior plays outfield with Texas Glory Gold, though she plays shortstop on North’s team.

The junior is excited to stay close to home and have her future decided as she finishes her junior and senior years at North.

“It’ll be nice to be less stressed. It’s good to know where I’m going when all my friends will be filling out applications next year,” she said. “It’s nice that I can relax at [club] games and not worry if I mess up in front of college coaches.”

Shelton is three-year letterman in volleyball and softball and a two-year letterman in basketball. She was named to the 2006 McKinneyNews.net Super Six team (for volleyball), the 2007 McKinneyNews.net Fab Five team (for basketball), and twice to the McKinneyNews.net Magnificent Nine team (for softball).

Staff Writer Angie Wallace covers softball for McKinneyNews.net.