Speed Kills!!!!! Florida Softball-Track Team Runs Full Speed Into Super Regionals
Updated: May 26, 2022
Leading the Gators “softball relay team” is the duo of Junior Skylar Wallace and freshman Kendra Falby. Wallace and Falby are the dominant base stalling duo in the conference with 85 combined stolen bases.
By Loren Meadows
GatorBaitMedia.com
You can’t teach speed. The ability to run fast and play with quickness is a skill that many teams long for as they prepare to begin season in their respective sports. Florida softball has taken that speed and harnessed it into weapon that could enhance the Gators’ post season run.
While the Florida Gators track team has been chewing up the track in 2022, the Florida Softball Team has been chewing up the dirt on the diamond.
In a season where power reigned supreme in the SEC, the record 938 Home Runs hit during the 2022 has been offset by a relay team on the base paths with the Florida Gators.
The Gators rank last among SEC teams in the long ball race with a team total of 35 homers. However, the .315 team batting average and .397 on base percentage have allowed the Gators to even the playing field by utilizing exceptional speed and aggressiveness on the base paths.
In what can be called “instant doubles,” the Gators have been able to quickly put runners in scoring position to the tune of 129 stolen bases. This total led the SEC and was 73 more stolen bases than the Gators accumulated all last year and 41 more steals than the next team in the SEC (Tennessee). A certain base runner on first leads to a runner on second within two to three pitches.
Leading the Gators “softball relay team” is the duo of Junior Skylar Wallace and freshman Kendra Falby. Wallace and Falby are the dominant base stealing duo in the conference with 85 combined stolen bases.
Both execute base stealing with a combination of aggressiveness, elite speed, and efficiency. It is this efficiency that allows both to have only been caught stealing four times each between the two of them.
Falby, whose mother ran track, is lightning quick with a quick first step out the box and the ability to get the jump on the opposing pitchers which puts immediate pressure on opposing defenses.
Wallace, the school’s single season record-holder in stolen bases (50), has speed reminiscent of a 200 or 400m sprinter with a consistent stride which allows her to cover the distance between bases with minimal steps. Both are weapons that Coach Tim Walton has at his disposal to instantly breathe life into his team’s offense.
Not to be outdone by Wallace and Falby, the Gators have three others who join the 7-inning track meet.
Infielder Hannah Adams (15), outfielder Cheyenne Lindsey (8) and outfielder Katie Kistler (11) have 34 stolen bases between them while failing to reach base safely only seven times.
Although the trio has been extremely successful on the base paths, they are quick to defer to Wallace and Falby for the title of “Fastest Softball Gator.”
Coach Tim Walton has stated that he believes Kendra Falby to be the fastest out of the batter’s box to first base while Skylar Wallace is the fastest overall. Falby and Wallace do not necessarily agree with the assessment of their coach and have expressed interest in a possible race in the fall of 2022 to settle the debate for charity.
For now the Gators take the Softball “track team” on the road for a Super Regional showdown with the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Hokies have two of the top pitchers in the ACC in opponent batting average in Emma Lemley and Keely Rochard. Opponents are batting less that .200 against both so base runners will be at a premium.
The cooler air of Blacksburg should allow the Gators to be aggressive on the base paths and utilize the running game to put runners in scoring position. Florida leads the remaining teams in the tournament in stolen bases and it has been this infusion of speed that has allowed the quintet of Wallace, Falby, Adams, Lindsey, and Kistler to quickly turn nothing into something and continue the run to Oklahoma City.
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