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Missouri freshman Taylor thrives after coming north
By MECHELLE VOEPELThe Kansas City Star
Missouri softball player Rhea Taylor is fast enough that she could have run track at the college level. Yet it’s not speed, she says, that primarily accounts for her Big 12 single-season record of 52 stolen bases in her first year.
She explained the bigger key is the initial move toward second base.
“That first step is the determining factor in whether you’re going to be out,” Taylor said. “You’ve got to time it right. Speed does play a part. But even someone with mediocre speed can steal bases if they get that first step right.”
Taylor has turned into a student of softball’s intricacies, and it’s paid off with a splendid freshman season. The Tigers, who are the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 tournament, got quite a spark from their rookie outfielder.
Taylor — whose first name is pronounced RAY-a — also led the Big 12 in average (.408), hits (80) and runs scored (60). Her stolen-base total was second-best in Division I.
She gives much of the credit to the MU coaching staff. Taylor said she’s learned more in one college season than she had in all the years since she started playing at age 9.
MU coach Ehren Earleywine took note of Taylor when she was competing in summer-league softball. Taylor is from Buford, Ga., near Atlanta, where Earleywine was coach of Georgia Tech before taking over at MU last season.
“I didn’t really have much coaching before I came here, so everything was kind of thrown at me,” Taylor said. “I’m the kind of person where I felt I had to get something right the first time and couldn’t make a mistake. But they’ve helped me through that.”
Texas A&M, 17-1, and Oklahoma, 16-2, were the top two finishers in the league. But third-place MU had a potent offense for which leadoff hitter Taylor usually got things going.
“It’s been really fun,” she said. “I never realized how fun it was going to be.”