Earning the role of team captain is an honor, though it can also come with a lot of pressure. But Rylee Kirchmann aims to make it look easy as the only senior on the Yutan-Mead Patriots softball team.
“At first I was scared, but then I realized that I had other girls there to back me up and help with the leadership role,” Kirchmann said.
This isn’t the first time Kirchmann has faced challenges in her softball career. At the end of her sophomore season, Kirchmann hurt her shoulder.
“I’ve had quite a few challenges, but my main one, I would say, is my shoulder, and I have slight tears in my labrum and rotator cuff, so I have to wear a sole brace to kind of keep that in place so I can throw,” Kirchmann said.
Because Kirchmann loves softball, she waited to get surgery to fix her shoulder after this season since the surgery would not allow Kirchmann to play softball anymore.
“I would wish to play in college, but I can’t, because I have to get surgery after the season. That means I can’t throw. It’s [the surgery] just like to fix it. But if it gets hurt again, then I could never play softball now. So I’m just gonna fix it and then lie low,” Kirchmann said.
Working through her injury and the season, Kirchmann developed the important asset of perseverance.
“Rylee’s worked through a lot of injuries, but she’s been there for all the ups and downs over the last couple of years,” Patriots head coach Brooke Campbell said.
Kirchmann’s injury also led to a change in positions from third base to first this season so she didn’t have to throw as much.
“She has taken on a role at first base, which is not where she has played before, but with her shoulder bothering her, she’s been a good asset for us there,” Campbell said.
Despite personal changes, Kirchmann still makes sure to help others get better.
“She is our only senior, so a lot of girls look up to her and view her as one of the leaders on the team. So they really take into account what she has to say, and she’s always trying to motivate us and make us do our very best so we can reach our full potential,” junior Delaney Shield said.
Kirchmann is always trying to pick her team up and help them be the best they can be.
“I try to encourage others by really keeping a positive mindset and telling [them] to believe and trust in each other,” Kirchmann said.
Sometimes Kirchmann’s ways to help each other are not just saying “you got this” but giving reminders.
“She’ll lead us in practice in some things like throwing sometimes, and she gives good reminders to us of what we’re supposed to be doing. Softball etiquette. It’s just reminders, I guess, like if we need to be doing something that we forgot to do, just keeping us in line,” Shield said.
Since she doesn’t know how much longer she’ll be able to play, Kirchmann is focused on making it to state.
“I’m hoping to at least make it to state,” Kirchmann said. “That would be a really good accomplishment for the team and a personal goal that I have.”