Home run records and rally caps: Three-sport athlete helps Metamora softball keep it fun
WASHINGTON — Kayla Pacha has been a hitting machine for the Metamora softball team this season.
The senior left fielder has the No. 3-ranked Redbirds (28-5) ready for a Class 3A sectional championship battle with No. 4 East Peoria (29-6) at 4:30 p.m. Friday. It is Metamora’s first trip to the sectional finals since 2014.
Pacha has found a majority of her success at the plate this season, setting single-season school marks in home runs and RBIs.
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“It feels great to have broken my own record, but it wasn’t really one of my goals for the season,” Pacha said. “I just wanted to move the runners that were on base when I got up to the plate. I couldn’t have done it without the team and it has been such a fun season so far with my teammates.”
The Parkland College commit hit her 11th home run last month to break her own single-season school record. She has a .421 batting average with 13 home runs, 45 hits and 57 RBIs. She and teammates Kaidance Till and Hannah Tellor have appeared in all 33 games for the Redbirds.
“Some of our team goals were to win the conference, win a regional championship, and to stay consistent,” Pacha said. “My individual goals were to get all-conference and to keep my batting average and on base percentage steady.”
The statistical feats don't stop there. Pacha in April finished just a solo home run shy of hitting for a rare "home run cycle." She had a grand slam, a three-run homer and two-run homer against Pekin. That same month, Pacha delivered a walk-off hit to defeated then-No. 3 ranked Rock Island.
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Pacha began playing the sport at a young age, and has only gotten better each season. She started in kindergarten, and she quickly found a deep passion for softball later in her childhood.
“I don’t know the exact age I started to like softball but I started with playing T-ball around kindergarten,” Pacha said. “I then started travel softball in fourth grade and have been playing ever since.”
Pacha isn’t just an all-around great softball player for Metamora, but she’s a multi-sport athlete, who also plays on the volleyball and basketball team. Her parents and coaches help push and guide her, and she credits her success to them.
“During the offseason I usually just continue to practice on my own or hit at the field with my friends," she said. "I also play volleyball and basketball during that softball off-season so I am still active."
Pacha likes to keep her meal plan light before and after teams to maintain stamina and stay energized. And as far as pre-game rituals, she keeps it pretty low key until postseason.
“I usually eat a sandwich with a fruit or vegetable before the game since it is quick to make,” Pacha said. “(And for rituals) not usually, but during postseason we’ve brought rally caps to have in the dugout during games.”
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If there is one favorite memory of Pacha’s that she would like to relive: the "fun bus rides" to the state finals. She helped Germantown Hills to state in softball, basketball and volleyball during her time at the Metamora feeder school.
That can become a reality if Metamora can secure two more wins this postseason.
John Komosa can be reached at jkomsports@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jkom91.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA softball: Kayla Pacha helps Metamora to Class 3A sectional final
