When other coaches see Taylor Hadley in action, they often comment on her speed and energy to IUPUC Head Softball Coach Tommi Stowers. Tommi just laughs and tells them, “She’s like that every day!”
Stowers said that when Hadley gets on base, the entire team takes notice and gets immediately energized. “She’s our go-to girl. We know she’s fast, she likes to steal, and she can score,” which she has, 15 times so far this season.
Hadley says she both looks to Stowers and relies on instinct before she steals—and when she does, she literally goes head first! She explained that several years ago, when she was recovering from a broken foot, it hurt to slide so she started diving. “I realized I get more momentum and stretch when I dive,” she said, “so I never stopped.”
She says she’s gotten more aggressive on the basepaths as her NAIA ranking started getting attention earlier in the season. “I do it for my team and IUPUC because nobody expected someone on a first-year team to be nationally ranked for anything!”
Hadley is currently tied for 67 th for steals in the NAIA but was ranked as high as 15th earlier in the season when the team played the bulk of its games, before opponents began their conference play, which IUPUC is exempt from in its inaugural season. As part of the River States Conference next year, the team will play more games, and Hadley will have more opportunities to steal bases. “It’s exciting to leave my print on the program, I am very blessed,” she said.
Hadley says a prayer before every game and draws a cross in the dirt before approaching the batting box. The freshman outfielder also keeps her sunglasses on her visor, even when it’s dark, and puts her batting glove in her right back pocket for good luck.
She says her number-one reason for coming to IUPUC is her coach. She also credits Stowers for getting her out of a slump earlier in the season. “She reminded me that I’m a leader on the team and that the other girls look up to me. It really clicked,” Hadley says.
She added that she has admired her coach long before Tommi was her coach. Both Stowers and Hadley graduated from Columbus North High School. Stowers, the first North graduate to sign with a Division I softball team, returned to her high school as a volunteer. Hadley remembers being a high schooler getting hitting help from Stowers, a NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete. “I’ve looked up to her for a long time,” she says of Stowers.
Now that Hadley’s been at IUPUC nearly a year, she says the campus itself feels like home, like everyone knows everyone. She’s done very well academically and appreciates how supportive her teachers have been, especially during the peak of softball season. Nonetheless, Hadley always goes back to Tommi Stowers when you ask about her feelings toward IUPUC.
“It was so much easier coming to IUPUC knowing I have a coach with the same love and passion for the game as I do,” she concluded.