FCD pitcher Bouplon earning respect one strikeout at a time
By JOHN WELSH Winston-Salem Journal
Even as defending NCISAA Class 3-A state champions, Forsyth Country Day softball still feels a bit disrespected.
Pitcher Kylie Bouplon and a strong senior class are remedying that with a fast 5-1 start to the 2016 season, gaining the respect they deserve one strikeout at a time.
“I think a lot people didn’t really take us seriously last year,” Bouplon said. “They didn’t really think we could do what we did.”
Ben McKinney, now in his fourth season as the Furies’’ head coach, backed up that sentiment.
“Last year people kinda thought … that we didn’t win the state championship, the other team lost it,” he said. “So our team has kind of taken that on their shoulders and said, ‘Hey, we still need to earn some respect here.’ We don’t have your typical seniors that are looking forward to graduation, they’re wanting to go back-to-back.”
After an 0-5 start to begin last season, underestimating the Furies was understandable. It was not just the team, but Bouplon herself who found it difficult at the beginning of the year.
“She got off to a slow start last year, and I think she learned from that, knowing that she needs to buckle down in the offseason and be ready,” McKinney said. “She came out ready to go.”
In six games — many of which did not go a full seven innings — Bouplon has rattled off 80 strikeouts, including a season-high 17 March 5 in a tournament at Gaston Christian.
Asked how she has managed to strike out so many batters this year, Bouplon credited her offseason preparation.
“Last season I kind of slacked off, and I didn’t come into the season like this,” she said. “Last year the beginning of the season was rough because I didn’t come prepared.”
Bouplon said she practiced pitching two to three times every week, both at home and at McKinney’s Athlete’s Edge indoor training facility in Clemmons.
McKinney has noticed the difference. “This year her velocity’s up, her balls move really well… she’s really on this year,” McKinney said.
“She’s always hitting her mark, always hitting the spot,” said Samantha Lew, who caught for Bouplon the past two years and splits time at catcher this season.
In a 10-strikeout performance Friday against Wake Christian, Bouplon rarely missed with the height of her pitches. Even pitches that missed the strike zone flew within a tempting range on the left and right or whizzed just above the reach of the bat. Bouplon rarely missed low.
According to catcher Kelsey Brown, Bouplon was even better Thursday in a 14-0 victory over Charlotte Country Day.
“It was really awesome, I didn’t have to block any balls which is really awesome because typically that doesn’t happen. She just hit her spot every single time and she was just striking girls out left and right,” said Brown, who took over part of the catching duties after joining the team this year from Davie.
In fact, Bouplon pitched a perfect four innings with 11 strikeouts in 12 batters faced. The coaching staff pulled her from the game to let her get some rest.
“A part of me wanted to stay in there yeah, cause, I don’t know… I wanted to strike some more batters out,” Bouplon said.
The Furies’ ace is also a strong hitter. In their 13-2 win over Wake Christian, Bouplon went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, knocking in more runs as a batter than she allowed in the circle.
In a lineup that features five future Division I players, Bouplon — who is headed to UNC Greensboro in the fall — bats in the heart of the order, usually in the No. 3 or No. 4 slot.
Fellow seniors Channing Cox (Liberty), Riley Didier (Syracuse) and Campbell Hutcherson (North Carolina) are also set for college softball careers. Brown, a junior, has already committed to East Tennessee State where the coaching staff hopes she’ll continue to play catcher.
Bouplon said the pitcher-catcher relationship is a big part of her success.
“You have to work together, and it’s all about patience and just … you have to be one person,” Lew said.
Brown, who played with Bouplon on the Firecrackers club softball team before joining FCD, agreed.
“You have to know your pitcher on a personal basis and you have to know everything about her as a player,” she said.
“If her pitch isn’t working, you have to be able to look at her body language and know exactly what she’s doing wrong so you can help her and help her make adjustments.”
“It’s like she’s your little princess and you have to take care of her.”
Opposing batters probably don’t refer to Bouplon as a “little princess.” Neither does her coach.
“You see her in the circle and she’s a bulldog,” McKinney said. “Very unemotional, just ‘I’m gonna get you’ type attitude.”
And usually, she does.
By JOHN WELSH Winston-Salem Journal
Even as defending NCISAA Class 3-A state champions, Forsyth Country Day softball still feels a bit disrespected.
Pitcher Kylie Bouplon and a strong senior class are remedying that with a fast 5-1 start to the 2016 season, gaining the respect they deserve one strikeout at a time.
“I think a lot people didn’t really take us seriously last year,” Bouplon said. “They didn’t really think we could do what we did.”
Ben McKinney, now in his fourth season as the Furies’’ head coach, backed up that sentiment.
“Last year people kinda thought … that we didn’t win the state championship, the other team lost it,” he said. “So our team has kind of taken that on their shoulders and said, ‘Hey, we still need to earn some respect here.’ We don’t have your typical seniors that are looking forward to graduation, they’re wanting to go back-to-back.”
After an 0-5 start to begin last season, underestimating the Furies was understandable. It was not just the team, but Bouplon herself who found it difficult at the beginning of the year.
“She got off to a slow start last year, and I think she learned from that, knowing that she needs to buckle down in the offseason and be ready,” McKinney said. “She came out ready to go.”
In six games — many of which did not go a full seven innings — Bouplon has rattled off 80 strikeouts, including a season-high 17 March 5 in a tournament at Gaston Christian.
Asked how she has managed to strike out so many batters this year, Bouplon credited her offseason preparation.
“Last season I kind of slacked off, and I didn’t come into the season like this,” she said. “Last year the beginning of the season was rough because I didn’t come prepared.”
Bouplon said she practiced pitching two to three times every week, both at home and at McKinney’s Athlete’s Edge indoor training facility in Clemmons.
McKinney has noticed the difference. “This year her velocity’s up, her balls move really well… she’s really on this year,” McKinney said.
“She’s always hitting her mark, always hitting the spot,” said Samantha Lew, who caught for Bouplon the past two years and splits time at catcher this season.
In a 10-strikeout performance Friday against Wake Christian, Bouplon rarely missed with the height of her pitches. Even pitches that missed the strike zone flew within a tempting range on the left and right or whizzed just above the reach of the bat. Bouplon rarely missed low.
According to catcher Kelsey Brown, Bouplon was even better Thursday in a 14-0 victory over Charlotte Country Day.
“It was really awesome, I didn’t have to block any balls which is really awesome because typically that doesn’t happen. She just hit her spot every single time and she was just striking girls out left and right,” said Brown, who took over part of the catching duties after joining the team this year from Davie.
In fact, Bouplon pitched a perfect four innings with 11 strikeouts in 12 batters faced. The coaching staff pulled her from the game to let her get some rest.
“A part of me wanted to stay in there yeah, cause, I don’t know… I wanted to strike some more batters out,” Bouplon said.
The Furies’ ace is also a strong hitter. In their 13-2 win over Wake Christian, Bouplon went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, knocking in more runs as a batter than she allowed in the circle.
In a lineup that features five future Division I players, Bouplon — who is headed to UNC Greensboro in the fall — bats in the heart of the order, usually in the No. 3 or No. 4 slot.
Fellow seniors Channing Cox (Liberty), Riley Didier (Syracuse) and Campbell Hutcherson (North Carolina) are also set for college softball careers. Brown, a junior, has already committed to East Tennessee State where the coaching staff hopes she’ll continue to play catcher.
Bouplon said the pitcher-catcher relationship is a big part of her success.
“You have to work together, and it’s all about patience and just … you have to be one person,” Lew said.
Brown, who played with Bouplon on the Firecrackers club softball team before joining FCD, agreed.
“You have to know your pitcher on a personal basis and you have to know everything about her as a player,” she said.
“If her pitch isn’t working, you have to be able to look at her body language and know exactly what she’s doing wrong so you can help her and help her make adjustments.”
“It’s like she’s your little princess and you have to take care of her.”
Opposing batters probably don’t refer to Bouplon as a “little princess.” Neither does her coach.
“You see her in the circle and she’s a bulldog,” McKinney said. “Very unemotional, just ‘I’m gonna get you’ type attitude.”
And usually, she does.
