Kellie Eubanks Keeps Busy by Staying Active
3/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? Ever since she was little University of Alabama shortstop Kellie Eubanks has spent her free time playing sports and keeping active. The range she possesses at shortstop stems from that and has made her one of the best defensive shortstops in the SEC.
Eubanks, a sophomore on the Crimson Tide softball team, started playing fast pitch softball when she was eight years old in Louisiana. It wasn't just softball when she was growing up. When she was 11 years old she started to pick up golf. Her father, Steve, played golf in college at Southwestern Louisiana, which is now Louisiana-Lafayette. He started to teach the game to Kellie once she got old enough.
"My dad grew up playing golf and played golf in college," said Kellie. "I started playing when I was around 11 and would always go with him to the driving range."
Once Kellie started to learn the mechanics and improve she started playing against her father on the course. Meanwhile, Steve would teach her about hitting with different clubs and what to look for in different situations while they were playing.
"He still coaches me," said Eubanks. "He would tell me how far I hit each club. We would play a game where he would tell me a certain club and I would have to figure out how far it was and what club I should use from what he told me."
Although she was being taught while she played with her father, Kellie said the competitive spirit was still there and they would each try to win.
"We were very competitive so it was close all the time," said Kellie. "I would beat him sometimes but he would come right back and beat me the next time so it was always fun."
In high school Kellie played a variety of different sports, including volleyball, basketball, golf and softball. She was a standout in each sport. She was a three-time All-District performer in volleyball and a LHSBCA All-State pick her sophomore year in basketball.
Softball and golf fell during the same time period. She was on her own with golf as no other females participated on the team with her. She also didn't get to practice much since she spent most of her time with her softball team.
"Since it was during softball, I never really practiced golf," said Eubanks. "I just went and played. Me and my dad would go out and hit and that was it for practice. It didn't really mess with my softball swing at all. I actually think it helped. I didn't have any teammates. I was the only girl. There was another girl who started to play my senior year but didn't finish."
Even without practicing very much, Eubanks was still one of the top golfers in the state. She received third place at the state tournament her junior season after finishing 14th as a freshman and 12th as a sophomore. Her senior year she took sixth at the regional tournament but was unable to compete at state due to a conflict with softball.
On her run to third place she hit one of the best shots she can remember hitting when she drove the green on a par-four, 300-yard hole. She hit it with her driver, the club she claims she hits the best with.
"The driver is my best club if I hit it straight," Eubanks said. "My short game is the worst."
Kellie and her parents, Steve and Lisa Eubanks, would usually leave immediately following softball games to drive to golf tournaments. It worked out where she could do both sports. Even now she tries to occasionally mix in golf during softball season for a change of pace.
"I will play golf every now and again or just go out in the yard and swing," said Eubanks. "I actually went and hit the other day. It gives me something to do and something to take my mind off of everything else. I can just go relax and have fun."
She hasn't been able to play as much golf this year as she would like. She spent most of the fall season recovering from a shoulder injury she suffered during her freshman season.
Kellie injured her shoulder diving for a ball early in the season. She was playing second base at the time and dove to stop a ball up the middle and landed wrong.
"I hurt it the second or third week of the season," said Eubanks. "It was tough. I had to take a week or two off where I couldn't do anything because it hurt so much. I worked my way back. When I got to play it was great but my shoulder still hurt. I hurt it again diving towards first base. After that we went and got a MRI and found out that I had torn my labrum. I had to decide whether to have surgery then or after the season."
She waited until after the season because she wanted to be available in case somebody else got hurt. The pain in her shoulder limited her from doing some of the things she was used to doing, especially staying active and playing golf. Following the season she had surgery on her shoulder, which put her out even longer.
"The first few weeks right after my surgery were tough," said Eubanks. "I couldn't move my arm. They would push on it and try to get my motion back. The first few weeks were the hardest."
Now that she if fully recovered from her injury she can go back to staying active. Some of the things besides golf that help her pass the time include ping pong, hack-e-sack and throwing the Frisbee.
Kellie and her fellow teammate Kelley Montalvo own a ping pong table and will play each other every now and again. The matches can get competitive and Montalvo has even brought up an idea of buying something to signify the champion of their contests.
"Monty and I play all the time," said Eubanks. "We have a table and usually split. We are both really competitive and are pretty good at it. Monty wants to get a championship belt and whoever wins gets to keep the belt for the night."
The two started playing ping pong against each other last year when they were both freshman. One of the newest pastimes for Eubanks and her teammates has been playing hack-e-sack before practice and games.
Eubanks was a highly touted freshman coming out of St. Amant High School in Prairieville, La. Her list of high school honors included being named LSWA and 4-5A District MVP. She was an All-State selection and was named the 5A LSWA Outstanding Player. She led her team to four consecutive 5A State Championships and a final national ranking of 16th her senior year.
"We had a great team although only a few players went Division I and continued playing softball," said Eubanks. "We had a great coach. My freshman year we had another coach and he passed away. The next guy took over for him and did a great job."
Kellie's softball coach during her freshman year in high school, James Iturralde, had made a big impact on her life. After he led them to the state championship that season, he passed away after a battle with cancer. The next season was hard on everybody in the program but the team found the best way to honor their coach by winning another state championship.
"It was very hard," said Eubanks. "We knew what had to be done and we kept winning for him. We had a sticker on our helmet with an "I" on it because we called him Coach "I". They had a sign at the field and other little things. The first day of practice he said we would win state and we did. After he died the next coach (Scott Nielson) came in saying the same thing and we kept winning."
That winning mentality has carried over to her career at the University of Alabama. She helped lead the Tide to its fourth Women's College World Series appearance in seven years and first SEC Championship in 2006. Alabama is off to another great start in 2007 thanks to the stellar play at shortstop by Eubanks.
Kellie and the No. 3 Crimson Tide will be at home this weekend for a three-game series with conference foe Georgia. The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday and will conclude with a 1:30 p.m. start on Sunday at the Alabama Softball Complex.
