Kali Day, junior exercise sports major, is the catcher for Park University’s softball team who has become a leader for the team both on and off the field.

Day has been excelling this season. She has 21 RBIs, the most on the team, hit 4 home runs, has a batting percentage of .440 and a slugging percentage of .720. However, she also wants the rest of her team to succeed.

“I’m known to be very loud and overly supportive to everybody, so I work to make that dynamic for everyone involved,” she said. “I go around, making sure everybody’s cheering for everybody and really being their truly good teammate because I think that the environment of the dugout is really important for how we play on the field.”

Her head coach, Lindsey Derry, said that she sees Day’s contributions off the field as well. Derry said that Day is one of the leaders of the team because she wants to support her teammates if they need someone to talk to or help with academics.

Day said that she is inspired by some of the other leaders on the team, including Dani Klein and Halle Magee. She said that upperclassman and previous seniors showed her, in a way, how to be a leader.

She believes that it is important to remember that everybody has something to bring to the table. “Getting to know everybody on a personal level really gets you that knowledge of what they can do and how they can apply that to the team and how they can help the dynamic of the team.”

She advises incoming and younger student athletes to take advantage of every opportunity because this experience only lasts for so long. Day said that even small things like helping out the coach or teammates can be seen as an opportunity to show your true character.

Day is hoping that her team goes far this season. “I think we have a good team this season. So far, we’re doing really good at building camaraderie, and we’re working to make it to conference (tournament).”

The Pirates have had a strong start to the season with a record of 11-6 after last year’s season ended with a record of 18-36.

After she graduates from Park, Day plans on going to physical therapy school.