MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama softball freshman infielder Kamdyn Kvistad sat down with USAJaguars.com to discuss the advice her older sister has given her to help with the transition to college, what it means to her to be a Jaguar and her favorite memory so far from playing softball, among other topics.
Kvistad comes to South Alabama after lettering five seasons at Columbia High School in Lake City, Fla. Where she was a three-time Florida Class 7A first-team all-state honoree and named the 2017 Gainesville Sun "Big School" Player of the Year. According to MaxPreps.com, Kvistad batted .412, recorded 119 hits, 81 RBI and a .525 on-base percentage during her prep career at Columbia. Of her 119 hits, 49 were for extra bases – 20 home runs and 29 doubles. She also batted a prep career-best .565 in her 25 games as a senior as she was 39-for-69 at the plate, scoring 32 runs and driving in 30 runs of her own to go along with her 15 doubles and eight home runs that season. Kvistad also posted a 1.130 slugging percentage, and was named the MaxPrep / NFCA National Player of the Week during her final prep season. Her older sister, Kayli, is a two-time All-American and a two-time first-team all-SEC honoree at Florida.
Talk about your path to South Alabama?
"I committed here at the very beginning of my sophomore year. Stephanie Pilkington, who is a former player from here, was from my hometown and my sister and I grew up playing with her. She put a good word in for me with coach [Becky Clark] who came and watched me play. Coach first watched me play at a school ball game and I did well. She continued to watch me during travel ball and I came to a couple of camps. I fell in love with South and the coaches. I loved the way that they described their program and the types of players that they were looking at playing for them, which fit with me. South is a very blue-collared type of program and the players just work hard every day, and that just fit my personality. It was the perfect fit for me."
Your sister Kayli has had an outstanding career at Florida. Talk to me about being the sister of a player who has received those accolades.
"I definitely have some big shoes to fill with her as my sister. Growing up though she was always someone that I looked up to; she's my biggest role model and my favorite softball player. Every day at practice [in high school] I would see if I could hit as many home runs as her if not more just to have that competition aspect. I was really blessed to be able to train alongside her because right now she's one of the top players in college softball. I wanted to be just like her growing up and she's given me something to strive for. Going into college she's given me a lot of advice and that's helped out a bunch."
What advice has she given you to try to help ease the transition of college?
"Time management was her big thing. She preached on how you're going to be busy every single day of the week and you're not going to have many days where you can just do whatever you want.
"She's told me to enjoy the moments and make friends because this is the kind of stuff you will have the rest of your life. Softball is just a sport you play, but what you come to college for is an education. She's told me to just work hard, live in the moment, don't put too much pressure on yourself and half fun. She wants me to stay positive through it all and has told me that the first semester is the hardest, but if you can get through that, you can get through anything.
"I really miss her and watching her games, but I'm also excited because once she is done playing this season, she will be able to come watch me play and she hasn't been able to do a whole lot."
What kind of an impact do you hope to make on the team this season?
"I just want to work hard and fight for that starting position. I also want to be a power hitter in our line up so we can score more runs. Defensively I want to be a leader for our team at the catcher position for the team. I want to help anywhere I'm needed whether it's in the infield, the outfield, hitting, whatever they need me to do. I just want to do the best that I can and have as big of an impact as possible."
What do you feel you need to work on during the fall as you prepare for this upcoming season?
"I would say to just catch up to the speed of the game of college softball, it's definitely different from high school ball and travel ball. Everyone says college softball is so much faster, so much better and people take the game much more serious because they want to be here and they want to play at the highest level. So far I feel that my adjustment from one level to the next has been great, but you always want to work to get better at hitting, getting the basics right and keeping your technique consistent."
What type of player can fans expect to see out of the field?
"Fans can expect to see me working hard and giving it everything I got. You never know when your last pitch is going to be, so I give it 110 percent every time, every pitch."
What are your goals for this season?
"I want to go out there and win. The more games we win will help us get to a regionals, super regionals and hopefully to the college world series; that's always been a dream of mine. Looking at my teammates and what we've been doing in practice makes me feel like anything is possible as long as we keep working hard and we all have the same goals. I feel like we are capable of making it to the highest level of college softball.
What are you majoring in at South Alabama and what do you plan to do after graduation?
"I'm majoring in business administration and I want to get a minor in supply chain. Later on in life I hope to get a job in the logistics field. In high school we had a four-year program where we worked in a big warehouse and I learned about doing that. I took the GLA [Global Logistics Associate] exam and I passed that and got 12 credits for that class. I also went to Chicago during my senior year and attended a logistics convention where I learned more about that industry. That experience kind of struck my interest so as of right now, that's want I want to go into."
Do you have a favorite place on campus?
"The cafeteria is kind of fun because you get to mix and mingle with everyone. A lot of my teammates hang out there and you get to meet people from other sports. The same thing with study hall; you get to mix and mingle with other athletes and make friends, which is really cool."
What's one interesting thing Jaguar fans may not know about you?
"I love to shop. It's probably a good thing I play softball because it keeps me busy. I have a shoe fetish. I have a lot of tennis shoes and I could just buy those until I didn't have any money left."
How many pairs of shoes would you say you have?
"Counting flip-flops, sandals and everything, it's probably close to 50 pair. I didn't even bring all my shoes with me to college because I didn't have enough room. I had to limit myself."
What does it mean to you to be a Jaguar?
"I feel like Jaguar Softball is a really respectable name around here or anywhere just because of the way we carry ourselves, the way we work hard and the way coach Clark has built this program. We're a very blue-collared program and every girl on the team knows that. We take pride in the way we work in the weight room and at practice to just work on the little things, and even the way we carry ourselves even on campus and in the classroom. I feel like we are all good kids and students, and that carries onto the ball field. We know that we have to be the best possible students and kids around and that will help us latter on in life. It's about looking at the big picture because softball isn't going to be in our life forever, so we can take pride in what we do. I feel working hard every day is something we all like to do for the coaches and for ourselves."
Do you have any pregame superstitions?
"I never play a game with my hair braided, it's bad luck. I always have to do the straight-haired ponytail with a headband and a bow. If I don't have that then it's just going to be an off day."
What is your favorite type of music to listen to?
"I'm from a small country town so I like good country. The good new country is probably my favorite type of music to listen to."
What is your favorite memory that you have had so far playing softball?
"Out of my whole career, my favorite memory would have to be probably my freshman year of high school where I was able to play with my sister who was a senior. That was the first time that I had ever gotten to play with her in any sport so the whole year was great. At a tournament in Florida we both hit a home run in the same game to get the win, so that was probably my best memory so far."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear. All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub.
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