WEBSTER COUNTY, Ky. (1/22/13) - “I’m just not ready for my softball career to end yet!”

It's just that simple for Webster County High School’s Kaylyn Winders. The WCHS senior will continue her playing days next year after signing a scholarship package last Friday with John A. Logan junior college in Marion, IL.
 
Winders, who had several college offers, picked Logan mainly because of the attitude of head coach Bruce Jelik as well as the closeness of the Lady Volunteer players. “I had taken four visits and John Logan was the last one. I really like Coach Jilek and the way he interacted with the players. He seems to really care about the players on a personal level ... making sure everything is going well in the classroom and in their personal life,” Winders stated. “The players told me he keeps an eye on their academics and just really takes an interest in everything they do. And the players seemed to get along really well”
 
After sending a skills tape to the college, Coach Jilek arranged a visit for Winders to the Marion campus.
 
“They made me an offer and after touring the apartments and campus, I knew this was the place for me,” she continued.
 
Winders also gives a tremendous amount of credit to Lady Trojan head coach Greg Sutton for his efforts and helping her continue her playing days.
 
“Coach Sutton has made all the difference. He called all these coaches (on my behalf) and arranged the visits. And he’s put in all the extra time to help me improve my game, working on Saturdays and Sundays.,” Winders stated. “I owe him a great deal, he continues to push me to get better and he’s always preaching to me to have a positive attitude and not get down on myself. I’ve worked very hard to improve every phase of my game, but Coach Sutton is the person who’s made all this happen for me.”
 
The Logan softball team competed in the NJCAA National Championship Tournament just two years ago, and finished among the top eight programs in the country. Logan has also had the pleasure of coaching Netherlands Olympian, Natalie Timmermans in recent past. JALC has been named NJCAA Academic Team-of-The-Year each year for the past 12 years. JALC has had more than its share of NJCAA All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, Louisville Slugger All-Americans, to name a few. Coach Bruce Jilek, the head coach of the Logan Volunteers, is an inducted member of the IHSA (Illinois High School Athletic Association) Hall-of-Fame with over 500 wins while head coach at Herrin High School in Herrin, IL. Eight of his teams competed in the championship game at the IHSA state tournament. Jilek finished with four, second-place finishes.
 
“Kaylyn constantly works to improve herself in spite of having had her share of success on the field. We look for her to add depth to our catching position,” Coach Jilek state. “She is familiar with what we expect of catchers at this level and she won’t shy away from that responsibility. We are very happy Kaylyn joined our program. She is a tremendous young lady and represents the qualities we look for in a recruit - positive, athletic, good student, works hard, responsible, good teammate, coachable, eager to learn,” he concluded. Winders, a WCHS honor student, stated that she hasn’t decided on a major as of yet but did note she was possibly looking at the medical field as a career choice.
 
“I’m just glad I’ve signed and got all of this out of the way. Now I can focus on getting better and having a great senior season here at Webster County. I want to enjoy my last year here and help lead the Lady Trojans to a great year and deep into post-season play,” Winders concluded.

Charlie Hust
Journal Enterprise

Copyright © 2012 SurfKY News Group, Inc. all rights reserved.  SurfKY.com is an eNewspaper providing local news FREE to Kentucky 24/7.  Read Statewide Kentucky News, Sports, Obituaries and more from the following Kentucky Counties:  Calloway, Christian, Daviess, Fayette (Lexington), Henderson, Hopkins, Logan, McCracken, Muhlenberg, Warren, and Webster Counties as well as the Kentucky Lakes Area.