By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Entering the 2022 season, Munford Lady Cougar Shelby Kendrick was focused on her future.
But playing more softball wasn’t in the plans. Kendrick just wanted to stay healthy and complete her senior campaign with the Lady Cougars and new Head Coach Raygan Huffman. Then the games racked up and Munford started to post several wins. A vital part of the Lady Cougars’ run was the hot bat and solid defense of Kendrick.
All of sudden the daughter of Richard and Pamela Kendrick desired to continue her softball career post high school. A school familiar to the family was watching nearby. Southwest Tennessee Lady Saluqis Head Coach Keith Gentry made Kendrick an offer and on May 23 she signed her national letter of intent.
“It feels pretty good to be able to play at the next level and get more time doing what I love to do,” she said. “I got two years taken away from me because last year I had a broken ankle. The year before we didn’t get to play because of COVID. I really only got to play my freshman year. The two years I get to play now are the two years I didn’t get to play in high school. I just get to play a little bit more.”
Back in 2018, Shelby’s older brother the late Steven “Stevo” Kendrick signed with Southwest Tennessee Baseball.
“It nice to know there is another place I can go where he went to,” Shelby said. “Not just Munford, he went to Southwest too, to play ball.”
Huffman said Shelby can play ball — anywhere you place her on the field. In 2022 the All-District player was vital to the Lady Cougar turnaround on and off the field.
“Shelby is just a great kid all around,” she said. “She’s more than just an athlete. She’s real good on and off the field. She will add so much to Southwest. She can play any position but like I said it’s her personality that got her to the next level.”
Huffman noted the team’s simple approach to the game allowed Kendrick to create special memories in a Lady Cougar uniform.
“It’s was just having fun,” she recalled. “I’m sure she enjoyed the season and just being with the girls. She found out she still does have that love of the game. The injuries put her out for so long that she wasn’t able to play. She wasn’t looking for it. But she found out she really does love the game.”
Kendrick’s love of the game was developed by her father Richard.
“I’ve been very fortunate to coach both of my children all the way up,” he said. “And one of the things I emphasized to them was to play everywhere on the field. I never placed them in one position and said, ‘This is where you play.’ We played where the need was. Versatility is the name of the game.”
Shelby’s versatility was on hold most of her high school years. She even stepped away from competitive softball.
“Her love for the game has gotten here,”Pam noted. “The fire in her was reborn when she got back on the field. Losing her junior year of softball to injury and losing her sophomore year to the pandemic, this was the first year she was back on the school field since being a freshman. I think it relit the fire in her.”
“It’s been four years since we’ve been on the field,” Richard said. “Like her mom said missing those two years then the Southwest coach reaches out to her. He had another player at Munford he was really interested in. He noticed Shelby and she had some really, really good game. She kind of showed out a little bit.”
Gentry was aware of Kendrick’s connection with Southwest Tennessee and expressed thoughts about her brother.
“She got word that Coach Gentry said ‘I really want her to play for me,’” Richard said. “‘That lit a fire.’ I think she’s always believed in her abilities but for someone to have faith in her, that gave her the fire to get to the next level.
“She read that message from Coach Gentry and saw where it was from, it felt to her it was something she needed to put forward the effort and see what can be done,” he added.
Pam said having a chance to live out her brother’s dream as well is an additional motivating factor for Shelby going to Southwest Tennessee.
“It was one of the reasons she decided to play softball at the next level,” she said. “At first she wasn’t going to and I don’t think it was in her thought process for awhile.”
Pam noted just like her brother Steven, Shelby has several natural gifts that will help her be a success on the college level.
“She has great hand/eye coordination,” she said. “Also she has a perception of what’s going to come. It’s like she can see we need to do this or that. She can read batter really well. She can read pitchers really well. I think she has that knack for the game but she can see it from different perspectives like sitting in the stands.“
Huffman gave her player one piece of coaching advice as she takes her talents to the next level.
“Be yourself and never change for anybody or anything,” she said. “If she sticks to what she knows and being Shelby Kendrick, she will go on to big things.”
Shelby said she will also take the words her brother spoke on his signing day back in January 2018 to Southwest.
“I will try to push myself to do the best I can and never give up,” she concluded.
