CHESHIRE—Kaleigh Durkin’s passion and intensity for the game of softball could have taken her down two paths.
Fortunately for the Cheshire Academy senior shortstop, who hails from North Branford, her journey from T-ball to travel ball to high school softball is now taking her to college.
Durkin has signed a National Letter of Intent to take her talents—as well as her passion and intensity—to Seton Hall University in the fall.
“I think it all started with stepping onto campus for the first time,” Durkin said. “Everybody talks about the feeling of it being a right fit and everything about it was just an ideal situation. The coaching staff was unbelievable. The softball program is good and the girls on the team were nice. And they gave me a chance to play at the next level. It was a no-brainer.”
Signing on that dotted line to join the Pirates also fulfilled a life-long dream Durkin has had since being able to pick up a softball bat.
“Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to play Division 1,” she said. “Of course, everybody has the dream of playing at Florida, or something like that. When I was younger, I knew I wasn’t that good, so I had to train constantly and work hard. But it was always D-1. It just a quest to the best I could be and that’s me no matter what I’m doing on or off the field.”
Durkin did look south at some schools. She looked in the mid-Atlantic region, as well.
Seton Hall, however, checked off all the proverbial boxes and Durkin can’t wait to challenge herself at the next level.
“I knew softball for me is something I’m very passionate about,” she said. “I set a goal to perform as high as possible and I want to show younger kids that it is possible (to play Division 1), even though you might not be from the south.”
Durkin wants to major in Psychology, with a focus of doing something within the world of sports when she is done with college.
A player as passionate and intense as she is between the baselines, while playing a sport where failure is a common thing sometimes, the psychology of the game has always intrigued her and helped her grow as a softball player.
“I like to focus on the failure and how people react to the failure,” she said. “Softball is a big failing game sometimes and I’d like to figure out how the brain reacts to that. Failure is something I had to learn to overcome.”
Over her career, Durkin has failed as many times as other good players, too.
From t-ball to her time with the Seacoast Sting travel program, she started to grow as a player, but always sensed she needed something a little more intense to match her own tenacity when she stepped onto a field.
One day, she found it by watching the Southington-based CT Lightning play in a national tournament.
“I was watching, and every girl seemed to have the same passion that I do, and everybody was cheering and diving for every ball,” Durkin said. “I said that’s a team I want to play for. Those are my kind of players and teammates.”
CT Lightning Gold 18-U coach Pete Cowen ended up getting a player who fit in nicely with his program.
“She plays with a passion and intensity that stands out on the field,” Cowen said. “That was a big part of her recruiting process and what drew coaches o\to come see her play. She just stands out on the field. She’s one of the hardest workers off the field, too. There aren’t many kids who work harder.”
Alas, Cowen realized, there were times when the intensity might blow over the top, too.
“She eats, sleeps and breathes this sport,” he said. “She’s always the kind of kid you don’t really want to play against, but you always want her on your team. She will go to war for her teammates.”
Over the years, Durkin has learned to contain her passion and intensity to the point where it is always more often than not been a help rather than a hindrance.
It pays off when chasing a ball hit deep into the hole or when trying to stretch a double into a triple.
And college coaches watching her play took note.
“That was a big thing when coaches came to see her play. They were really attracted to that energy,” Cowen said. She definitely stood out. She’s not afraid of anything out there. She’s a clutch player. You want the bat in her hands in a big spot. She’s a gamer.”
It was part of her maturity process that helped her grow into a Division-1 caliber player.
“They were so welcoming, but I knew I had to prove myself,” Durkin said. “It took a while to earn the respect from my teammates, their parents, my coaches. Now they’re all my best friends and I have these amazing coaches.”
Durkin credits Cowen a lot with getting her ready to play college softball.
As part of her maturity as a person and as a player, Durkin has also been named a captain at Cheshire Academy, a member of the New England Prep School Athletic Conference, and last year’s Western New England Class B champs.
In her final season with the Wildcats, she hopes to leave her mark as a captain.
“My goal is to leave my team a good reputation, and some good team chemistry,” she said. “I want to leave it where the underclassmen understand they have to work hard but have fun. We have players who have never touched a bat before and we have players who are going to college, so it’s really important for us to help them become as good a player as they want to be, too.”
That’s where Durkin hopes her passion can rub off on a teammate or two, for the good of the game and the good of her team.
“Sometimes, that’s a big part of that learning curve,” Cowen said, “channeling that energy in a positive way, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement from her in that way, as well. But she’s become a phenomenal player, and you can see it in her performance and results.”
Her intensity and passion could have taken her down another path, but instead Kaleigh Durkin kept learning and growing to make her dreams come true.
Next year, Seton Hall waits. And the Pirates will be getting a passionate player, ready to do anything to help her team win—the kind of player you hate to play against, but love having on your team.
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