Street finding success

Published 7:54 am Monday, April 20, 2009

WILSON – Success finds Kendall Street – or perhaps she finds it.

The Lawrence Academy graduate who now plays softball at Barton College has found triumph during her first year playing for the Bulldogs.

And it is nothing new – she won a state championship at Lawrence and played in another state championship series. She also was named Tarheel Independent Conference Player of the Year in volleyball, softball and basketball.

Those awards are continuing to come her way during her freshman year at Barton as she was named Second Team All-Conference Carolinas this week during the league’s annual softball tournament.

Street, who missed her senior season at Lawrence due to an injury, said it was difficult getting adjusted to the college game, but she was enjoying it since she had.

“It took me a while to get acclimated,” Street said. “Once I did, I started doing better. I like it a lot.”

The right-hander said one of the biggest challenges was learning to be a tough pitcher mentally.

“It’s been good to see how far I’ve come since the surgery,” she said. “The greatest adjustment has been getting used to better batters. I’ve had to become more of a mental pitcher instead of a thrower. I enjoy that.”

In a recent sweep of Anderson University, Street picked up a pair of wins on the mound and drove in the game-winning run in the first contest.

“I couldn’t have done it without teamwork,” Street told the Wilson Daily Times. “It’s all about executing and we did that very well today. Everything’s coming around. We have great potential and it’s finally starting to show.”

In game one, Street had a single to left that scored a teammate to give the Bulldogs a walk-off victory. She pitched five scoreless innings in that contest as well.

In the second game, she came in to relieve Kim Page and finished the game with the victory.

Street said she enjoyed those two victories and also enjoyed her first collegiate start on the mound.

“It took me a while to get the hang of the college game, but once I did, I got the chance to start and that was great,” she said.

Barton finished 14-22 this season and ninth in Conference Carolinas. They did so with a large amount of freshman (eight) on the roster, Street said she felt good about next season.

“I finally proved myself this year, so I’m expecting next year will be even better,” she said. “We have a big freshman class so we’ll have a year of experience playing together next year.”

If Street’s history is any indicator, success will likely come to the Bulldogs during the next three seasons.