Jeff Horton leaned against the bleachers behind Patterson Mill’s softball field one recent afternoon ruminating on Mackenzie Knight’s early prosperity in her softball career.
Knight put up monster numbers in her sophomore season batting .609 with 53 hits and 15 RBIs en route to being named The Aegis softball Player of the Year.
Where does she go from here? It’s the question her coach has been grappling with. Softball isn’t a sport designed for players to top such potent plate success. “Does she hit .700? Or .800?” he asks.
So, the back half of Knight’s high school career and the level she could reach beyond a strong batting average, Horton says, is something of a mystery.
Here’s how Horton frames it: she’s amidst a three-step undertaking.
Step one for Knight was last year’s adjustment to the varsity level, hovering under the wing of her older sister, Madison — the person who helped blossom her love of the game.
Mackenzie was a leadoff hitter her freshman year and a key contributor to a Class 1A state finalist team, batting a little over .400. But there are few objections that Madison was the leader of last year’s Huskies team as their ace and best hitter. The elder Knight since graduated to play at Syracuse where she was recently named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman Team.
“The support her older sister gave her and the comfort level with it,” Horton said, “gave her an ease of play and a feeling of freedom [as a freshman].”
Mackenzie has always looked to her big sister for guidance in the sport. First, she tried her hand at basketball and soccer. She also danced for a year. But seeing how much Madison enjoyed softball pushed her to give it a shot.
“When she started playing, she started to really like it,” Mackenzie said. “When I first got into softball, I really wanted to do what Madison did. I wanted to pitch and hit right-handed. Sadly, that didn’t work out for me. My first season, I wasn’t really that good.”
She mustered one hit playing for the Hickory Hornets travel program. She told her parents she wanted to quit, thinking softball was just another sport that wasn’t for her.
Then Mackenzie’s dad convinced her to give it another shot, suggesting a different approach: play outfield, bat lefty and hammer away at the art of slap hitting. She called it the best decision of her softball career because even at a young age, Mackenzie began finding success on the basis of her own merit.
Fast forward to her sophomore year. With Madison off at college, it was a chance for Mackenzie to show she’s more than just the younger sister of a two-time Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year, calling her a “tough act to follow.”
That was step two.
With a .622 on-base percentage and 37 runs scored, few others were as much of an offensive catalyst for their team as Mackenzie was for the Huskies. And she never shied from the moment, hitting 10-for-14 across three playoff games with seven RBIs.
Mackenzie and Horton pointed out Patterson Mill’s 17-7 win over Francis Scott Key in a 1A quarterfinal on May 19.
“That was a game she hit away, she bunted, she slapped, she had two triples,” Horton said. “She basically did whatever she wanted offensively. That was definitely her game. … In a big moment, she really shined.”
“Every single one of us wanted that game so bad,” Mackenzie added. “Every single pitch of that game we played for each other. Even if one of us struck out or made an error, I thought we picked each other up very well.”
She found success under the wing of her sister as a freshman and created her own identity as a sophomore. That’s where we turn to step three in Mackenzie’s softball journey.
The final ternary will be Mackenzie learning to lead her team, forging the legacy she chooses to leave. She set the bar high. Where she goes from here will be entirely up to her. Right now, that’s the mystery.
All-Aegis first team
Kallissa Coats, John Carroll, sophomore, infield
Coats led the Patriots with 33 RBIs while hitting five home runs. Her coach, Sherry Hudson, said she has “good power and can be a game changer at the plate.” Coats batted .418 with an .891 slugging percentage.
Ryleigh Curry, Havre de Grace, freshman, infield
Curry was unanimously voted by her teammates as the Warriors’ MVP as a freshman. She struck out once all season, had a perfect fielding percentage in 45 chances and knocked in 13 runs batting .472.
Kelsey Price, Patterson Mill, senior, infield
Price tallied 24 hits and 16 RBIs while batting .381. She was better known for her defensive capabilities with a fielding percentage of .943 in 88 chances.
Savannah Reedy, Patteson Mill, sophomore, infield
Reedy batted .493 with 34 hits, 34 RBIs and three home runs as a key piece of Patterson Mill’s playoff push. Her fielding percentage was .943 on 76 total chances.
Kyrsten Coppage, Bel Air, senior, outfield
Bel Air’s leadoff hitter batted .529. She had 37 hits, 22 singles, nine doubles, three triples and three home runs. Coppage had a .927 fielding percentage and recorded her 200th career strikeout on the mound.
Mykaela Getz, John Carroll, senior, outfield
Getz has been a three-year captain, hitting .385 as a senior with 17 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and one error in 31 putouts. Hudson described her as having “great speed and read in the outfield to take away potential hits.”
Lacey Swart, Harford Tech, senior, outfield
Swart finished her season with 23 hits split between 13 singles, six doubles and four triples. She had 18 RBIs and an OBP of .419. The senior’s fielding percentage was .967, making one error all year patrolling the outfield.
Briana Rebman, Perryville, senior, catcher
Rebman finished her season batting .400 with an OBP of .492 with 13 RBIs, a home run and nine walks to just two strikeouts. Her fielding percentage was .984, allowing zero passed balls while picking off five runners.
Lily Baldwin, Patterson Mill, sophomore, pitcher
Baldwin finished the season with a 14-1 record, pitching 64 innings. The sophomore struck out 48 batters with an ERA of 1.74.
Maddy Burns, Fallston, junior, pitcher
A .475 batting average with 15 RBIs and two home runs, while pitching 63 innings at a .889 ERA made Burns Fallston’s most dynamic threat. She also struck out 99 batters, allowing eight earned runs all season.
Abby Reed, Harford Tech, junior, pitcher
Harford Tech’s ace pitched 85 innings, starting 13 games and appearing in 15 with nine wins. She struck out 92 batters compared to walking only 10, with an ERA of 1.81.
Audrey March, Patterson Mill, sophomore, utility
March hit .493 with 36 hits and 33 RBIs. Her 11 doubles and two home runs were a crucial part of Patterson Mill’s state playoff push. The sophomore’s fielding percentage was .963 on 27 chances.
Izzy Youngworth, C. Milton Wright, freshman, utility
Youngworth recorded 147 strikeouts, good for seventh in the state and leading all freshman. She pitched 103.2 innings and dubbed her team’s MVP. Youngworth also batted .462 with a .525 OBP and 10 extra base hits.
All-Aegis second team
Sophie Anderson, John Carroll, junior, infield
The two-year captain averaged .490 with a .532 OBP and 21 RBIs. Her fielding percentage was .977 with one error in 43 chances, dubbed the Patriots’ “glue of the infield.”
Mackenzie Dunaway, North Harford, junior, infield
Dunaway was one of North Harford’ most productive batters, hitting .492 with 27 RBIs and 34 hits. She also had a fielding percentage of .846 on 65 total chances.
Riley Jackson, Perryville, senior, infield
Jackson hit .446 with a .500 OBP, 35 hits and 22 RBIs with only three strikeouts. She was also a perfect 11 for 11 on stolen bases.
Kendra Miller, C. Milton Wright, sophomore, infield
Miller batted .426 with an OBP of .471. She tallied 19 runs with six extra-base hits and 14 RBIs. Her coach, Jeff Dwyer, called her a “solid, steady bat who played outstanding defense.”
Savannah Claycomb, John Carroll, freshman, outfield
John Carroll’s freshman lead-off hitter and lefty slapper averaged .472 with an OBP of .569. Claycomb had 25 runs, 12 walks, eight stolen bases and no errors. She was “unflappable for a freshman,” Hudson said.
Sydney Dawson, John Carroll, junior, outfield
Dawson batted .405 with a .554 OBP. She stole 13 bases, recorded nine RBIs, 16 runs and a team-best 12 walks. The junior’s fielding percentage was .952 including 17 putouts.
Sofia Gallahue, Bel Air, sophomore, outfield
The sophomore played in 21 of 22 games this season batting .373. She had 22 hits including two doubles and four triples while fielding .974.
Kinsey Mentzer, Havre de Grace, sophomore, catcher
Mentzer drove in 22 runs, hitting two home runs with a .455 average and .982 fielding percentage on 112 total chances.
Jocelyn Rebman, Perryville, sophomore, pitcher
Rebman finished with a 5-1 record on the mound with one save and a 1.53 ERA. At the plate, she hit .371 with an OBP of .421 scoring 19 runs and six walks to five strikeouts as a leadoff hitter.
Taegan Spier, Perryville, freshman, utility
The freshman’s fielding percentage was .977 and she was the winning pitcher in a crucial regular-season win over Patterson Mill. Spier batted .318 with 21 hits including seven doubles and a home run.
