Ryan Brownlee: Did you have many options for baseball growing up, like, playing wise?
Kayla Baptista: Yes and no. I mean, I was fortunate enough to have softball, and I absolutely loved playing it. Besides just watching the Red Sox and going to Paw Sox games with my family, I actually did play one season of baseball—fall ball. I don’t remember exactly why—softball must not have been in season or something. But I did play that one season, and it was a lot of fun. It was different. I actually pitched and played shortstop, so it was fun.
RB: At what point at UNC were you, like, working in baseball as a realistic option?
KB: For me, I’ve always wanted to work in baseball. After my freshman year, I started reaching out to teams in the Cape League—just sending cold emails like, “Hey, I’m Kayla, I’m at UNC, and I’d love the opportunity to work in any capacity.” And what do you know? Jerry Weinstein was one of the only people who answered my email and got back to me. Andrew Lang, who’s now the president of the Cape League, was the general manager of Wareham at the time, and he said, “Yeah, send me some videos of you throwing batting practice and hitting fungos, and we’ll keep the conversation going.” So I did—I went to the softball facility at UNC, filmed myself practicing, sent it in, and the rest is history.
RB: That’s great advice, by the way—to film yourself throwing BP and hitting fungos, because those are real skills. I always tell young coaches, if you can do those two things, someone’s going to be willing to work with you on the rest. Just show that you can do those two things. And that summer up in the Cape with those three guys, how much, how much did they pour into you as far as what’s going to happen and how things should go?
KB: Yeah. Jerry Weinstein—I mean, he and I talk almost every week. He’s always in my corner. He’s the best. I love that man. And I know he’s the exact same way with so many others he’s come in contact with. That’s just who he is. He’s an 80-grade man and just an amazing human being. And then Polky—Ron Polk—is a total class act. He’s definitely one of a kind. He and I run into each other at the ABCA Convention every year. He’s always in the front row so I can always find him. He’s great too. We talk pretty consistently, and he’s in my corner as well. The two of them—along with Don Sneddon, rest in peace—were really my first mentors in the game. They taught me the right way to play baseball and the right way to do things from the start. I feel very blessed and fortunate to have had them early in my career.