OU softball commit Kadey Lee McKay trying to be 'best leader' for undefeated Caddo

TECUMSEH — She plays shortstop, wears jersey No. 3 and will play college softball at the University of Oklahoma.

No, this is not a career retrospective of former Sooners’ All-American and three-time national champion Grace Lyons.

This is Caddo standout Kadey Lee McKay, the lone senior for the Class A top-ranked Bruins.

“I look up to her a ton,” McKay said after Caddo won a pair of games at the Dale-Tecumseh Tournament Thursday at Tecumseh High School. “She is probably one of the best infielders I think I have seen. I just love seeing her play out there and the competition she has out there. She gets it done.”

McKay has also been getting it done at Caddo, where she has helped lead the Bruins to back-to-back state championships in both fast-pitch and slow-pitch softball over the past two seasons. So far this year, Caddo remains unbeaten at 21-0.

The Bruins opened the weekend tournament with a 6-1 victory over Chandler in six innings an a 15-0 whitewash of Latta in four.

“She is just such a good leader,” said Caddo coach Dustin McKay, Kady’s father. “Every game that we play is just one closer to me not having her next year and being on this team. There are a lot of times you can just cut her loose and she is by far, and I am not being biased, the best leader that I have ever coached. I’m not saying it because she is mine.”

More: OU softball recruiting on roll as Kendall Wells, Sophia Bordi commit to Sooners 2025 class

Kadey Lee verbally committed to the Sooners nearly a year ago. To an OU program that has won three national championships in a row and recruits the best from coast to coast, it takes a special in-state prospect to break through and earn that coveted scholarship offer.

“I feel like I am a pretty good leader and I feel like I communicate really well,” McKay said. “Both sides, offensively and defensively and I feel like that is something that really stood out to them.”

McKay has found success this season by keeping things simple at the plate and staying quicker and faster with her footwork at shortstop. By focusing less on home runs and more on finding gaps and holes in the outfield, she has become a more dangerous hitter. When paired with junior third baseman Jaycie Nichols in the Caddo infield, the pair form an almost impenetrable left side.

“We compete,” McKay said. “We play travel ball together, too, so we know each other really well on the field. We know what each other likes to do on that field and we just know that we have got to have a lot of talk and I feel like we both talk really well when it comes to the defensive side.”

In addition to her outstanding fielding, Nichols creates a lot of havoc for the opposition from the leadoff spot and once she reaches base. With her speed, it does not take much for a routine single to result in Nichols standing on third with a couple of stolen bases a few pitches later.

More: Piedmont softball trying to fill ‘really big shoes’ from 2022 Class 5A championship squad

“Definitely my first at-bat starts the momentum and it gets it going,” Nichols said. “And I know that is what it takes to get the team going to win the game. It’s the momentum. I get on and it just keeps piling up.”

Caddo graduated just three seniors off last year’s team, including a starter in pitcher/center fielder Emily Robinson, who is now playing basketball at Oral Roberts. The void in the pitcher’s circle has been assumed by junior Timber Hensley, who earned a victory against Chandler.

“Oh, she’s a lion!” Kadey Lee McKay said. “She’s amazing. She can put it where she wants it. She also knows that she has the best defense behind her, so if she misses a pitch she is OK because we have got her back no matter what.”

Against Chandler, McKay doubled and drove in two runs. In the night’s finale against Latta, she reached base three times and scored three runs, while Hensley singled, doubled and drove in three runs.

With the large target that comes with back-to-back state champions, plus an unbeaten record in 2023, Dustin McKay admitted that a loss would not be the worst thing in the world for any slumping players. Considering the fact that the Bruins have averaged 16-18 wins in a row after a defeat, he might be on to something as his team inches closer to postseason play.

“To be honest, we’re never hunting for a loss, but at this point it would do this bunch good, I think,” Dustin McKay admitted. “I’m not saying that I’m hunting one. Yes, every single day people are going to look on the rankings and say, ‘They haven’t got beat yet,’ And we’re going to get beat. That is just part of it. Our season is not based on winning every single game that we play. We just like to win the ones that count towards the end.”

More: Why CHA appears set to end Oklahoma high school volleyball state tournament drought

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball commit Kadey Lee McKay leading Caddo on undefeated run