TAUNTON, Mass. - The crews were hard at work in the background. Jack Tripp Field was getting a makeover with the playoffs little more than 24 hours away. As a backhoe carried dirt from a mound off the side of the field to fix sinkholes, the Hockomock League MVP took a seat at the picnic table.
Taunton senior Kelly Reading had a remarkable regular season. She hit .439 at the top of the Tigers lineup and drove in nine runs while also playing all-star caliber rightfield as Taunton rolled to a 20-2 record and second place in the always competitive Kelley-Rex Division.
“I thought it was going to be close,” said Taunton coach Dave Lewry of the MVP vote. “You look at what Kelly has done and I think that she’s contributed as much to our team as those girls did to theirs.”
Reading admitted that she was surprised when she found out that she had won the award. She had been a Hockomock League All Star last season, but there were other names (even on her own team) that were more recognizable.
“I wasn’t expecting it…I didn’t even know that he had nominated me for it,” she said. “So, it was kind of like wait, really? It was kind of a shock, but it was a really cool experience.”
Reading added, “It means a lot. It’s an honor…every coach in the league is really, really nice and it’s a great feeling.”
Trophies are nice. They recognize worthy achievements on the field and the contributions of players to their teams, but far more important to Reading’s story was the smile that stretched across her face as she spoke.
Kelly Reading is happy.
“I feel like things have to get worse to get better,” she explained with wisdom that few teenagers possess, “and my life is an example of that because things got really bad but things just keep getting better for me and I’m really happy with where I’m at.”
Family life leads to difficult transition
Reading began her high school career in Franklin. She was a member of the Panthers varsity team as a freshman although it would take a few weeks to become a starter. Reading laughed and said that it took Franklin coach Kate Fallon “open[ing] my eyes a little bit” and making her realize there were still aspects of her game that needed work before she could take over in center.
She was a starter her entire sophomore season and already had gotten college looks and committed to Div. III Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. On the field, everything was going well and she was a popular student that participated in numerous activities at the high school. It seemed like a typically perfect high school life, except for one detail.
“She’s a good kid and when she played for me unfortunately there were obstacles,” said Fallon. “It was clear that there was something wrong. When I had her she was sad and not a confident kid and now she is.”
Reading was adopted as a young child by a family that could not have kids. It was not a welcoming environment. It was a home filled with anger and abuse. Her father screamed at her and she felt pressured to do well in school and on the softball field just to avoid the torrents of abuse that would be directed towards her. Her older sister had moved to a group home for young adults with special needs several years before Reading was at Franklin High and that left her alone to deal with the situation at home.
“Freshman and sophomore year was really bad with depression and anxiety and stuff like that,” said Reading, “and coming into my junior year my grades started slipping because I was focused more on myself than my grades because I couldn’t handle it.”
As she sat at the field explaining her past, Reading waved off any suggestion that she can avoid speaking about anything that makes her uncomfortable. She insisted, “I’m an open book.”
She reflected, “It was like everything was falling apart and it was really difficult for me to focus on my grades and my friends because I had so much going on internally and with my parents.”
In October of her junior year, Reading was removed from her home and placed into the foster system. She went to live with a friend for a little while, but needed a stable home. Meanwhile, in a last act of petty rage, her father destroyed all that she owned. The Franklin community rallied behind her and provided her with so many clothes that she marveled, “I know have an over-surplus.”
Two months after being placed in the foster system, Reading was moved to Taunton to live with the Brown family.
Taunton High Provides a Clean Slate
Switching schools and homes is never easy, but particularly in the middle of the junior year of high school. This is the time when colleges are really examining your grades, while social groups are well established and kids have found their niche. Reading’s move to Taunton posed a series of problems at first, including a feeling of isolation from the student body, a drop in her GPA due to several credits not transferring over from Franklin High, a new school to navigate, and a new family dynamic that was far more welcoming but posed several logistical problems as well.
“Coming into a family with one bathroom and three kids is a crazy experience,” she joked.
Even softball was a concern, as she had been a starter for Franklin but was now coming into a successful team with experienced players that had set roles. How would she fit in? As soon as she told her former coach that she was moving, Fallon got on the phone to speak with Lewry and explain the situation. The Taunton coach reached out and explained that Reading was part of his plans for the spring.
“Kate reached out to me because I didn’t know the kid was coming,” said Lewry, “and she reached out to me and gave me some of the background and told me what a great kid she was and of course she was really jealous that she was coming here.”
Softball turned out to be a refuge for Reading. It was the place that she could get away from the struggles in school and just play the game that she loved. Unlike her home in Franklin, there was nothing but support from home in Taunton and she started to play for herself rather than to avoid the screams of her father.
Reading said, “I knew some of the girls from travel and they kind of took me in and made me part of their family. Softball honestly is what grounded me…coming into March with the softball team it was a space to get away from school and get away from family issues.”
“It’s easier for me to do well for myself than for someone else and I think that gives me more motivation and drive to do well because I’m doing it for me not my dad. I think it helps me relax and focus on my game and not just my life.”
The team also welcomed Reading with open arms. She credited Meghan Navarro, a junior captain this season, with bringing her out of her shell and telling her that she can talk about anything. She found friends on the field, which made things easier in school as well. Reading was so well accepted that only six months after coming to Taunton High, she was a unanimous choice as captain for this season.
The smile is the important part. Reading has now found peace and a home that is stable and welcoming and with it has come happiness. The past is both far away and also right at the surface. She has not seen her parents since a court date in January and has no contact with them, but those experiences provide the impetus for improvement. Having seen the worst, Reading can now accept the good things in life.
“She has a maturity that you very seldom see in high school kids,” said Lewry. “It may be a result of all that she’s been through, I don’t know, but she’s just a very mature kid, has a really good outlook on things and was accepted as a leader pretty much from the start by these kids.”
Fallon has remained close with Reading and honored her with a special senior night when Taunton visited Franklin this spring. She added, “I’m glad that she spoke up when she did. She’s generally happy and she’s living the life that every teenager should live. She can let the small crap go and focus on softball, love softball, love life.”
“If she had stayed at Franklin I don’t think she would’ve become the person that she is; she needed a fresh start.”
Becoming a Role Model
There is no desire for sympathy when Reading tells her story. She called herself “blessed” for having dealt with what she has and being able to adapt to her changing circumstances. She was recently selected to represent Massachusetts in the prestigious Distinguished Young Women Scholarship program and will spend several weeks in Alabama working on getting scholarships for school.
“Everyone looks at you and says 'Wow you’ve been through a lot,' but I wouldn’t have chosen to live my life any other way. What I’ve gone through has made me who I am. It’s made me stronger and if I can get through that then you guys can get through a practice,” said Reading.
“I think a lot of motivation for doing well at practice and doing well in school is to prove to my dad that I’m better than what he made me into. I don’t want to be like him…and people see that and they look up to you and it’s kind of like look what you’ve gone through and what you can be.”
None of this would have been possible without the move to Taunton and the support of the Brown family, including eighth grader Jaime Brown who is Taunton’s starting third baseman and Reading’s new sister.
“They’ve given me an actual family and they’ve given me a bed to go home to at night and I can relax and love them rather than being uptight and stressed out all the time.”
Rather than worrying about what she might find when she gets home, Reading was focused on the playoff game with Weymouth that would take place the next night and the tough scrimmage with Case from the day before. She felt that the Tigers had gotten a wake-up call and would be ready to answer the bell on Friday.
She stood up, smiled, and joined her team for practice happy with where she is and where she is headed.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.