After a stellar junior season in which she helped propel the Henderson County softball team to the state final tournament game, expectations for Taylor Troutman’s senior year were understandably high.
But until recently, neither Taylor nor her coach and father, Shannon Troutman, knew quite how high.
On Feb. 1, CBS Sports’ MaxPreps.com named Taylor its 2024 preseason best softball player in Kentucky.
Two weeks later, MaxPreps took it up a notch, naming her in its Top 20 Class of 2024 Softball Players to Watch nationally (she was No. 17).
But Taylor, who has signed to play Division I college ball at Mississippi State, isn’t intimidated.
“Oh, I’m excited,” she said of the accolades. “It doesn’t scare me at all. I use it as fuel.”
As the 2024 season launches March 11 with a home opener against Madisonville-North Hopkins, Shannon Troutman said her growing reputation will bring challenges. “She’s very well-known now. She’ll probably get walked a lot. Just don’t swing at bad pitches,” he told her. “That’s something we’re working on.”
Taylor comes from an athletic family (though mention of it prompts her to roll her eyes a little). Her dad played college baseball at Oakland City University, where mom Danielle ran cross-country; her older sister Jordan plays volleyball for the University of Southern Indiana.
“He was (assistant) baseball coach (at County High) when I was young, so I always had a bat in my hands,” Taylor said. “I don’t remember not having a bat in my hands.”
She was on the HCHS varsity softball by seventh grade and became a starter as a freshman.
Taylor was also a talented volleyball player for at the high school. “She led the team in kills as a sophomore,” her father said.
“I had colleges talking to me about (playing college) volleyball,” Taylor said. “But I went with softball. My heart is softball.”
With her senior season still to go, she already holds HCHS career records for the most home runs and RBIs, and ranks in the school’s Top 10 for batting average, hits, runs and triples. She has a career batting average of .422 with 28 home runs.
As a junior in 2023, she hit .478 while hitting 12 homers, 10 doubles and 53 RBIs with a .930 slugging percentage. She finished 2023 with a 17-game hitting streak.
Much of that was done against future top-tier college players. “Last year, she faced six or seven (future) Division I pitchers,” Shannon Troutman said. “One is pitching for Michigan. We played one of the hardest schedules in Kentucky because we played the best in Indiana and Kentucky.”
As a sophomore, she was named second-team All-State; last year, she was selected first-team All-State.
Taylor has also played with elite summer travel-ball teams. Last summer, she played for Top Gun National, which was ranked among the Top 10 in U.S. club rankings. She hit .382 with 16 home runs, 12 doubles and 53 RBIs against some of the country’s elite pitchers.
Little wonder that Mississippi State, which has been a perennial NCAA softball tournament competitor, wanted her.
“I loved the coaches,” Taylor said of Mississippi State. “I just feel home when I’m there. I love how they play. They’re like family. They do chants with the fans.”
And academically — she plans to major in elementary education and special education — “They’re really good with my major.” (Taylor doesn’t just shine on the field. She’s been a three-time member of the KHSAA Academic All-State team.)
She’s been an outfielder, a position her father said she loves because of the opportunity to roam a wide territory and dive for balls. But because of the team’s needs this upcoming season, she’s being transitioned to first base.
The 5-foot-10 senior said she is “kind of ambidextrous.” She throws right-handed but bats left-handed.
When Shannon Troutman was hired as head softball coach in 2018, he had a clear goal — to restore what had become a losing program to prominence.
That has come to pass, and Taylor Troutman has been part of the ride.
“Her freshman year, we made it to the first round” of the state tournament, he said. “Her sophomore year, we made it to the second round — the Elite Eight. Her junior year, we made it to the final game.”
That state championship game in June 2023 didn’t end the way the Lady Colonels hoped. Defending state champion Louisville Ballard, rated as one of the nation’s Top 10 teams, beat the Lady Cols 12-4. County finished the season 33-6.
“It was so energetic and fun,” Taylor said of the 2023 season. “It was hard to end. But it (feels) good to have another season and prove a point …
“Now this year, I’d like to make it to the championship (game) and win it all.”
