By Chris Girandola | Twitter @crgrand | Instagram @stpetesportsmag

New Mexico State senior second baseman Kelsey Horton remembers her first disappointment like it was yesterday. 

Well, it wasn’t necessarily a disappointment, more like a misunderstanding.

“I got kicked out of the rec league and moved into another division,” said Horton, who enters her senior season after earning the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Player of the Year award for the second-straight year.

You see, Horton was moved from the 8U division into the 10U division because, as she recalls, she was much bigger and much stronger than the other players. 

“I didn’t really get kicked out, just thought I did,” said Horton, who grew up in San Clemente, California. “I didn’t understand it at first, but after my mom explained how it was for safety reasons and how the league directors did it to protect the other players, I got it.”

Since then, Horton has been a force to reckon with. Last season, the 5-foot-11 utility player, who switched over from first base to second, finished her junior campaign second in the country in home runs (a school-record 25) and 11th in RBIs (54). 

Coming off a sophomore season in which she won the WAC Player of the Year award, she dominated the conference in 2018 as she led the league in batting average (.458) and slugging percentage (1.146). In doing so, she joined elite company, becoming the sixth WAC athlete and second NMSU player to win a pair of WAC Player of the Year awards. New Mexico State graduate assistant coach Staci Rodriguez was the most recent two-time recipient of the accolade as she won the award in 2013 and 2015. 

God Given Talent

As she begins her final season with the Aggies, Horton is still just as focused on achieving greatness as she was when she first stepped on campus in Las Cruces. 

“I think that early experience was a huge moment for me in realizing what I could do with God-given talent,” said Horton, who has made the All-WAC First Team each season. “I have worked really hard to achieve results and I continue to work hard.”

Additionally, her commitment to success was emboldened by her learning disability, which she is unashamed to discuss. Once she was diagnosed, it changed her perspective on life and with sports in several ways.

“Before I was tested for the learning disability, it would frustrate me beyond belief because I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get it with certain things in school and whatnot,” Horton said. 

“Once I understood what I had and how to approach things, I realized how much work I would have to put in to be successful. I guess, in a way, it has both kept me humble and grounded while helping drive me to be the best I can be.”

That mantra has fueled her to be great. The assistance of others has helped manifest her potential.

“I do realize I am blessed with a God-given talent but I also know I have to work hard in and out of the classroom to achieve goals,” said Horton. “I work really hard to be as good as I can be because I love being successful and I love seeing what happens because of the work you put in. Early on, I didn’t know the potential I had but once I began working at it, I realized how good I could be.”

Dreaming Of Softball

After stints with soccer and cheerleading early on as a kid, Horton began feeling the love for softball. Her path to success initially developed in front of the home on the cul-de-sac where her family lived.

“It was kind of funny because my older brother was the mock batter,” said Horton, who played multiple positions in youth leagues including as a pitcher. “We set up a diamond and I would pitch to my mom or my dad and my brother (older by two years) would usually be the batter, even though he didn’t like it very much. My accuracy wasn’t that great so he would end up getting hit a lot. My mom had to pay him so he would keep doing it. Fortunately, for him, I eventually stopped pitching and began focusing on hitting.”

The family took her talents to different trainers and eventually settled on renowned instructor Mike Stith, the owner of Sports Training Complex in Anaheim, California and decorated travel ball coach who recently was named as the USSSA Pride Head Coach. Stith has won multiple National Championships at the club level including three PGF National titles and has coached dozens of standout college and pro players. 

“I first hated it because it was twice a week and Coach Stith was very serious about putting in work for the entire hour session,” said Horton, who hit eight home runs and batted .466 in her senior season at San Clemente High. “Before I was with a training coach who was fun and it was a lot more relaxed. Coach Stith is all about staying focused and it really helped me learn how to become a better hitter.”

Horton, who began working with Stith when she was 12, trained with him twice a week in a weekly routine that lasted throughout high school.  

“I have continued to work hard ever since,” Horton said. 

Getting Noticed

New Mexico State associate head coach Cat Heifner noticed Horton’s intensity when she first watched her play as a sophomore. 

“She wasn’t afraid to compete against the best but she wasn’t full of herself,” said Heifner, who begins her 15th season with the Aggies after spending one year with Minnesota last season. “Her number one attribute is a desire to be great. Part of that desire is the will to work hard. She was willing to work hard to get here and she has put in the work to get better since arriving here.”

Horton has fit in with the hitters culture at New Mexico State.

“It’s been like that for years here,” said Heifner, who was instrumental in helping New Mexico State rank ninth nationally in batting average (.325) and 10th in both on-base percentage (.414) and slugging percentage (.501) during the 2017 season. “Numbers are one thing but the process is another. Kelsey epitomizes the type of hitters culture we have here. She has worked hard her whole life to be successful and she is now a model for younger players to emulate.”

Horton, who admittedly is “super intense and super focused at the plate,” also gets her approach to hitting from childhood idol Vladimir Guerrero, who spent part of his 16-year Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, near where Horton grew up. 

“I loved his swing and his aggressiveness at the plate,” said Horton, who wears the No. 17 in honor of Guerrero (yes, she knows the former Angels’ slugger wore No. 27 but another player already had claimed it when she arrived to Las Cruces so she got No. 17 and has stuck with it ever since). 

Horton hopes to finish her career by building on the Aggies’ four straight WAC regular-season titles. More so, she would like to take the Aggies farther than they finished last season when they suffered a 9-0 loss to No. 20 Long Beach State in the Tempe Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

“Of course, we want to go as far as we can,” Horton said. 

Once her stellar career is over, Horton plans to either use her public health degree to attain her nursing degree or she could possibly play in one of the women’s professional softball leagues.

“If the opportunity is there and it is a good opportunity, I will see what happens,” Horton said.

Whatever happens, one thing is for sure. She will work hard to be successful.