Buford Softball Star Ansley Kehren Spent a Decade Playing Baseball. Now It's Paying Off

The Buford junior spent 10 years playing baseball before turning to softball — and this summer she earned MVP honors at MLB and USA Softball's Breakthrough Series.

Buford junior Ansley Kehren spent a decade playing baseball before making the transition to softball. This summer, she earned MVP honors at MLB and USA Softball's Breakthrough Series in California. | Dinger Athletics

Before Ansley Kehren learned to hit a softball pitch, she learned to hit a baseball.

That sounds like a small distinction until you consider what it takes. The eyes, hands, and mind all have to adjust. The ball is bigger now. The pitcher is closer. The delivery comes underhand instead of overhand. The angles are different. So is the rhythm. See ball, hit ball — technically the same assignment, but different. Sort of like how finding parking at Publix is different from finding it at Trader Joe's.

The Buford junior began playing baseball at age 5 and continued through 15U, spending much of that time as the only girl on her travel team. She played catcher and pitcher, and even competed in a women's baseball event in the Philippines, where she earned MVP honors.

Eventually, she moved into softball. But the more interesting question is what came with her.

From Baseball to Softball

Kehren was one of just 34 players invited this summer to MLB and USA Softball's Breakthrough Series, an invitation-only event in California featuring instruction from Olympians and National Team members, including two-time Olympic medalists Jennie Finch and Natasha Watley. Kehren didn't just make the exclusive field. She left as the event's MVP.

But why people noticed her doesn't fully explain how she got here.

Ten Years of Baseball Still Show

A baseball hitter spends years tracking a smaller ball from a higher release point. A catcher sees the whole field develop in front of her, learning how pitchers sequence and attack. And if theMLB Home Run Derby taught us anything, it’s that even the best hitters on Earth can look completely lost when you change what they’re accustomed to seeing at the plate. It’s roughly how I feel when my favorite coffee shop changes the Wi-Fi password.

Now imagine changing almost everything. Softball presents a different visual picture, quicker geometry, and a completely different pitching plane. Some of Kehren's baseball education transfers. Other parts have required adjustment. Ten years of muscle memory don't simply disappear because somebody hands you a bigger ball.

Kehren carries momentum from this summer into the season for Buford, the defending state champion. And while it would be easy to frame her baseball background as a charming footnote, it may be much closer to the foundation of the player she is becoming. This is what makes Kehren's development more interesting than a standard recruiting profile.

What's Next for Ansley Kehren?

Soon enough, the conversation will turn toward college interest, offers and where she might play next. But there is something worth understanding before all of that: how an athlete takes ten years of muscle memory from one sport, changes games and decides what to keep.

For Kehren, baseball did not disappear when she started playing softball. You can still see traces of it every time she swings.