‘She’s a rock’: How a Penns Valley 3-sport star serves as a leader for each of her teams
Penns Valley softball third baseman Kailen Winkelblech stood at the plate with teammate Scotty Dinges on first base, drilling the ball to right-center field for a double.
Winkelblech jumped up in the air, clapped and pointed to her teammates in the dugout — motivating them to cheer as loud as they could. You would never know that Penns Valley was down 9-0 in the fourth inning in their game against Bellefonte on April 4 by looking at the enthusiasm that Winkelblech demonstrated on the field.
The senior brings the same energy to each of the three sports that she excels in, with softball taking up her time in the spring, along with volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter.
“The level of consistency that she does with everything — every day — and how she is such a leader in every possible way ... in spite of being so busy and playing those three sports is amazing,” Penns Valley softball coach Terry Bumgardner said. “If I had nine Kailen Winkelblechs, we’d win a state championship. She’s a rock. That’s the best thing you can say about her. Every day, it’s the same thing and I don’t know if she has an off day for God’s sake. She’s our rock and she and Avelyn (Van Heyst) are who we’ve built our infielder around.”
In her two years on the softball team — missing her sophomore season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Winkelblech has put together a .341/.434/.544 slash line with 42 hits in 123 at-bats, 17 walks, 26 runs batted in and four home runs. She’s the type of player where if her team has a tough day at the plate or pitching, she rallies them back.
Tied at 3-3 against Mifflinburg in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday, Winkelblech’s team rallied to defeat them 6-3. She had two hits in the contest, and the fight that they all showed in that particular game is something that she hopes can be replicated during the entire season.
“I feel like I’ve had to be a leader in softball for a while now,” Winkelblech said. “But since we have such a young team, being the person that people look up to, I think is very great. With our new coach (Bumgardner) this year, everything is kind of new. So, it’s to have to learn and balance new things to help the younger girls too.”
A balancing act
She’s a Jill of all trades — having played soccer when she was six, then picking up basketball and softball when she was 10 years old. Winkelblech, a 2021 District 6 All-Star volleyball player, didn’t begin playing the sport until she was in the seventh grade.
Through each of the sports that she’s played, she’s picked up a lot of friends along the way. Those relationships and team-building skills of drills on the court or field, going to the movies and sitting at the lunch table at school, among other things, has shaped her into the person she is today.
While fulfilling, juggling multiple sports in back-to-back-to-back seasons is a lot to manage.
“I think the biggest challenge I’ve had to deal with is other sports extending into other seasons,” Winkelblech said. “Basketball sometimes will go into softball and I’ll miss the first two or three weeks. That can be challenging to have to come back, especially after doing a sport for so long and having to jump right into one.”
She completed a volleyball career, where she had over 100 aces and finished with 174 kills (24.7% kill percentage) during her senior year. Then, she transitioned right into basketball, where she had to take over another leadership role.
Finding her voice
Winkelblech is thought of as “motherly,” Penns Valley head girls basketball coach Terrance Green said. Not only was she a standout forward for Green, averaging 12.2 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game and 2.6 steals per game, but she mentored her younger teammates on a consistent basis. The senior could often be found on the bench clapping and giving out high-fives on the court to other Lady Rams players.
Not only would she show the type of encouragement that would light a fire under any team on the court, she’d welcome her teammates to practice with the same high energy. Winkelblech has high-fived and worked through plays with them, running them over and over until they were completed correctly. She is the same person behind the scenes that she displays on the court or on the field.
Green will miss that enthusiasm to strive for greatness from Winkelblech next season.
“Kailen’s work ethic is second to none,” Green said. “She puts in the work and does the little things that everyone may not see. She is an extremely hard worker. She always goes out of her way to help those around her to get better. Kailen was one of our many returning varsity starters, as well as our leading scorer from last year. Her presence on the team was important. She helped our team this year in so many ways other than scoring, which allowed her game to grow even more this season.”
For the first time in a while for Winkelblech, she won’t be participating in at least three sports when she heads to college. The Penns Valley senior has her eyes set on the Division III Ithaca College in New York, where she looks to play basketball for the Bombers.
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 3:01 PM.
