Hauser junior Hannah Taylor, left, and assistant coach Katie Taylor pose with the regional championship trophy following Tuesday’s win against Indianapolis Lutheran at Hauser.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
HOPE — When Katie Taylor returned to Hauser for her senior year after playing her junior softball season at Columbus East, she was hoping to play alongside her sister Hannah, who was a freshman.
Those hopes were dashed when the COVID pandemic led to the cancellation of spring sports in 2020 and ending their best chance to play softball on the same team.
“That was definitely one of the hardest things to ever have to accept,” Katie said. “It was pretty terrible, but it’s great that I get to come out here and watch her play and do so well in the same place that I got to play.”
This year, however, the Taylors are enjoying a stellar season from different perspectives. Hannah is the Jets’ star shortstop, while Katie is a first-year assistant coach for head coach Andy Brunner.
“I just asked Andy if I could be involved, and he was all for it,” Katie said. “He liked the idea. He may have been surprised that I wanted to help.”
Katie had played travel softball and junior high softball for Brunner. She played her first two years of high school at Hauser before spending the second semester of her junior year at East.
During her senior year at Hauser, Katie committed to play at IU-Southeast. She ended up deciding not to play softball, but still went to school there for a semester.
After spending a year at home, Katie enrolled at IUPUC this spring and became involved with the Hauser program.
“She had mentioned it a little bit, but it wasn’t really set in stone then,” Hannah said. “Then, she talked to Andy about it. I was excited because we have a really good relationship, so I knew it would be fun. She has experience, so I was really excited for that.”
IUPUC is starting intercollegiate athletics this fall, and Katie will be a member of the Crimson Pride’s first softball team next spring.
“I’ve been working on getting back into shape and getting back into the swing of things,” Katie said. “I definitely have a long way to go because three years is a long time to be out of it in retirement. But I’m definitely excited and ready to put the work in to get back where I was.”
Katie would like to stay involved with the Hauser program, but with playing at IUPUC, probably won’t be able to next year.
“I would like to stay involved as much as I can,” Katie said. “I wish that I could stay involved here while I was playing, but I don’t know if I’ll have a lot of time.”
The Jets (22-4-1), ranked No. 2 in Class A, are set to meet Trinity Lutheran at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the North Daviess Semistate semifinals. The winner will play No. 1 Tecumseh or co-No. 7 Clay City for the semistate championship at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s been fun and exciting,” said Hannah, who has committed to play at Eastern Illinois. “It’s been a good year with these girls. I’m really proud of them.”
Meanwhile, another Taylor might be headed for a future in softball, if not sportscasting. Londyn Taylor, the 3-year-old daughter of Katie and Hannah’s late brother Christopher, has become enamored with the Hauser team, especially sophomore pitcher Paige McDaniel.
“She likes for everyone to call her Paige McDaniel because she’s obsessed with Paige,” said Londyn’s grandmother Amee Taylor. “But then she also likes to have the girls line up and call out each one of their names like the announcer does at the beginning of the game. She’ll try to coach them. It’s pretty funny. Some of them, she knows their number, so she’ll say their number and their names, but otherwise, she’ll just say their names practicing (at home) for when she comes out to the games. She likes any kind of sports, so she’s probably going to take after her aunts and her dad that way. They’re all three big-time into sports and good athletes.”
