SAINT PETER, Minnesota — Sometimes a father knows best.
“He definitely had a bigger picture for me than I could have imagined, so I’m forever thankful for that,” said Gustavus Adolphus softball player Kayla Herda.
After all, the Gustavus Adolphus senior outfielder would not be playing today if not for her father, Scott.
“He grew up playing fast-pitch with his Dad, and so I kind of ended up falling in love with it,” Herda told me.
Father would coach Daughter through high school in Farmington. When it came to playing at the next level, Scott urged Kayla to look into Gustavus, even if it took some convincing.
“When it was time to come up here and visit, my father and I fought the entire way up here because I did not want to come at all. But then, leaving Gustavus, I turned to my father, and I was like, “I actually loved it,” said Herda.
Daughter finally recognized Dad’s wisdom and chose the Gusties, becoming an important building block for first-year head coach Coley Ries Welter.
“Kayla has been a game-changer; she was actually my very first recruit when I became a head coach,” Ries Welter said.
Adversity struck Kayla in the middle of her freshman season.
“Definitely more gut-wrenching, because it was right before the season started,” Herda joked.
Scott died from COVID.
“I wouldn’t be here without him, so every single day that I am at Gustavus, I just think about him, and I talk to him every day,” Herda joked.
Kayla persevered and now shines for the Gusties, earning multiple all-conference honors, all thanks to a father who knew best.
“Kayla is like the heart of the program; she means everything to us,” explained Ries Welter.
Honoring her late father with each throw and hit.
“It was difficult, but I couldn’t bear the thought of quitting, and I know he would have wanted me to stay here. So I stuck with it, and I’m so glad I did, because I don’t know what I would have done otherwise,” Herda explained.