Former King’s Fork High School softball standout Kay’Lee Justice is happy with her first year at Richard Bland College of William & Mary.

Justice came into her freshman year at Richard Bland and immediately made an impact. She started all 45 games for the team. She batted an average of .394, which placed her  fourth on the team. She also became an All-Region X second-team selection.

It was a solid year for Justice, but she feels she could have done better.

“I think I did well for my first year,” Justice said. “However, I know I could have done a little better. There is always room for improvement.”

Justice played infield but did a lot of damage at the plate for Richard Bland. She finished with seven home runs, second on the team, and five triples, first on the team. She also had 48 RBIs and earned 41 runs.

All the stats are great, but the biggest thing Justice learned in her first year was to trust herself and others.

“I had to know when I made a mistake that it wasn’t the end of the world,” she said. “I had to trust that my team had my back and would pick me up.”

At the beginning of the season, her coach wanted all players to write down their statistical goals. Justice set her goals high. In her last year of travel ball, she had a good season, so she wanted to step her game up. By the end of the season, she had reached all of the goals she had set for herself.

Back in April, Justice was named Athlete of the Week at RBC. She helped her team to a 4-0 week. She hit .615 (8-13) with two home runs, three doubles, seven runs, eight RBIs, four walks and one stolen base in the four games.

Another big accomplishment for her team was being given the NJCAA Academic Team award, she said. It spoke to how the players were able to stay on top of their academics while also demonstrating athletic excellence.

“It is actually pretty amazing,” she said. “I know my team and I have worked really hard last season. It also helped that some of our teammates took some of the same classes. So, if one of us needed help we were there for each other.”