Kelly sophomore follows sister's, mom's lead

Most people only dream of making it to the state final four in their respective sports.

Alexis Dock, a sophomore softball player at Kelly High School, knew growing up that she wanted to lead the Kelly Hawks to the softball final four, something her sister Danielle Dock did in 2008.

"When I saw my sister go to state and everything I just thought, 'That's what I want to do. I want to carry it on,'" Dock said. "It's just a tradition in our family."

Dock helped the Kelly Hawks advance to the Class 2 state final four during her freshman and sophomore seasons and her success on the mound and at the plate has earned her the title of Southeast Missourian softball player of the year.

The Hawks finished third in Class 2 in 2012 with a 5-4 win over Palmyra and lost 4-3 to Marionville in the third-place game this year.

"It's just incredible that I've been there twice and I'm only a sophomore," Dock said of the final four appearances. "But I really couldn't do it without the team. For sure I hope we go to state again. I hope to improve myself with pitching and hitting and just trying to do the best I can and hopefully that helps. Then work as a team again to try and make it back."

Dock has grown up in a softball family. In addition to her older sister, her mom played at Kelly and her dad played in a fastpitch softball league for several years.

"She's definitely been one of my biggest supporters," Dock said of her sister. "She's actually helped me throughout my pitching career, and she's basically almost taught me everything I know about playing."

Dock started playing softball when she was 7 years old. Her dad coached her team for a few years and other years the team was coached by Kelly softball coach Rhonda Ratledge, which Dock believes benefits the team today.

Kelly pitcher Alexis Dock pitches to a Portageville batter during the first inning of a postseason game earlier this year. (Fred Lynch)

"I've been around her forever," Dock said. "You know what she expects. And when you know what she expects, you do it and try at it and you do the best you can for her."

2013 All-Missourian Softball - Kayla Keith - Jackson High School (Laura Simon)

Ratledge knew when she coached her growing up that Dock was going to excel on the softball field.

"She has the personality and the drive to want to do it," Ratledge said. "She's got parents behind her that also help with that, too. You knew that she wasn't just going to give up on it -- her parents weren't going to let her do that. They're right there with her, very, very supportive, and that's what it takes a lot of times to have that parental support and she's got it all the way around."

Ratledge, who coached both of the Dock sisters, also noted her competitive nature -- something both sisters have.

"It's in their genes, it's in their blood," Ratledge said. "I don't think you could ever take it out of them. Both are very, very competitive. They get a little aggravated when they lose or calls don't go their way or whatever -- you still see that same little personality and little spark of fire in both of them."

Dock and Ratledge both mentioned Dock has matured and Ratledge attributes that to toning down some of those competitive frustrations.

"Definitely settling down on the mound," Ratledge said. "Like I mentioned, if she wasn't getting those calls her freshman year she really let it show on the mound. She matured a whole lot from her freshman to her sophomore year, and I just expect her to get even better the more she grows. She's playing in St. Louis this winter, and she'll be playing in St. Louis this summer, so she's going to see a lot of ballgames that are going to help her mature on the mound and at the plate."

Dock finished the season with a record of 10-5. She had 98 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA in 102 innings pitched for the Hawks.

Equally noteable were her offensive stats. Dock hit a team-high .513, an improvement over an already impressive .407 batting average as a freshman.

"She's just a good ballplayer all the way around," Ratledge said. "She was very patient at the plate. That was a huge difference between her freshman and sophomore year, you know, swinging the bat and being patient and really watching for her best pitch to hit, take it to the fence. I was real proud of her there at the plate as well."

She drove in 25 runs on the season, including two in Kelly's sixth-inning rally against Marionville for third place that came up short. She also hit three home runs.

Dock knows that being successful on the mound and at the plate are important, but being a good pitcher means more to her.

"I feel like my pitching is more important to me because that's what I kind of want to go to college for, and I hope I get to go to college for pitching," Dock said. "They're equally important, but whenever I'm on the mound it just feels better than being up at bat."

She doesn't enjoy pitching more because she's more confident at it though. In fact, she has more confidence during an at-bat and is more nervous to pitch.

Ratledge thinks that Dock's confidence will improve as she continues her career at Kelly and Dock said she's spending the offseason "trying to get the ball to move a lot better."

"She is a confident person, but when you've got the big game on your shoulder it takes its toll on you a little bit," Ratledge said. "We've been to state the last two years and she's had that big game on her shoulders. That's going to ease up a little bit for her, and she's going to be confident up there and maybe not as nervous and things like that as she gets older.

"Her goal is to go to college, and she's well on her way to hopefully achieving that and she works hard for it. She's still got pitches that she needs to improve on and work on and perfect, so we'll be seeing those different pitches come along in the next couple years."