Speed has always been a way of life for one Mississippi State softball senior who is closing out her final season on the Maroon and White diamond this year.When Barbados native Ron Boyce, who is currently serving his 12th year as Missouri State University’s head track coach, noticed that his daughter, Nakita Boyce, wasn’t originally interested in athletics, he said he accepted that fact.
“[Not being overbearing] was the easiest part of all,” Ron Boyce said. “Being a parent and a coach, you learn to sit back and let her do her own thing. I gave her a little guidance, but a big part of it is letting her learn things on her own.”
Nakita Boyce said that though she grew up around her father and the track and field atmosphere all the time, sports didn’t really catch her attention early on.
“I was more of a read-books, draw-pictures kind of girl,” Nakita Boyce said.
It wasn’t until the 5th grade that Nakita Boyce became interested in becoming an athlete. Growing up, she said she participated in basketball as well as track and softball.
Nakita Boyce ran track as a sprinter through her junior year of high school before deciding softball was the sport she wanted to pursue.
“I had a little more passion for softball,” Nakita Boyce said. “I wanted more action, fun and contact than track offered. I wanted to be part of a team, and I felt like I could have that in softball.”
When Ron Boyce saw his daughter beginning down the path of competitive softball, he said he was completely supportive of her.
“I would have loved to have seen her as a track runner,” Ron Boyce said. “But she had a terrific softball coach in high school and she loved the game. I was 100 percent behind her decision.”
Nakita Boyce said she attended a summer softball camp at Mississippi State and decided then that Starkville was the place for her.
MSU head coach Jay Miller said he relied on Nakita Boyce mainly as a pinch runner during her freshman year, though she drew 23 starts on the season. Thirteen of those came in center field.
She only batted .169 on the season because she had to learn a completely new style of hitting.
Nakita Boyce had always been used to power-hitting. However, due to her speed and track background, Miller wanted to try her out in a slap-hitting role.
It took all of her freshman season for Nakita Boyce to get adjusted to the new style of offense, but her batting average as a sophomore bumped up to .302 and her stolen base count more than doubled. She said she watched videotapes of solid slap-hitters from Tennessee and Arizona, and she also observed opposing slap-hitters from the outfield.
“After that first year,” she said, “it became fun, and that’s when I started enjoying it.”
Miller said Nakita Boyce has become quite reliable in left field. She missed only one game last year due to a freak injury that changed her game only slightly.
While diving for a ball in left field one game midway through the season, Nakita Boyce misjudged the ball’s bounce, leading to the ball smacking her in the nose.
The injury didn’t require surgery, but she got her facemask on her batting helmet changed to a thicker, more protective version.
Nakita Boyce said the injury doesn’t really phase her anymore, but when she gets hit a ball she has to slide on, the thought crosses her mind.
Nakita Boyce said she and her father sometimes work on speed and conditioning while she is home.
“He’ll incorporate [the workouts] with softball,” Nakita Boyce said. “He’ll get me in a baserunning stance, then implement his drills into softball exercises.”
Several of the skills Nakita Boyce learned in track have carried over to her softball psyche.
“Track is so individual,” she said. “Even though softball is a team sport, you still have to have that individual mentality when you’re up to bat and when you’re on the bases.”
Nakita Boyce said she can’t believe she’s already a senior on the MSU squad.
“It’s just amazing how fast it’s all flown by,” Nakita Boyce said. “I love the opportunity I’ve gotten at Mississippi State. I don’t think I could have gotten it at any other schools that looked at me. I just want to end on a good note.