DYNAMIC DUO

WEST SIDE LITTLE LEAGUE has long been a pipeline for Hamilton high school’s baseball program. The same names you’d hear playing for the All-Star team at Indianapolis and Williamsport. Just a few years later, those same names would be ringing through the speakers at Big Blue’s Stang Field. However, two former West Siders have blazed their own path on the diamond down the hill from Stang Field.

Jaycee Taylor and Katelyn Polido have been inseparable on and off the field ever since they played for the 12 year-olds back in 2017 when West Side fell short at Regionals, and are now gearing up for their senior season for the Big Blue.

In 2022 Taylor and Polido led the Big Blue in hitting, but not long ago the pair were two girls playing a sport dominated by boys. “I remember there being a lot of pressure,” said Polido. “The coaches would put pressure on you a little bit, saying ‘c’mon girl are you going to be able to get a hit?”

Though the pressure was there, they never let it set in to their play or the enjoyment of the ride. “It was probably some of the best times of my life,” said Taylor. “I remember hitting my homerun at regionals and the crowd went crazy.”

Taylor hit a home run in a regional win over Michigan, which highlighted her time playing for West Side.

The inseparable Jaycee Taylor and Katelyn Polido

BY REID MAUS

Hamilton has long gotten behind the all-star team, and no moment better signifies that than the parade to celebrate the welcoming of West Side as they come home from the state tournament. It typically is the memory that is most ingrained in a young ballplayer’s mind. Friends, family, and fellow Hamiltonians cheering you on as you hoist a state championship banner, but for Katelyn and Jaycee nothing topped just being on the field with your best friend. “The best part was playing with (Jaycee),” said Polido. “Watching her hit her homerun or being on base when she came to the plate. All those moments.”

Going through that together has made Taylor and Polido inseparable, even to this day. “Playing together has made our relationship stronger than it already was,” said Taylor. “We would go from practice, to hanging out after practice. We are just always together.”

Now, the pair patrols the left side of the infield for the Big Blue, Polido plays shortstop and Taylor plays third base. You can ask any baseball or softball coach in America, having history among your infielders is important to be a great team. It shows at Hamilton. “I love to play together, because we have so much chemistry,” said Polido. “We are right next to each other, every game. There are some plays that other ballplayers wouldn’t make that Jaycee and I make. We can just read each other.”

The pair are gearing up for their senior season of softball. They’ve been starting since they were sophomores. Their freshman year was lost due to COVID. In the two years they’ve started, they’ve led the Big Blue in hitting. Jaycee Taylor batted .500 as a sophomore and .471 as a junior. Katelyn batted .505 as a sophomore and .474 as a junior. Both have been honored for the Greater Miami Conference for the all conference team. “I don’t think I’d be as good as softball if I didn’t play baseball,” said Taylor. “It’s still pretty much the same game, but it just helps knowing both games a bit.”

Taylor also credits part of their success to the discipline that was installed in them by their baseball coaches back at West Side. “I feel like baseball coaches are a lot harder on you at a young age than softball coaches,” said Taylor. “They never let you slack off.”

Jaycee recalls being younger and having to take a lap every time she would miss-play a ground ball at practice. Safe to say, she learned quickly to not make those mistakes. They’re no longer two girls playing together on the 12-year-old all star team. Now, they’re seniors, who have to lead. “Since underclassmen look up to us, it kind of becomes our team,” said Taylor. “We’re not there to boss [underclassmen], but to help teach them.”

One of the biggest learning points, as Polido points out, is to encourage the younger players to keep their heads up regardless of the outcomes.

The GMC is the best softball conference in the state of Ohio. After all, Lakota West is the reigning state champion team. Every game is so tough to win, it’s why the girls have listed their top priority to finish above .500 in their senior season.