Tates Creek softball standout finds ‘perfect fit’ with surprise college offer

It’s no surprise that Tates Creek softball standout Tinley Easton will continue her playing career in college after she graduates this year.

But the college choice she made back in November of 2022 might be considered a little outside-the-box for a Kentucky girl.

Easton, a 5-foot-6 senior infielder who plays shortstop for the Commodores, picked the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a Big Ten program with a ton of tradition and 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

“It was just a perfect fit,” Tinley explained after the Commodores defeated Lexington Christian 15-2 on Tuesday. Easton had a triple, a homer, four runs scored and two RBI against the host Eagles. “I love the coaching staff. I love the area.”

Minnesota was the first program to contact Easton when she became eligible to receive college communications on Sept. 1, 2022, at the start of her junior year. They didn’t wait long. She got her first Minnesota text at 12:07 a.m.

“I didn’t even know they were watching me,” said Easton, whose Louisville Slugger travel team included the likes of Ballard’s Brooke Gray, now at Louisville, and Great Crossing’s Delani Sullivan, now at Kentucky. “I thought they were watching Brooke, but they were watching me every game.”

Easton visited the Minneapolis campus with her parents, Todd and Kelly, on Halloween weekend that fall and was hooked. The weather on her visit was sunny with temperatures in the high 50s. She committed a few days later and signed last November.

“The weather was beautiful. And they were like, ‘It’s always like this,’” Easton said with a laugh, knowing that Minnesota winters can be bitterly cold. (The good news is that the Gophers typically play in warmer climes during the early weeks of the college softball season in February and March.)

Inspiration from others

Easton has played varsity softball for Tates Creek since seventh grade. Back then, she got to play alongside her older sister, Shelby Easton, now a senior player at Union College in Barbourville, an NAIA team. Big sister served as both inspiration and cheerleader.

“She never lets me get down on myself. And she’s always there to remind me that I’m here for a reason, and I’ve gotten everything that I’ve gotten for a reason,” Tinley Easton said.

Their dad, Todd Easton, is a Tates Creek assistant. He also coaches a number of players privately and preaches the value of women’s college athletics.

“I tell all my kids, ‘It doesn’t matter what level you play at, you go where your school is going to get the most paid for and you get out of school as debt free as possible,” Todd Easton said. “It changes lives, and it basically gets you an opportunity to have a career.”

One of Tates Creek’s other seniors, second baseman Madison Hill, has committed to Midway.

Easton also looked up to former Tates Creek teammate Peyton Plotts, who this year has become a fixture in the Kentucky Wildcats starting lineup with a .316 average and six home runs as a freshman. Plotts’ junior and senior high schools seasons were each shortened by injury, but when Plotts and Easton were in the lineup together they put up some gaudy stats.

“I just love seeing her succeed at UK,” Easton said. “She’s a great ball player and I knew that she was going to do good things, but, I mean, she’s doing even better than I could have thought.”

Battling it out in a tough district

Batting leadoff for the Commodores this season, Easton has a .578 average with six home runs, 41 runs scored and 23 RBI to go with 15 stolen bases, 10 doubles and seven triples. She ranks among the top players in the state in several offensive categories.

“Everything she does is perfection even working out in the offseason,” Tates Creek coach Michael Thomas said. “Lifting weights, always hitting, her footwork, her glove work — she’s just doing tremendously.”

Easton’s high school success has come in one of the state’s most difficult softball districts and regions. The 43rd District is also home to No. 5 Lexington Catholic, the 2022 11th Region champion and state runner-up, and Lafayette, another powerhouse that won the region in 2021.

Tates Creek finished third in the district each of the last three seasons and is off to a 7-11 start this year.

“It’s frustrating. I knew coming to this district that I had to really put the work in,” said Thomas, who is in his third season. “I’m trying to change the culture here at Tates Creek.

Thomas has the benefit of the new Tates Creek High School’s facilities, which include an indoor hitting building shared with the baseball team. That’s helped his staff do more to make sure all of his players improve and succeed.

“I believe in the near future, we’ll get Tates Creek back on the map,” he said.

Seven of Tates Creek’s nine players had hits against LCA on Tuesday. The other two were among the eight in the lineup who scored at least one run. In Tates Creek’s nine-run fourth inning, the Commodores got a two-run double from Hill, an RBI triple from Madison Bowman and a three-run triple from Kennedy Lindsey.

“I think our team is pretty confident going into every game, but sometimes I just think we just psych ourselves out and we’re kind of defeated before we step on the field,” Easton said. “But I think as the games go on, we’re getting better at just being confident and just telling ourselves we’re better, we can do this.”

Whatever the high school struggles have been and however this season ends up, Easton said she’s been proud to be a Commodore.

“I’m really happy, and I’m really proud to be a part of this program,” she said. “Every game, I step on the field knowing the name on my jersey, and I just want to represent that well.”