CLEVELAND, Mississippi - Kassidy Tally has made her career in stealing—stealing bases that is. Her speed and agility have put her at the top of every opposing pitcher's most-wanted list, having swiped 225 career bases to lead all active NCAA players and rank third in NCAA Division II history. Despite being known amongst her opponents as the "girl who steals," the 5'8'' senior outfielder is not your typical cat burglar.

Today is a usual Thursday morning for Tally. With all of her classes online this semester, she has the morning completely free to herself, a welcome change from years past. She walks in the room and takes a seat on the couch. Her auburn hair falls slightly below her shoulders, and her eyes brighten as she flashes a grin and greets you with the sweet temperament of a small-town girl hoping to make a difference in the world as an aspiring teacher.

Tally is from Raleigh, Miss., a small town about one hour south of Jackson. She started playing softball when she was 3 years old, where she played T-ball alongside her older sister, Kara, with their mother coaching them.

"My sister moved up to play with the older 6, 7, [and] 8 year olds, so that's when I moved up," Tally said. "I was playing coach pitch at 5 years old, and then I played ever since."

Tally played softball at Raleigh High School under the direction of head coach Dennis Hough. Although she was primarily an outfielder, she also spent some time at pitcher. She played travel ball and had been coming to DSU softball camps since she was in ninth grade. But the summer before she began her senior season at Raleigh, her career took a turn that would change the way she played softball forever—she switched from being a right-handed hitter to a lefty.

She was at a Delta State softball camp, and the coaches saw her swing, which even Tally admitted was terrible. They asked her if she had ever slapped before. Slapping the ball in softball is closer to bunting, than hitting. To execute a slap bunt, the batter must stand in the left-handed batter's box and runs toward the ball the moment the pitch is released, trying to put the ball in play to the left side of the infield, and then use their speed to get on base. 

Tally was right-handed and had never stepped foot in the left side of the batter's box. However, she knew she needed to make the adjustment if she wanted to play collegiate softball, and she worked during her senior year of high school softball to make the switch.

"I tried to adjust going from right to left," Tally explained. "I kind of struggled my senior year, and I struggled my freshman year here, but [Coach David] Martinez worked with me almost every morning on hitting, and I think I've mastered it a little bit."

Her hard work paid off as she signed her letter of intent to play for the Lady Statesmen in the fall of 2011. Tally enrolled at DSU in the fall of 2012 to begin her freshman year, and  started what has become one of the best four year stints in Lady Statesmen softball history. For Tally, the opportunity was a dream come true. Her family is from the Delta, and her sister was already a student at Delta State, so it was a perfect fit.

"Growing up, I would always come to Cleveland, and I always fell in love with it, and this is where I wanted to be," Tally said. "I was coming here no matter whether I played softball or not, and I just happened to get the opportunity to play."

During her freshman season with the Lady Statesmen, Tally batted .287 with 51 hits, a double and six RBI in 178 at-bats. She went 37 for 41 in stolen bases to lead the Gulf South Conference in stolen bases. It didn't take long for her speed to catch headlines as one of the fastest base runners in the NCAA.

The following season, a season that saw DSU advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history, she broke the GSC and Delta State records for stolen bases in a single season, with 74. She etched her name further in the school record book, finishing the season ranked ninth for hits in a season (72) and third in runs scored (63). She was a 2014 All-GSC First Team, GSC All-Academic, Academic Honor Roll, and GSC All-Tournament Team selection. She also earned the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Golden Shoe Award, which is presented to the nation's leader in stolen bases in each NCAA divison. Her junior year, she went a step further breaking the GSC and school record for career stolen bases, ending the 2015 season with 161 career swipes.

How she continues to outsmart the competition is something that puzzles nearly ever pitcher she faces. But even Tally has no explanation for her opponents, except that for her, the gift of speed was simply a God-given talent.

"I never really worked on running or trying to be fast," Tally said. "My mom ran track because she was fast, and I guess I got my ability from her. I've just always had speed, so I really don't know how I worked towards it, but it just kind of came natural to me."

However, she admitted it has become more of challenge over the years because people know who she is and that she is not afraid to attempt a steal on the first pitch.

"My opponents know that," Tally said. "It's a lot harder [now] because during my freshman year, they had no idea who I was, but now they're like, 'Okay, that's the girl with the speed, and we've got to get her.'"

They try, but Tally almost always evades them. This season, the senior leads the GSC in at bats (171) and stolen bases (64), and is third in runs scored (55). During the series against West Georgia, Tally became the sixth player in any division in the history of NCAA softball to steal 200 career bags. On Tuesday, April 5, she moved into third place in the history of NCAA DII softball for most career swipes, when she stole her 220^th base in game two of the Lady Statesmen's doubleheader against the University of Arkansas Monticello. She is the active leader in career stolen bases amongst all NCAA players with 225.

"I didn't even realize I was that close," Tally said. "I'm not a really big stat-rat. My family keeps up with it … but I've never been the type to check my stats every time. If I don't get on base, then I didn't do good. That's how I am. I'm really hard on myself, so I don't even look at that."

Among active NCAA Division II players, Tally is second in career at bats (724), fourth in career runs (187). She also currently leads NCAA Division II with 64 swipes.

To have her name in the NCAA record book is an accomplishment the go-getter is definitely proud of because she fought hard to prove herself amongst her competitors. "It feels great to accomplish something, get your name out there, and for people to know you by the girl that steals, basically the Catwoman," Tally added.

In DSU's record book, Tally holds the record for stolen bases in a single season (74, 2014), her current total (64) ranks second, her junior total (50) fourth and her freshman total (37) is tied for fifth. She currently ranks first in career stolen bases (225), third in hits (252), second in runs (187), fifth for runs in a season (55) and is tied for eighth in games played (217). Tally is batting .380 this season and should finish her career ranked in the top-10 for batting average. While she has accomplished a lot during her four-year career, she is most proud of the doubleheader victory against then-ranked No. 3 University of Alabama Huntsville  on March 19. 

"In my four years, we've been close to beating them," Tally said. "I think we beat them one time in my four years before this year, so playing a doubleheader at home [and beating them], it was kind of the greatest moment."

As her softball career is coming to an end, Tally will turn her focus to her true passion, which is teaching. She is currently certified to K-8th grade in any subject and K-12^th grade in math.

"Since I was a little kid, I always said I was going to be a teacher," Tally said. "I have a lot of people in my family who are teachers. For Christmas, I would ask for school supplies. Whenever we would play, I wanted to be the teacher and teach my little brother, so that's kind of how it started."

Tally graduated with her Bachelor's degree in elementary education in December of 2015. She is currently studying for her Master's degree in elementary education, which she hopes to complete by December 2016.

Taking five years to complete a Bachelor's degree and Master's degree is its own record, considering many college students take five years to complete just a B.A., but Tally attributes her competitive personality as the driving factor behind her success.

"I'm a go-getter, and I hate to lose," Tally said. "Even in the classroom, I hate to get a lower grade than everyone else. I strive to be better than everybody else."

Tally will start teaching this August at Hayes Cooper in Cleveland, Miss. She will be teaching fifth grade math, but hopes to be able to teach Kindergarten in the future. Along with her lesson plans, she will carry with her the lessons she learned while playing softball to teach future children, such as professionalism, responsibility and how to be a leader.

"When I become a teacher, I want to make my classroom look good. I want to be professional about everything that I do," Tally said.  "I'm going to be the leader of my kids—leading them and teaching them, and that's basically what being a senior this year made me look at, because I'm having to teach the freshmen what to do," Tally said.  

Just as our elementary school teachers taught us manners and how to be respectful of others, Tally hopes she can do the same.

"I was taught a lot of that from my parents, but also from my teachers in school," Tally said. "I want to teach them life lessons as well: how to be a good and respectful person. If they can't get the curriculum down, just learn to be a good person."