As far as Kristin Worley was concerned, it was going to take a lot more than an unexpected halt to the 2020 season to keep her from re-arranging the Chico State softball record book. Before the season’s abrupt end, the senior shortstop succeeded in breaking no less than three Wildcats records—and as a result established herself as one of the greatest all-around players in program history. Worley’s accomplishments during the brief but memorable 2020 season makes her the latest Wildcat of the Week.
Worley served as a cornerstone of a Chico State team that posted a 19-2 record, occupied first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), and earned the No. 2 ranking in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll. At the plate, on the field, or on the basepaths, the Buena Park product was on the way to making her senior season the best of her four-year Chico State career before the coronavirus pandemic intervened.
The first Wildcats record Worley toppled came February 2 against Hawaii Pacific in the final game of the season-opening Concordia Kickoff Classic. Her first inning steal of second base was the 100th in a ’Cats uniform, moving Worley past Alli Cook to become the No. 1 base stealer in Wildcat history. Worley would go on to swipe 10 more bags to finish the season with 110 career steals.
During the Wildcats’ February 28 doubleheader sweep of Cal State East Bay, Worley crossed the plate three times to surpass Cook as No. 1 on Chico State’s career runs list with 142. Worley finished the season with 24 runs scored and 148 for her career.
Worley went 1-for-2 in what turned out to be Chico State’s season-ending game March 8 against San Francisco State, hiking her season average to .407 and improving her career average to .378—the highest of any Wildcat player in the program’s 52-year history.
Worley also ranked fourth on Chico State’s career hits list with 196 when the 2020 season came to a halt.
But the career number Worley is no doubt most proud of doesn’t even appear in the Wildcat record books. In her four years with the team, the ’Cats won 144 of 187 games—and that .770 percentage will, for Chico State softball fans, forever link Kristin Worley with the word “winner.”
