Taylor Edwards: Small Details Lead to Big Legacy as a Catcher

The strategy

Edwards has always had a built-in pitcher in her life. When her twin sister Tatum wanted to become a pitcher at a young age it was only natural Taylor would complete the other part of the battery. They played together growing up through rec ball, travel ball, and in high school at Vista Murrieta. 

In Tatum’s senior year, she got the “yips”, an informal term for a movement disorder that’s often known for affecting athletes in baseball and golf. In softball, it can cause athletes to lose their ability to execute certain skills like pitching and throwing. Tatum lost her ability to control certain pitches, which meant Taylor had no idea where the fastball or drop ball was going.

“It definitely made me be a better blocker and not be scared of the ball,” Taylor said. “I just had to kind of be a cat and react to where it is, trust my eyes, trust my hands, get over the fear factor of it’s going to hurt.”

Tatum struggled with her “hard stuff” but her change-up was still accurate and effective. This challenged Taylor’s pitch calling in a unique and difficult way early on as a catcher and started the cat-and-mouse game she would play with hitters for the rest of her career. 

“Everybody in the stadium knew that the changeup is the only pitch that you should be swinging at because it’s the only one that’s not on the ground. So how can I use the yips or the wild pitch in the dirt to set up the changeup?” Taylor wondered. “Or do I just go change, change, change every pitch? That part definitely helped me in high school and then into college.”

Taylor was Tatum’s steady presence behind the plate and it pushed her to start focusing on skills like effective velocity, tunneling, and unpredictable pitch calling that would pay off as a pro. 

As Taylor tried to pull Tatum out of the yips it also pulled something out of her. Diving in the dirt, getting hit by wild pitches, and the seams cutting her skin, Taylor could have been critical. But this was her twin who she’s known since the womb and she wasn’t going to let her own emotions get in the way. 

“Who cares if you just threw through six balls in the dirt? So what? Keep going, keep going to the next one,” Taylor said. “If they’re being vulnerable, I have to be vulnerable. I don’t want them to be on an island by themselves.”

Taylor has never pitched; she’s never stepped into the circle with all eyes on her but she was beginning to develop an empathy and connection that would never let a pitcher who worked with her feel alone.

 

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The Grind

During Edwards’ First-Team All-American season at Nebraska in 2014, a National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF) team played an exhibition game against the Huskers. Of the entire lineup, Edwards was the only college batter to make contact. She remembers fouling one off against Cat Osterman and then flying out her next at-bat. For the first time, she thought, “Maybe I could do this?”

After her senior season as the Division I Catcher of the Year, Edwards was drafted with the No. 8 overall pick to the Pennsylvania Rebellion in the NPF.

She signed a two-year contract for $5,000. In her rookie year, the team was 9-39.

“It was terrible,” Edwards said. “But so fun at the same time.”

The team made it a priority to do things together outside of softball. They would play sand volleyball, go to the movies, to the beach to “bring team chemistry and somehow keep us human and not have our record define us as humans.”

Edwards said that if they didn’t do that, she would have quit pro softball. She kept coming back to the grind because of the chance of postseason runs and the magic that only happens when a team pursues a championship. The best game of her career was still to come in that environment.

The Rebellion traded Edwards to the Chicago Bandits and then to the Scrap Yard Dawgs where in 2017 they competed for the NPF Championship. Edwards had spent the last couple of seasons working with renowned pitcher Monica Abbott. During Game Two of a three-game championship series at Lousiana State University, Abbott was not only the best arm but also the only arm trusted to pursue the title.

Edwards knew it would be the two of them every inning, every pitch, every game in the dead heat of summer.

“We knew the challenge ahead… but we’re committing to one pitch at a time,” Edwards remembered. “Once you execute it – ball or strike – take a breath, throw it back, take a breath again. Okay, what’s the next plan?”

Edwards and her team won 2-0 to force Game Three which was held on the same day. A championship doubleheader, Edwards and Abbott came back out an hour later and did it all over again. Twenty-seven outs with a 5-2 score, they won the championship. 

Just talking about it, Edwards still gets chills. It’s the most mental exhaustion she’d ever experienced but, “I think that was the most fun, stressful, [and] best time catching in a battery situation I’ve ever had.”

 

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The Sacrifice

In 2016, Edwards tried out for the United States national team but didn’t make the cut. As her pro career continued to flourish, Edwards joined Team USA in 2018 and helped the team win gold at the WBSC World Championship and USA Softball International Cup. The relationship she formed in the NPF with long-time national team ace Monica Abbott made her one of the solid batteries within the program. 

With the Olympics on the horizon, Team USA narrowed down the roster they would take to Tokyo. Edwards learned she was one of 18 named to the 2020 Olympic team but was a replacement player. She was a part of the team leading up to the Summer Games, training with Team USA, and would be an available alternate if another player was injured.

Internally, Edwards knew her role was more than that.

“My role on USA for the Olympic year was to be the bridge between Aubree [Munro] and Monica Abbott.”

Edwards knew Abbott well from their time together in the NPF and described her as direct, stubborn, and a little brazen at times. Munro had a contrasting personality: passive and softer in her communication.

She wouldn’t be suiting up to catch for Abbott but Edwards was asked to help prepare Munro for the task. 

“Putting my own feelings aside of like, ‘Okay, I know I’m not going to play, I’m not going to suit, I’m not going to compete for a medal… but being able to push them and make them better and bridge their communication and connection.”

It required Edwards to speak openly and honestly with Abbott and Munro to help make them the best pair possible to win.

“That was probably one of the biggest things in my career that I had to deal with and it wasn’t even for me – it was for other people – but it was also for USA. I did something for a whole country.”

Abbott threw 20.1 innings to Munro with a 0.00 ERA and 31 strikeouts throughout the tournament, including in the Gold Medal Game where they earned silver. 

 

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The Legacy

Intentional, intimate, and calming but also strategic and competitive.

That’s what Edwards wants her teammates and particularly her pitchers to remember about playing with her. She used to say that she wants to be remembered as the best and nicest teammate but over time has realized “there’s so much more than just two things.”

“You could be the best teammate execution-wise, but you could be the [worst] person ever. You could be the nicest person but never play an inning,” Edwards said. “I want to have a balance of consistent play, I want to execute, but I also want to do it the right way.”

Edwards isn’t done just yet. She started in the NPF playing for three different organizations then stuck around when her team went independent. She took a stand with the ‘This Is Us’ Softball team and competed for her country. She was a part of the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball in 2020 and has played in every Championship Season with the league since.

With the launch of a traditional league on the horizon in 2025, Edwards feels she must see it through.

“It’s all of these little building blocks to the next and I feel like this is my duty to see it through,” Edwards said. “If I give up now knowing that that is next, it’s like, well then why did I go through all of these other things?”

Maybe Edwards’ natural personality fit her position perfectly or maybe, over time, her demeanor embraced the requirements of her position. More than likely, it’s probably a little bit of both. 

And while you may not notice her on the field her legacy as one of the best catchers in professional softball can’t be ignored.

Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.