Hannah Loyd has been a leader since freshman year.

The Mexico senior has also been worthy of college softball, according to head coach Hanna Jones, as Loyd signed on Nov. 12 at Mexico High School to play in college for Pittsburg State in Kansas. Loyd was named a Class 3 all-state catcher and also earned awards for all-North Central Missouri Conference, first team all-Class 3 District 4 and first team all-Class 3 Region 2. 

Loyd said it has been a dream to play college softball since she started at 10 years old. NCAA Division II Pittsburg State seemed to be the perfect fit to Loyd because she wants to study athletic training and she said the head coach Josh Barnes and assistant coach Abby Shoemaker made her feel welcome.

Hannah Loyd College Signing Photo Gallery

“Everybody dreams Division I, but I went on my visit and it felt like home,” Loyd said. “It really was everything I wanted in a school, and the coaches really led me into being their family and I wasn’t even on there yet. That’s really what sold it for me.”

Loyd credits her father, Shannon Loyd, for being her “biggest supporter” and her love for the sport was sparked from what she saw on television. She said she loves competition, and softball looked like a good sport to find some.

“I was always watching softball on TV,” Loyd said. “I liked all of it. I was watching all of the teams.”

Jones became Loyd’s head coach when she was a sophomore and knew she had the makings of a college player. The former McKendree Bearcat knew that was Loyd’s goal and believed she would have a signing day.

“You could tell she had a passion for a sport,” Jones said. “You could tell she was intentional about what she was doing at practice. She was intentional about what she was working on. She’s probably one of the hardest working kids I have coached. That’s really half the battle — putting in the work to get there.”

Loyd was always a force in the middle of Mexico’s lineup and underwent a power surge this season, hitting a career-high 10 home runs to put her at a career total of 28. She slashed .337/.462/.717 and had 32 RBIs.

 She drew a fair share of intentional walks, especially from rival Fulton, but Loyd really shined on defense. 

At catcher, Loyd caught 18 runners stealing and picked off three runners this season and finished her career with 44 caught stealing and 21 pickoffs. She owned a fielding percentage of .986 and a caught stealing percentage of 51.43%. Jones is going to miss “all of it” when Loyd goes to college, including her leadership.

“She definitely shows those leadership qualities at catcher,” Jones said. “She’s not afraid to talk to her defense and move people around. It was really cool to see her grow each year more and more into that position. Now she is an all-state catcher, it really shows how much time and effort she has put into that position.”

Loyd said she started feeling like her skills were developing at a pace for college when she was 15 years old. She played travel softball for Aces Fastpitch to further develop those skills. 

Catching is what Loyd is most proud of at this point in her career. Loyd said the follow-through to improve is most important rather than just wanting to be better. She said that is what helped her fine-tune “the little things” like framing and blocking.

“You have to put in your time outside of practice,” Loyd said. “It takes a lot of time and effort, and you’ve got to be willing to do it.”

Loyd controlled an opponent’s running game whenever she was behind the plate for Mexico. She said “time, effort and strength” is needed but also good teammates, and she had plenty of those at Mexico. 

“Everybody has been so welcoming since freshman year,” Loyd said. “I grew close to everybody. Everybody supports everybody.”