By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

GUYTON – Kastin Belogorska wasn't sure how she'd spend some rare spare time this summer after finishing her softball career at Georgia Southern.

But only a week passed before her summer and fall became almost booked solid.

Belogorska agreed to help as a pitching coach at her alma mater South Effingham where she'll be finishing her college degree in middle grades education with a student teaching internship at the middle school.

"It's a big honor and a privilege just to be asked to come back," she said. "It was kind of my dream job to coach and now I'll be back where I began to learn the game. How could I say ‘no’ to that?"

A position on South's coaching staff opened when former softball pitching coach Jesse Osborne, now the school's head baseball coach, committed to the Mustangs baseball program full time.

Belogorska has hardly been a stranger to the Guyton campus after leaving in 2020 for Liberty University. She eventually transferred to play at nearby Georgia Southern. 

Belogorska, a two-time region Pitcher of the Year with the Mustangs, often returned to work softball camps. Last year, she spoke at the team's softball banquet.

Last week, she teamed with Islands High School standout Devin Long (headed to East Carolina in the fall) to run an elite softball pitching camp at South for two days.

"Having an experienced pitcher (on staff) is one of the biggest assets you can have for a high school program," SEHS softball coach Adam Newland said. "Kastin wants to teach, so she has that in her. She's worked in the community. A lot of our players know her and are familiar with her, and that connection gives her an extra layer of credibility, particularly with our younger pitchers."

Belogorska said she'll be looking forward to working with the Mustangs' established standout right-hander Bailey Kendziorski, a rising senior who earned Region 2-6A Pitcher of the Year accolades last fall.

And she has similar excitement to share insight with the younger rising freshmen pitchers.

"Bailey is a perfectionist and she reminds me of myself a little so I'm excited to help her grow and become the best version of herself," Belogorska said. "I'll have a special bond with the freshmen. I worked a pitching camp with (then SEHS assistant) Randy Cox and I caught a lot of those girls. They were the first girls I've coached to any extent."

Regardless of a pitcher's experience, Belogorska said it never hurts to rehash certain nuances.

"I'll be teaching more fundamental things – how to use your body efficiently," she said. "You can achieve so many things, it doesn't matter what your body type is. That's what I'll stress. I just want to challenge them to be their best."

Belogorska also wants to relay life lessons. She said during practice teaching classes in college, students will often get unnerved when professors watch.

Belogorska says she used the same breathing technique to stay calm in front of critiquing professors that she used in softball games.

"When you're out of the game (of softball), you realize all the things you learned just by being in the game," she said.