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LAFAYETTE - The eyes of eight elementary girls are fixated on the passionate words being shared by Accelerated Fastpitch Academy founder and owner Audra May.
How could they not be? May is the reason why they came to spend their afternoons, some of them all the way from Clinton County, to spend an hour and a half to two hours inside a warehouse full of softballs, weights, nets, and pads.
May has been responsible for cultivating great softball pitchers in recent years. Her most famous clients are Rossville state champion senior ace and Virginia Tech signee Avery Layton and Delphi's career leader in strikeouts, Lexi Miller.
Layton met May in the sixth grade and throws a fastball up to 71 miles per hour.
"Audra's just a really amazing coach," Layton said. "She's not just a coach. She's a parent. She's always there for you, no matter what. She's texting you not only about the game but how you feel. She's meant a lot for me as a player."
More: Here are the 90 high school softball players to watch in the Lafayette area
May is a former college softball player at St. Joseph's in Rensselaer and originally hails from Indianapolis.
After her playing career ended in 2014, May became an assistant coach at St. Joseph's in 2015 before becoming head coach until the school closed in 2017.
May started Accelerated Fastpitch Academy in 2015 while still coaching in Rensselaer.
In 2015, May started coaching twins Emma Henderson and Anna Henderson, who were 11 years old at the time. Both Emma and Anna would later go to play college softball at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville by way of Iowa.
More: 2025 Lafayette area high school softball preseason power rankings: Rossville leads the pack
While the Henderson twins were in high school, a sixth-grade Layton would jump in and share in their workouts.
May believes that without the Henderson twins or Seeger pitcher Morgan Cooksey, who plays at Earlham College, there's no way the talent bridge could be created.
“I think this year specifically has been the most emotional for me, and the reason is my original kids that had at a really young age are all seniors now," May said. "They set the groundwork and foundation. Avery Layton was our baby when they were in high school. And now Avery will see how her footprints are being affected with this next generation (of upcoming players)."
When Bradi Odom, the daughter of Purdue Director of Recruiting Brad Odom, came to town from Las Vegas, she was looking for someplace to channel her passion for softball outside of her newly adopted team at Harrison in West Lafayette.
Odom found both a friend and a mentor in May almost immediately.
"We talk a lot about the mental part of softball," Odom said. "We talk about that a lot, and that really helps."
More: Another Odom is ready to leave her mark in West Lafayette
Odom's addition to the Lafayette softball culture has been a welcome one, not only at Harrison but in the warehouse where May molds her athletes.
"Enthusiastic, insightful, IQ through the roof, and never leaves without saying 'Goodbye, Miss Audra," May said. "She is the coolest kid I know, and I get to know these kids as humans. After she's done being an All-American, she's going to become a high-level coach. Bradi is in it."
While May can teach kids how to throw fastballs, screwballs, curveballs, changeups, dropballs and risers - it's her compassion and care that keeps players endeared to her.
McCutcheon senior Molly Davis, signed to the University of Findlay, can attest to the passion she receives from May.
"She's like a second mom to me and always making sure that I'm getting home safe," Davis said. "She's blowing up my phone if I'm a minute late to lessons. She's more than just a coach to me."
May said her ability to focus individually with kids starts with her team of assistants helping run her business, all of whom carry elite high school and college experience.
More: McCutcheon catcher Sydney Osborn reflects on life changing accident after grand slam
Her assistants include Maggie Robbins, who graduated from McCutcheon in 2023, Emilee Cox, who played at Lafayette Jeff and later and is finishing her fifth season on the softball team at Purdue, and Erin Nicolai, a former third baseman and varsity starter at Grafton High School in Yorktown, Virginia.
"I need them to know I care about them as humans," May said. "We use elite-level training that’s backed by science, and we use data to work with our kids. But there’s no data that tracks a relationship, and every athlete knows they are an individual at our home, and we feel confident in them.
Caring about them humans is my No. 1 priority. I lose a lot of sleep over other people’s kids. I love every kid that walks through that door.”
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette area high school softball players tribute trainer Audra May
Continue reading...
How could they not be? May is the reason why they came to spend their afternoons, some of them all the way from Clinton County, to spend an hour and a half to two hours inside a warehouse full of softballs, weights, nets, and pads.
May has been responsible for cultivating great softball pitchers in recent years. Her most famous clients are Rossville state champion senior ace and Virginia Tech signee Avery Layton and Delphi's career leader in strikeouts, Lexi Miller.
Layton met May in the sixth grade and throws a fastball up to 71 miles per hour.
"Audra's just a really amazing coach," Layton said. "She's not just a coach. She's a parent. She's always there for you, no matter what. She's texting you not only about the game but how you feel. She's meant a lot for me as a player."
More: Here are the 90 high school softball players to watch in the Lafayette area
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A decade of coaching and passing the torch
May is a former college softball player at St. Joseph's in Rensselaer and originally hails from Indianapolis.
After her playing career ended in 2014, May became an assistant coach at St. Joseph's in 2015 before becoming head coach until the school closed in 2017.
May started Accelerated Fastpitch Academy in 2015 while still coaching in Rensselaer.
In 2015, May started coaching twins Emma Henderson and Anna Henderson, who were 11 years old at the time. Both Emma and Anna would later go to play college softball at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville by way of Iowa.
More: 2025 Lafayette area high school softball preseason power rankings: Rossville leads the pack
While the Henderson twins were in high school, a sixth-grade Layton would jump in and share in their workouts.
May believes that without the Henderson twins or Seeger pitcher Morgan Cooksey, who plays at Earlham College, there's no way the talent bridge could be created.
“I think this year specifically has been the most emotional for me, and the reason is my original kids that had at a really young age are all seniors now," May said. "They set the groundwork and foundation. Avery Layton was our baby when they were in high school. And now Avery will see how her footprints are being affected with this next generation (of upcoming players)."
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May adopts Odom into Lafayette softball sisterhood
When Bradi Odom, the daughter of Purdue Director of Recruiting Brad Odom, came to town from Las Vegas, she was looking for someplace to channel her passion for softball outside of her newly adopted team at Harrison in West Lafayette.
Odom found both a friend and a mentor in May almost immediately.
"We talk a lot about the mental part of softball," Odom said. "We talk about that a lot, and that really helps."
More: Another Odom is ready to leave her mark in West Lafayette
Odom's addition to the Lafayette softball culture has been a welcome one, not only at Harrison but in the warehouse where May molds her athletes.
"Enthusiastic, insightful, IQ through the roof, and never leaves without saying 'Goodbye, Miss Audra," May said. "She is the coolest kid I know, and I get to know these kids as humans. After she's done being an All-American, she's going to become a high-level coach. Bradi is in it."
You must be registered for see images attach
"She's like a second mom"
While May can teach kids how to throw fastballs, screwballs, curveballs, changeups, dropballs and risers - it's her compassion and care that keeps players endeared to her.
McCutcheon senior Molly Davis, signed to the University of Findlay, can attest to the passion she receives from May.
"She's like a second mom to me and always making sure that I'm getting home safe," Davis said. "She's blowing up my phone if I'm a minute late to lessons. She's more than just a coach to me."
May said her ability to focus individually with kids starts with her team of assistants helping run her business, all of whom carry elite high school and college experience.
More: McCutcheon catcher Sydney Osborn reflects on life changing accident after grand slam
Her assistants include Maggie Robbins, who graduated from McCutcheon in 2023, Emilee Cox, who played at Lafayette Jeff and later and is finishing her fifth season on the softball team at Purdue, and Erin Nicolai, a former third baseman and varsity starter at Grafton High School in Yorktown, Virginia.
"I need them to know I care about them as humans," May said. "We use elite-level training that’s backed by science, and we use data to work with our kids. But there’s no data that tracks a relationship, and every athlete knows they are an individual at our home, and we feel confident in them.
Caring about them humans is my No. 1 priority. I lose a lot of sleep over other people’s kids. I love every kid that walks through that door.”
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette area high school softball players tribute trainer Audra May
Continue reading...
