A Legacy of Firsts

Kelliann Jenkins took on the responsibility of being the pitching coach for the DC Grays this season. She transcended barriers as a coach, just as she did on the mound throughout her career as a player. Her story is one for the DC Grays record books.

Jenkins was one of the first female baseball coaches in the Ripken League, following her two years as the first-ever female coach at Jackson Reed High School in Northwest, DC. Her feats started when she was much younger, even before she became the first female player in the Ripken League.

She grew up in Potomac, Maryland. "My parents run and own the youth sports baseball business called Kidball Baseball," Jenkins said. "My three siblings and I grew up on the baseball field." This family business introduced them to the game of baseball, which has been central to their lives for years. Jenkins was about eight years old when she started throwing the knuckleball with her father. It ended up being one of her main tools as a college pitcher. 

Jenkins played on the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Big Train team where she started in first grade. Her older brother was a central role model. She followed in his footsteps to play at nationally-ranked St. John's College High School in D.C. 

In her first year at St Johns, Jenkins tried out for the freshman team. After getting cut, a spot opened up just three days later that put her on the roster. Jenkins also played basketball at St. John's, which served as a ticket to play baseball at the next level. In her senior year on the basketball team they were ranked first in the country and won the state championship. 

"I'm very grateful for my experience playing there because I learned a ton," Jenkins noted. "I don't think I would have been able to play in college without having gone there." 

Jenkins recollected a time where she discussed the recruiting process with her older brother. She recalled him insisting that there is no reason for her to treat herself differently than any other player trying to get recruited.

"So I took that advice to heart and would just send a bunch of emails out, never saying anything about me being a girl." Jenkins assumed the coaches had figured it out pretty quickly in her film clips of her pitching. "What was also really nice about playing for St. John's is that the coaches would tend to notice my hat before they noticed my ponytail at the showcases I attended," Jenkins pointed out. 

After graduating St Johns in 2018, she packed her bags and headed to St Mary's College in Maryland. She was recruited to be a two-sport athlete, playing both women's basketball and men's baseball. Jenkins became the first woman in NCAA history to win games in both sports. 

The summer after her sophomore year she played for Big Train, notching another first becoming the first female pitcher to take the mound for the Ripken League. 

"I had always felt like I was following in my brother's footsteps and I would just reach out to coaches that my brother knew," Jenkins added. "But then I felt like I really earned that position on Big Train because they had no idea who my older brother was and it was just based purely on my stats and how well I had performed at St. Mary's."

She noted that a couple of the players on that team will be at her wedding in a few weeks. "That was one of the best summers ever," Jenkins smiled. "So much fun."

Jenkins then spent one more year at St Marys and transferred to Chatham University in 2020. There were three other kids who also transferred to Chatham that season. "I built some lifelong friendships from those other transfers," Jenkins remarked. They are coming to her wedding as well. 

Basketball was a tool for her to find a school but also for her to play baseball. The basketball coach at Chatham was interested in her first. "I said that I'm a two-sport athlete and I'm only going where I can play both sports," Jenkins declared. The ultimatum was successful and she would follow through with being a dual-sport athlete for two more years. She became the first female pitcher in NCAA history to secure a win in a game. She was throwing her knuckleball too, setting her apart from the majority of college pitchers. Jenkins graduated Chatham with a degree in psychology in 2022. 

Afterwards, she landed an assistant coaching position for women's basketball at Marymount University. This was a win-win because it also paid for her masters degree in clinical mental health counseling. "I definitely recommend this for athletes when they graduate–to look for these kinds of positions," Jenkins encouraged.

Not long after getting her masters degree, Jenkins found out that Jackson Reed High School needed a pitching coach for the 2024 season. She found herself sitting in a Mexican restaurant for a job interview with Robinson Mateo, manager at Jackson Reed and first-year manager for the DC Grays. "There was a loud mariachi band playing in the corner, and we could barely hear each other."Jenkins laughed. "But at least I heard the part where he offered me the job." 

In her first year as the pitching coach for Jackson Reed, in 2024, they won the state championship. Seven players on that team followed coaches Jenkins and Mateo to the 2026 DC Grays. 

Serving as pitching coach for the current DC Grays brings her career full circle: Coaching the players she coached in the years past and coaching in the league in which she once pitched. She was an irreplaceable addition for this year's squad as well as for the Jackson Reed Tigers, who won their third state title this spring. Her fuel to compete is ingrained, but her ability to encourage, instruct, and inspire her players is something that she has developed. Jenkins constantly found ways to grow as a player, and now she is at a place where she is constantly pursuing the growth of others. She has excelled at both in her time on the baseball diamond.