The Art of Softball: Sydney McKinney Paints a Portrait of Success in Many Fields

HomeGrown, a chain of breakfast and brunch restaurants in the Midwest, was opening a new location in Liberty, Missouri last year and needed to find an emerging local artist to help decorate the surroundings.

Rather than contact a local gallery or email some art teachers, HomeGrown reached out to the batting leader in NCAA Division I softball.

As it turns out, Sydney McKinney is just as talented with a paintbrush in her hand as she is with a bat.

The Wichita State All-American has been producing artwork of pets, flowers, athletes and other abstracts for the last three years that has captured the attention of the world beyond the diamond. 

HomeGrown likes to work with local artists to commission a piece to figure prominently in each location. The restaurant has a “Cultivate Kindness” philosophy and the art must revolve around the kindness theme.

McKinney had signed an NIL deal with HomeGrown in 2021 and appeared in a commercial for the restaurant’s Wichita, Kansas location. Dave Phillips, the director of marketing at Thrive Restaurant Group, remembered seeing McKinney post some of her artwork on Instagram.

He called and asked if she would be interested in painting something for HomeGrown’s Liberty location, which is located only 45 minutes from McKinney’s hometown of Norbone, Missouri.

McKinney was only days away from traveling to Japan to play for Team USA in the Japan All-Star Series last July.

“I told her that still gives you a week,” Phillips said. “Sure enough, in her spare time that week, she knocked it out and she knocked it out of the park.”

McKinney was honored when HomeGrown inquired about her art. She never imagined having one of her pieces displayed in such a popular venue.

“It’s my favorite because I am from a really small town in Missouri that has like 700 people. A bunch of my hometown friends and family go there and see the painting and get some food and always send me pictures of it,” McKinney said. “It really means a lot to have my work represented there and be able to share it with so many people I am close with.”

McKinney has been one of the best hitters in the country over the last two seasons while helping build Wichita State into a national contender. 

The senior shortstop is currently leading the nation in batting average (.527) and hits (96), and is on track to become the first player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in both categories in back-to-back seasons.

McKinney is Wichita State’s all-time leader in batting average, hits, runs scored, on-base percentage and total bases. She is No. 5 on the NCAA’s all-time hits list with 372, and her 34-game hitting streak from earlier this season is the sixth-longest in NCAA history.

On Monday, McKinney added another historic designation as the No. 1 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Draft.

“The sheer number of hits and batting average in back-to-back years is huge. You don’t see that happening very much,” Wichita State head coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “She is a remarkable talent, but she doesn’t try to do too much. She hustles all the time. That is my favorite thing about her. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pop up or going to be an out, she sprints down the line as fast as she can and nine times out of 10 beats it out or makes it an extremely tough play for the umpire.”

McKinney discovered her artistic talent just before the Covid pandemic hit in 2020, when she got together with her fiancée and a few teammates for a painting night. They searched YouTube for an instructional video to guide them.

“I said, ‘yeah. I am not following that.’ And just painted my dog,” McKinney said. “It turned out pretty well and I just kept doing it.”

Once she posted the painting on social media, McKinney began fielding requests from friends, family and fans who wanted their own done. She painted nearly 60 custom 12 x 12 dog portraits during Covid and sold them for $45 each.

Amy Massaglia was one of her customers. Her son, Max, is a videographer at Wichita State. Massaglia begane following the program once she retired after 40 years in the Army.

“I got in such a funk and my son turned me onto softball at Wichita State and I just went berserk,” Massaglia said. “I love the team and I am now so into women’s sports, especially softball.”

Her son commissioned McKinney to do a painting for his mom of her oldest dog, George. Massaglia liked the portrait so much she commissioned McKinney to do one for her other dog, Sydney, which is named after McKinney.

“Oh my gosh, she just captured them and their essence perfectly,” Massaglia said. “I have these portraits predominately in my kitchen and people comment on them all the time. They ask me, ‘where did I get that done?’ She is so talented and fantastic.”

Massaglia asked McKinney to paint a portrait for a friend in San Diego, who was mourning the death of her 17-year-old cat. 

“I don’t even know if Syd knows how much it meant to her,” Massaglia said. “She was devastated. But once I sent that, it brought so much joy to her. She just loves that portrait.”

It’s likely no coincidence McKinney has flourished on the field since finding an outlet off the field with her painting.

“That is the balance we are always talking about with athletes and not really having an identity outside of their sport,” said Bredbenner, who had McKinney paint her dog on a coffee mug. “To me, part of the reason I feel like she has blossomed over the last couple of years is she’s really found her identity outside of her sport and something she really enjoys that can take her mind off the pressure.”

McKinney originally signed to play for the University of Missouri but was granted her release before the 2019 season began and joined Wichita State as a midseason freshman transfer.

“I think she has definitely come into her own and figured out the type of softball player she wanted to be, the type of human being she wanted to be and the type of student she wanted to be,” Bredbenner said. “To me, she is the best version of herself right now. She has figured out who Syd McKinney is and what makes her happy. Those are the best moments for a coach.”

McKinney had five other visits planned after she toured the Wichita State campus and met with her future coaches and teammates. 

“I called all the other coaches after and said, ‘I am so sorry. I had every intention to come to your college to visit, but this is home. I feel this is right,’” McKinney said. “I just didn’t look back from there.”

Some may dismiss McKinney’s record-breaking numbers as a product of playing at a mid-major. But anyone who has watched her knows she could thrive in any lineup in the country. She’s excelled against some of the top Power Five programs and pitchers.

McKinney credits Wichita State for bringing out the best in her.

“I don’t think anywhere else the coaches would have spent the time to develop me as a human and player,” she said. “They have done great things and it’s really cool for them as well to see how much I have grown. But it’s also cool to see how much the program has grown as well.”

Although her offensive numbers have merited most of the attention, McKinney’s true passion comes with her glove.

“Growing up, I was definitely better at defense,” she said. “People are surprised by this, but I still love defense more just because I like fielding a lot.”

Because of her artistic abilities, people assume McKinney is an art major at Wichita State. She’s actually majoring in criminal justice and will get her master’s degree next year while being a graduate assistant for the Shockers. After that, she aspires to attend law school.

“I hope to be a Title IX attorney. That is really where my heart is,” McKinney said. “I have also kind of pondered child advocacy law because there are so many kids out there that need help.”

Her passion for women’s rights has grown even stronger during college.

“Being at Wichita State, there are so many disparities with the women’s sports, especially in softball and baseball,” McKinney said. “It’s getting a lot better, and we will get a new stadium eventually. But Coach B has really fought for us and really taught everybody on the team to fight for what you want and for what we deserve. That really just instilled in me to help women’s sports grow.”

McKinney’s focus for the next few weeks will be trying to lead Wichita State to a deep and possibly historic postseason run.

The Shockers are the No. 1 seed in the American Athletic Conference tournament, and have a chance to potentially host an NCAA Regional for the first time ever.

McKinney took a break from painting once the season started because of the demands of softball and school. But she picked up the paintbrush again in mid-April. The abstract flower piece with bright colors reminded McKinney how much she missed it.

The philosophy that’s at the core of McKinney’s success as a softball player is now the same one she’s embraced as an artist.

“I just want to keep it fun,” she said. “I know when I had a bunch of orders, it wasn’t fun for a while. And I really want to keep it happy so I enjoy it.”